Newburyport, MA — Motorsports publisher Coastal 181 has announced the upcoming release of ED OTTO, NASCAR’s Silent Partner, a gripping new biography of Ed Otto, one of America’s greatest all-time motorsports promoters. The book will be launched formally as part of the 50th Daytona International Speedweeks celebration.
Few fans of racing today may know the name Ed Otto. However, it is safe to say that the sport would be very different now if not for the cigar-smoking super-promoter from New Jersey. Deeply involved in the formative seasons of NASCAR 50 years ago, Otto was a dynamo of a man. He offered up hundreds of shows at facilities across North America, a feat that would seem impossible before the advent of email and cell phones, let alone the national highway system. He was unendingly creative, establishing a list of firsts that has never been equaled. Among them were the first use of TV to broadcast races; the organization of the inaugural NASCAR races in California, at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan, and at Chicago’s Soldier Field; as well as the NASCAR events at Watkins Glen. He was first to use airplanes to transport drivers from one event to another; he ran motorcycle races in Yankee Stadium and the Winter Nationals drag races in Florida with Wally Parks. As NASCAR’s 40% silent partner, it was his charge to take the fledging association out of the South to a national audience.
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