Category: Photos

1974-07-14 – The #06 was previously the Art Barry #09 that Ed drove to many top finishes in 1971. Art sold it to Dave Spence who in turn sold it to Ed and Rocky Germani, who with Ed had co-owned the ¢ in 1964-66. In 1974 the #06 was driven once or twice by Ed and a few times by Ed Jr, who is shown here unable to avoid the spinning Gene Naumec at Thompson. Heath photo.

In the 1974 Stafford 200, while driving the Garbarino Mystic Missile #4, Ed had a huge crash. When it came to rest, the car was on its roof, which was crushed flat. After being helped out of the destroyed car, Ed went to the pits where he climbed into the Armstrong #1 Pinto, in which he intended to return to the race. Before he had got the car out of the pits, however, Ed felt sufficient pain in his back that he realized that he should get medical attention rather than immediately resume racing. Ed went to the hospital later that night, where he was told that he had broken his back in a way that usually resulted in the victim’s being paralyzed for life.
This was as close as Ed ever came to racing the Armstrong Pintos, which enjoyed a very big budget and, in Hop Harrington, one of the finest chief mechanics in the sport. One has to believe that if Ed, rather than Geoff Bodine and Ray Hendrick, had been the regular driver of the Armstrong Pintos, the combination would have been devastating. In this photo, from Racingthroughtime.com, Gene Bergin is at the wheel.