Ed Darrell
A longtime leader in Eastern Midget racing, Ed Darrell was a car owner, American Racing Driver’s Club president and lifetime member, racing promoter and founder of the All-Star Outlaw Midgets. And his efforts in each of these positions helped to improve the overall health of Midget racing and kept it in the forefront of professional motorsports.
As a kid, Darrell attended the “BigCar” (Sprint Car) races at such old North Jersey tracks as New Market, Troy Hills, Woodbridge and Union. And when his two best buddies – George and Quinty Villa – built a4-cylinder Henderson Motorcycle-engined Midget to enter the first-ever East Coast Midget races on June 10, 1934, at the old one-fifth-mile cinder-surfaced Olympic Park Stadium in Irvington, New Jersey, 15-year-old Darrell acted as mechanic and “stooge” while the brothers took turns driving the car.
In 1938 Darrell and Quinty Villa built a Ford V-8 60 flathead-powered Midget and they traveled the Auto Racing Association and American Automobile Association circuit prior to World War II. When the war broke out, Darrel enlisted in the Navy and upon racing’s return he purchased a Hiram Hillegass-built Ford V-8 60 that was numbered 83 and raced it on the American Racing Driver’s Club circuit with such Indianapolis-500-bound drivers as Al Herman, Art Cross and EMPA Hall of Fame member Johnny Thomson. And in 1948, Charlie Miller won a 100-lapindoor-race with the car at the Kingsbridge Armory in Bronx, New York.
In 1950, Darrell – who ran a Gulf Service Station in Clark, New Jersey – bought his first Offy-powered car and in 1957 with Bill Randall driving the car set a new one-lap record at the old one-mile asphalt Trenton (N.J.) Speedway in a United States Auto Club Midget race. Then, in 1959, Len Duncan won the ARDC Championship in the seat of the No. 83 D-V Offy.
A new Kurtis-Kraft Offy carried the D-V colors and No. 83 for 1960 and it was driven by EMPA Hall of Famers Len Duncan and Fred “Jiggs” Peters, plus Bert Brooks, Ernie McCoy, Johnny Mann and Chuck Arnold. Then, in 1966, a new Don Edmunds chassis was purchased and Peters drove this Offy-powered car until here tired in mid-summer.
Other drivers to handle the No. 83include 1949 Indy 500 winner Bill Holland, Tony Romit, Bill Homier, Johnny Hubbard, Bobby Allen, Bob Cicconi, and EMPA Hall of Famers Ed “Dutch” Schaefer, Johnny Coy Sr., Jan Opperman and Leigh Earnshaw, who won the ARDC Championship three years running (1973-1975).
A driving force of ARDC, Darrell served as the club’s president in 1974-1975. His leadership role, however, was added to by taking on the duties of a Midget racing promoter at the one-third-mile Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania.
For almost 15 years from the late 1960s into the 1980s ARDC raced each Sunday night on Grandview’s high banks and Darrell along with Larry McCoy – a Midget owner and ARDC president (1972-1973) – were the early promoters of these popular racing events.
Darrell also promoted World of Outlaws Sprint Car events at Grandview with Bruce Rogers and open-wheel events at the old East Windsor (N.J.) and Fredericksburg (Pa.) Speed-ways, and at Big Diamond Raceway and Mahoning Valley Speedway in Pennsylvania. Plus, in 1982 he founded the All-Star Outlaw Midgets to increase purses, get more cars and make Midget racing more affordable with lesser-expensive stock-based Ford, Chevrolet and Buick engines.
In all, Ed Darrell – who died in June 1994 at the age of 75 – promoted Midget events at Grandview from 1974 until his retirement in 1991, and one of his most popular attractions were the Midget & United Racing Club Sprint Car double-headers that saw some of the best open-wheel competition of its time.
A longtime leader in Eastern Midget racing, Ed Darrell was a car owner, American Racing Driver’s Club president and lifetime member, racing promoter and founder of the All-Star Outlaw Midgets. And his efforts in each of these positions helped to improve the overall health of Midget racing and kept it in the forefront of professional motorsports.
As a kid, Darrell attended the “BigCar” (Sprint Car) races at such old North Jersey tracks as New Market, Troy Hills, Woodbridge and Union. And when his two best buddies – George and Quinty Villa – built a4-cylinder Henderson Motorcycle-engined Midget to enter the first-ever East Coast Midget races on June 10, 1934, at the old one-fifth-mile cinder-surfaced Olympic Park Stadium in Irvington, New Jersey, 15-year-old Darrell acted as mechanic and “stooge” while the brothers took turns driving the car.
In 1938 Darrell and Quinty Villa built a Ford V-8 60 flathead-powered Midget and they traveled the Auto Racing Association and American Automobile Association circuit prior to World War II. When the war broke out, Darrel enlisted in the Navy and upon racing’s return he purchased a Hiram Hillegass-built Ford V-8 60 that was numbered 83 and raced it on the American Racing Driver’s Club circuit with such Indianapolis-500-bound drivers as Al Herman, Art Cross and EMPA Hall of Fame member Johnny Thomson. And in 1948, Charlie Miller won a 100-lapindoor-race with the car at the Kingsbridge Armory in Bronx, New York.
In 1950, Darrell – who ran a Gulf Service Station in Clark, New Jersey – bought his first Offy-powered car and in 1957 with Bill Randall driving the car set a new one-lap record at the old one-mile asphalt Trenton (N.J.) Speedway in a United States Auto Club Midget race. Then, in 1959, Len Duncan won the ARDC Championship in the seat of the No. 83 D-V Offy.
A new Kurtis-Kraft Offy carried the D-V colors and No. 83 for 1960 and it was driven by EMPA Hall of Famers Len Duncan and Fred “Jiggs” Peters, plus Bert Brooks, Ernie McCoy, Johnny Mann and Chuck Arnold. Then, in 1966, a new Don Edmunds chassis was purchased and Peters drove this Offy-powered car until here tired in mid-summer.
Other drivers to handle the No. 83include 1949 Indy 500 winner Bill Holland, Tony Romit, Bill Homier, Johnny Hubbard, Bobby Allen, Bob Cicconi, and EMPA Hall of Famers Ed “Dutch” Schaefer, Johnny Coy Sr., Jan Opperman and Leigh Earnshaw, who won the ARDC Championship three years running (1973-1975).
A driving force of ARDC, Darrell served as the club’s president in 1974-1975. His leadership role, however, was added to by taking on the duties of a Midget racing promoter at the one-third-mile Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania.
For almost 15 years from the late 1960s into the 1980s ARDC raced each Sunday night on Grandview’s high banks and Darrell along with Larry McCoy – a Midget owner and ARDC president (1972-1973) – were the early promoters of these popular racing events.
Darrell also promoted World of Outlaws Sprint Car events at Grandview with Bruce Rogers and open-wheel events at the old East Windsor (N.J.) and Fredericksburg (Pa.) Speed-ways, and at Big Diamond Raceway and Mahoning Valley Speedway in Pennsylvania. Plus, in 1982 he founded the All-Star Outlaw Midgets to increase purses, get more cars and make Midget racing more affordable with lesser-expensive stock-based Ford, Chevrolet and Buick engines.
In all, Ed Darrell – who died in June 1994 at the age of 75 – promoted Midget events at Grandview from 1974 until his retirement in 1991, and one of his most popular attractions were the Midget & United Racing Club Sprint Car double-headers that saw some of the best open-wheel competition of its time.