Flemke Jr. Looks For Star Crossed Sizzler Outing
Stafford Springs, CT — When Dale Earnhardt captured his 1st Daytona 500 win this past February, millions of race fans, both pro Earnhardt and non Earnhardt celebrated.
For 2nd generation driver Ed Flemke, Jr., the quest for a win at Stafford Motor Speedway’s CARQUEST Spring Sizzler takes on Earnhardt-Daytona like qualities but, they present only the tip of an iceberg with Titanic proportions. The 43 year old carries his father’s name and with it aspirations to join Ed Flemke, Sr. in the Spring Sizzler win column.
The elder Flemke scored a Sizzler win in 1973 when the race was in its infancy. His accomplishments at Stafford made the slightly built driver an icon to the Northeastern racing community. Although Ed Flemke passed away in 1984, the shadow that he casts is still large to his son.
“All that I know about Modified racing I learned at my father’s knee,” says Ed, Jr. “I grew up as a ‘track brat’ at places like Stafford and to run there has always been an emotional event.”
“Little Eddie” as he is affectionately called, is already in Stafford’s record books; scoring an Sk Modified win in 1987. His greatest racing moment came when he captured a Modified Series win there in 1996’s Connecticut Classic. But, the CARQUEST Spring Sizzler has haunted him just the way the Daytona 500 did Dale
Earnhardt. “We’ve had some good rides in past Sizzlers. Just never good enough.” Flemke Jr, continued. “When I watched Dale finally get that Daytona 500 monkey off his back, I did think for a moment that it might be a personal omen.”
There are other omens that raise Ed Flemke’s hopes for a Spring Sizzler win. When Stafford was converted from dirt to asphalt in 1967, Ed Flemke Sr. was the first feature winner at the track. The elder Flemke’s pavement christening came in the season’s 100 lap lidlifter. “The Sizzler is Stafford’s first race of the season right?” asks Flemke. “It’s newly repaved right?”
His new car owners also provide an ironic twist. When Ed Flemke’s career was at its zenith, Flemke led a band of drivers that would travel through the Carolinas and Virginia competing, and often winning, against their Southern peers. Nicknamed “The Eastern Bandits” Flemke and company repeatedly squared off with the Modified contingent in the South. Ed Flemke Jr.’s career now centers around those same Southern Modified enthusiasts. He drives for Westfield North Carolina’s Roger and David Hill; two long time southern modified stalwarts.
Flemke also says that the Daytona 500 success of Dale Earnhardt , Sr. was just the beginning of an Earnhardt connection. “When Dale, Jr. Captured his first career Busch win in Texas, guys in the shop put up a headline from one of the area papers that said ‘EARNHARDT, JR. MAKES PAPA PROUD’. I knew the message that he was trying to deliver.” Flemke, Jr. continued. “Nobody has put as much pressure on me as I have myself. I want to win for my family!”
Maybe the stars are aligned for Ed Flemke, Jr. When he takes the green flag at 3:15 PM on Sunday, April 26, maybe his day will end with a visit to Victory Lane. No one would be surprised if a Flemke Sizzler win resulted in the same sort of receiving line as the Daytona 500 produced for Dale Earnhardt. ” Besides,” says Flemke my birthday is that weekend! (on April 24th).
Sources: Stafford Motor Speedway PR