2x Pinto

1973-10-21 – This was an open-comp show at Thompson. The red 2x is in the middle of the photo, distinguished by its bodywork from all the Super-modifieds around it. Ed and Ron Bouchard, in the purple #17 Pinto just behind the 2x, drove the only two Modifieds that qualified in the top 30. The Super-modifieds were inherently faster cars.

2x Pinto

1973-10-28. This series of still images taken from a Don Bartlett video of the 1973 Martinsville Cardinal 500, shows Ed (in the red car in second position) about to take the lead from Jerry Cook as they were between the 3rd and 4th turns. When Ed was cleanly underneath him, Cook came down on Ed (just as Cook had done to Richie Evans earlier in the race), forcing Ed to spin and ruining his race.
Some laps later, once Ed’s car was repaired, he came back onto the track just ahead of Jerry Cook’s car. Ed then proceeded to make up almost an entire lap on Cook – which showed how much faster Ed was – but, when he had nearly caught Cook, a light rain began to fall, the yellow came out, and the race was completed without a resumption of racing.

2x Pinto

Here one can see the cause of the crash, Jerry Cook, blithely sailing off into the distance, whist superior drivers Ed, Paul and Ron all ended up with broken racing cars. Ironically, Cook won the race.