Category: $

$

Of all the cars in which Ed drove and won over the years, he was most renowned for probably the $ and the 2x. The $ was owned by Donald Ponticelli and John Stygar. In the summer of 1961, it was in the $ that Ed started his weekly routine which took him from home in Connecticut to races in New Jersey, then in Virginia, then across to races in Maryland and back to New Jersey, racing 5-6 times every week. This got him, and his traveling and racing companions Denny Zimmerman and Rene Charland, the nickname “The Eastern Bandits”. Co-owner John Stygar normally went with Ed on the Bandits’ weekly circuit and handled the primary mechanical duties for the $ and the second car (such as Ed’s own 21x or 21) that they often would bring with them. Photo from June, 1965.

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1964. Photo from “The Home of Heroes” by Bones Bourcier, courtesy of the Alan Weaver Collection. The photograph was probably taken by John Grady at Utica-Rome.

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1961 – Fredericksburg. This was taken after Ed won the 250-lap race on October 1st. The forays of the Eastern Bandits into the South were just beginning. Photo by Bob Williams, from the Larry Jendras Jr Collection.

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Westhampton, where Ed raced I believe only once. Photo by Chuck Pecora. Thanks to John Dickinson for the information.

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1961 – Vineland NJ. It is believed that 1961 was the first season that Ed drove the $, at least the first season he drove it on a regular basis. Photo by William Curley, from 3Widespicturevault.com.

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1961-08-19 – Islip. George Flemke is in the $, Ed is in the 21. Al DeAngelo is in the 18 and Rene Charland is in the 3. Photo is from Brad Charland. Thanks to Robert Clock, Bruce Cohen and Denny Zimmerman for help in identifying the drivers.

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Thompson open-comp race. Behind Ed’s $ (on outside pole) is Beebe Zalenski’s silver M-6 in row 2. On the inside towards the rear is the white version of Bill Slater’s V8 and at the rear is the Benny Washburn #15 which Ed drove at least twice.

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1964. The shiny “$” is a sticker that was pasted onto a photo print more than 50 years ago. I believe that this photo would have been taken at about the same time as the photo of the $ at Plainville with Moe Gherzi standing next to the car, and someone in the Flemke family covered the temporary, crude version of the “$” with the shiny sticker.

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Utica-Rome, probably 1964. Ed’s second wife (-to-be) Carolyn is with Ed and their children Paula and Ed Jr. Photo by Dick Myers, via Paul Sykes.