Anyone out in Irwindale?
09-07-2007, 01:11 AM
#1
Anyone out in Irwindale see the crash? Did anyone see the wreck that the 5.0 Mustang got into?
Just curious if anyone knows what happened to the guy
Must've been absolutely crazy...best of luck
Just curious if anyone knows what happened to the guy
Must've been absolutely crazy...best of luck
Last edited by DaGeneral; 09-07-2007 at 12:52 PM.
09-07-2007, 10:13 AM
#3
September 6, 2007 (Los Angeles, CA) --- Edward Conrad, 62, of Hawthorne, CA, a well-known, respected and long-time sportsman drag racer in Southern California who was a fixture at local tracks, died tonight at Irwindale Speedway, which is located about 15 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Conrad was a machinist.
One of Conrad's friends, Al Murawski, of Long Beach, CA, and also a regular at the tracks of the area, and known nationally, too, said that Conrad apparently suffered a heart attack while "staging", or preparing to start, his 1983 Ford Mustang on the starting line for the closely-timed competition of a bracket race on the 1/8th mile track which has been created in the parking lot at the Irwindale facility. "All we know for sure is that he was dead before he got to the hospital," Murawski told a reporter. Conrad also owned a 1969 Mustang; his friend Murawski races a 1972 model.
"He was on the start line, using a trans brake (which allows the driver to make an especially quick start) which he released, probably when he had the attack, and the car took off," said Murawski. "His car started in the left lane, skidded down the wall almost the entire eighth mile, then suddenly turned hard right, crossed that lane, and hit head-on into the opposite wall".
Murawski also said that Conrad, whom he described as "kind of a loner", had not been in good health over recent months. Conrad was known to be a heavy smoker, said others who knew him well.
Conrad was part of the huge sportsman racing classes of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), tens of thousands of amateur racers who participate at hundreds of race tracks around the nation for the fun and excitement of the competition, not for any potential "big money" paydays or some sort of magazine or TV exposure.
While the NHRA, which was recently sold for near $130 million to HD Partners, promotes their professional drivers as All-American and wealthy celebrities (such as 14-time Funny Car class champion John Force, whose family has participated in a popular cable reality show), the sportsman classes are considered by many to be "the heart and soul" of the sport of drag racing, according to one racing industry analyst.
"Racers like Conrad are the true shade-tree mechanics, the real hot rodders, the kind of people who started the sport of drag racing in the desert and then the airport runways of Southern California after World War Two. They'll trailer their beloved race car for two days and 500 miles to some small-town race track to participate in a few events which might last less than a minute all told over a weekend," according to veteran auto and racing industry journalist and analyst Steve Parker. "And they'll usually wind up 'eating' all their expenses, too. The fun comes not just in prepping and racing their cars, but in spending that time with friends and relatives."
"He was one of the guys, one of the people you'd expect to see at the local track," said one bracket racer who competed against Conrad many times over the years at places such as Lions Drag Strip, Orange County International Raceway and Brotherhood Raceway in the LA Harbor area. "I like to think he made me a better driver by our competing against each other".
Irwindale Speedway is best-known to many racing fans nationally as home to a 1/2 mile oval track which draws some of the top names in the oval racing sports, including NASCAR star Tony Stewart. The track management established the 1/8-mile dragstrip, which is sanctioned by the NHRA, in answer to the huge demand for such tracks by sportsman drag racers of all ages, and in an attempt to help get some of the area's huge numbers of illegal street racers off the public roads and on a safe and professionally-run track.
Conrad leaves one sister and a son and daughter, according to acquaintances.
One of Conrad's friends, Al Murawski, of Long Beach, CA, and also a regular at the tracks of the area, and known nationally, too, said that Conrad apparently suffered a heart attack while "staging", or preparing to start, his 1983 Ford Mustang on the starting line for the closely-timed competition of a bracket race on the 1/8th mile track which has been created in the parking lot at the Irwindale facility. "All we know for sure is that he was dead before he got to the hospital," Murawski told a reporter. Conrad also owned a 1969 Mustang; his friend Murawski races a 1972 model.
"He was on the start line, using a trans brake (which allows the driver to make an especially quick start) which he released, probably when he had the attack, and the car took off," said Murawski. "His car started in the left lane, skidded down the wall almost the entire eighth mile, then suddenly turned hard right, crossed that lane, and hit head-on into the opposite wall".
Murawski also said that Conrad, whom he described as "kind of a loner", had not been in good health over recent months. Conrad was known to be a heavy smoker, said others who knew him well.
Conrad was part of the huge sportsman racing classes of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), tens of thousands of amateur racers who participate at hundreds of race tracks around the nation for the fun and excitement of the competition, not for any potential "big money" paydays or some sort of magazine or TV exposure.
While the NHRA, which was recently sold for near $130 million to HD Partners, promotes their professional drivers as All-American and wealthy celebrities (such as 14-time Funny Car class champion John Force, whose family has participated in a popular cable reality show), the sportsman classes are considered by many to be "the heart and soul" of the sport of drag racing, according to one racing industry analyst.
"Racers like Conrad are the true shade-tree mechanics, the real hot rodders, the kind of people who started the sport of drag racing in the desert and then the airport runways of Southern California after World War Two. They'll trailer their beloved race car for two days and 500 miles to some small-town race track to participate in a few events which might last less than a minute all told over a weekend," according to veteran auto and racing industry journalist and analyst Steve Parker. "And they'll usually wind up 'eating' all their expenses, too. The fun comes not just in prepping and racing their cars, but in spending that time with friends and relatives."
"He was one of the guys, one of the people you'd expect to see at the local track," said one bracket racer who competed against Conrad many times over the years at places such as Lions Drag Strip, Orange County International Raceway and Brotherhood Raceway in the LA Harbor area. "I like to think he made me a better driver by our competing against each other".
Irwindale Speedway is best-known to many racing fans nationally as home to a 1/2 mile oval track which draws some of the top names in the oval racing sports, including NASCAR star Tony Stewart. The track management established the 1/8-mile dragstrip, which is sanctioned by the NHRA, in answer to the huge demand for such tracks by sportsman drag racers of all ages, and in an attempt to help get some of the area's huge numbers of illegal street racers off the public roads and on a safe and professionally-run track.
Conrad leaves one sister and a son and daughter, according to acquaintances.
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09-08-2007, 12:48 AM
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Originally Posted by DaGeneral
Yea, but it's not the notch-back convertible.
09-08-2007, 03:59 AM
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This just ruined my evening.
Ed was tall and fairly skinny.
He usually drove a red 69 mustang fastback
that was 460 powered. The 83 was also a red
mustang and was a hatchback and the last time
I saw that car out it was a friend of his driving it.
I haven't been to the thursday evening
irwindale drags in about 2 months because
in the summer time it just gets too busy.
My normal routine had me pitting with him almost
every time I go on thursdays. He would always
beat me into the pits so I would wander over
after tech and ask if he had room for me over there.
He always said yes.
The description of a long beard and around 5'7"
is my friend John. He is a longtime friend of Ed's(many decades)
and the reason I met him probably a decade or more ago.
He will be missed by many.
Gary
Ed was tall and fairly skinny.
He usually drove a red 69 mustang fastback
that was 460 powered. The 83 was also a red
mustang and was a hatchback and the last time
I saw that car out it was a friend of his driving it.
I haven't been to the thursday evening
irwindale drags in about 2 months because
in the summer time it just gets too busy.
My normal routine had me pitting with him almost
every time I go on thursdays. He would always
beat me into the pits so I would wander over
after tech and ask if he had room for me over there.
He always said yes.
The description of a long beard and around 5'7"
is my friend John. He is a longtime friend of Ed's(many decades)
and the reason I met him probably a decade or more ago.
He will be missed by many.
Gary
09-10-2007, 09:02 PM
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I was standing in front of Ed's Mustang waiting to get a burnout shot. When it seemed to be taking a little too long for him to pull in, I looked to see what he was doing. I could see him facing upward and at first thought he was checking gauges, but his car doesn't have a panel up there. Then I could see he was in some distress; his head was moving stiffly about and his eyes had a strange, vacant look. I went to see if he was ok, and just as I reached the door, he had a seizure and stiffened up--flooring the throttle! As I leaped out of the way, I tried to hit the cut-off switch, but couldn't reach it. He went down the track wide open in first gear, against the K-rail (where I had been standing) until near the end of the track where it nosed in to the K-rail and stayed, with tires blazing and engine screaming. The safety crew was a bit leery of approaching the car because it was still moving around a little. When they did get to the cut-off, it didn't kill the engine, so someone broke the drivers door window and reached in to kill the engine. They pulled him from the car, removed his helmet, and began CPR, but from what I understand it was to no avail. Doctors at Arcadia Methodist Hospital attempted to revive him, but they say he was basically dead before he tapped the wall.
He was a hell of a nice guy who died doing the only thing he really cared about. I guess it wouldn't be a bad way to go out.
All the other stories are not quite true--I know, I was the only one standing there except for a new fire crew guy who, I don't believe is familiar with drag racing.
I have a page of photos on my site dedicated to Ed:
http://bowtie0069.fotki.com/ed-conrad/
Feel free to leave comments and stories of Ed
He was a hell of a nice guy who died doing the only thing he really cared about. I guess it wouldn't be a bad way to go out.
All the other stories are not quite true--I know, I was the only one standing there except for a new fire crew guy who, I don't believe is familiar with drag racing.
I have a page of photos on my site dedicated to Ed:
http://bowtie0069.fotki.com/ed-conrad/
Feel free to leave comments and stories of Ed
09-11-2007, 12:14 PM
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Originally Posted by bowtie0069
I was standing in front of Ed's Mustang waiting to get a burnout shot. When it seemed to be taking a little too long for him to pull in, I looked to see what he was doing. I could see him facing upward and at first thought he was checking gauges, but his car doesn't have a panel up there. Then I could see he was in some distress; his head was moving stiffly about and his eyes had a strange, vacant look. I went to see if he was ok, and just as I reached the door, he had a seizure and stiffened up--flooring the throttle! As I leaped out of the way, I tried to hit the cut-off switch, but couldn't reach it. He went down the track wide open in first gear, against the K-rail (where I had been standing) until near the end of the track where it nosed in to the K-rail and stayed, with tires blazing and engine screaming. The safety crew was a bit leery of approaching the car because it was still moving around a little. When they did get to the cut-off, it didn't kill the engine, so someone broke the drivers door window and reached in to kill the engine. They pulled him from the car, removed his helmet, and began CPR, but from what I understand it was to no avail. Doctors at Arcadia Methodist Hospital attempted to revive him, but they say he was basically dead before he tapped the wall.
He was a hell of a nice guy who died doing the only thing he really cared about. I guess it wouldn't be a bad way to go out.
All the other stories are not quite true--I know, I was the only one standing there except for a new fire crew guy who, I don't believe is familiar with drag racing.
I have a page of photos on my site dedicated to Ed:
http://bowtie0069.fotki.com/ed-conrad/
Feel free to leave comments and stories of Ed
He was a hell of a nice guy who died doing the only thing he really cared about. I guess it wouldn't be a bad way to go out.
All the other stories are not quite true--I know, I was the only one standing there except for a new fire crew guy who, I don't believe is familiar with drag racing.
I have a page of photos on my site dedicated to Ed:
http://bowtie0069.fotki.com/ed-conrad/
Feel free to leave comments and stories of Ed
Kevin & Brenda
