Ed Otto, NASCAR's Silent Partner, a Biography Remembering One of Auto Racing's Great Promoters and NASCAR Owner

DAYTONA BEACH , Fla. , February 11, 2008 – Few fans of auto racing might know the name Ed Otto. However, it is safe to say the sport would be a very different place if it were not for the cigar-chewing, super-promoter from New Jersey. Now, through detailed research, interviews and personal memories, Ed Otto’s son Edgar and co-writer Joann Biondi introduce this little known motorsports leader in Ed Otto, NASCAR’s Silent Partner . In exploring Otto’s professional life, Ed Otto, NASCAR’s Silent Partner surveys the explosive years of auto racing from the 1930s through the 1970s, a time that set the stage for the phenomenal growth which NASCAR enjoys today. Ed Otto, NASCAR’s Silent Partner is available for purchase at www.Coastal181.com.

Otto was a true pioneer of auto racing, bringing some of the greatest innovations the sport has ever known. The dapper promoter, whose hallmark greeting was “Hello, Sucker”, was the first to utilize television to broadcast races, the first to incorporate airplanes to transport race cars from one event to another and he encouraged the use of shoulder harnesses in race cars. However, it is possible that his greatest mark was left on NASCAR. As one of the few “outsiders” to be invited into NASCAR’s inner-circle, Otto joined the stock car racing organization’s original owners group as a silent partner with a 20 percent stake in 1949. In 1954 that share grew to 40 percent making him an equal partner with Bill France, Sr. Otto held that role until leaving NASCAR in 1963.

Among his many accomplishments with NASCAR, Otto was the first to take the organization “national”, out of its traditional Southern roots. He was the first to promote a NASCAR race out of the country (July 1, 1952 at Stamford Park, Niagara Falls, Canada) and the first to promote a NASCAR race with foreign cars (Langhorne (PA) Speedway, July 21, 1953). Otto promoted NASCAR’s first road racing event which was held on a temporary course laid out at the Linden (N.J.) Airport (June 13, 1954) and its longest race, a 12 hour endurance event also on the Linden course (August 22, 1954). He promoted “The King” Richard Petty’s first Cup race in 1958 and NASCAR’s first visit to Watkins Glen. The underappreciated legend also sat side-by-side with “Big Bill” France 50 years ago this month when a neck-to-neck finish demanded the two partners determine the first winner of the Daytona 500 in 1959.

Otto’s innovations also extended to the business of NASCAR. He formulated the plan to take on the American Automobile Association (AAA) with the creation of the NASCAR Auto Association which provided travel benefits for national members. This move brought in much needed funds to the organization in its formative years. He also moved NASCAR into California by bringing promoter Bob Barkheimer into the fold in the 1950s.

Otto’s reach extended beyond stock car racing as well. It was a meeting between he and President Eisenhower which helped stem a federally-mandated ban on racing in 1955. Otto set a historic precedent in 1951 by stopping a unionization attempt by the AFL of race car drivers; a move which helped end future attempts to unionize NASCAR. Otto promoted the first motorsports event at Yankee Stadium (motorcycles) and the Polo Grounds in the Bronx. He brought the first Winter Nationals to Florida in the 1960s co-promoting the event under a joint NASCAR and Wally Parks banner. Ed Otto died in 1996 and was inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame in 2002.

Otto’s history and the history of the sport go hand-in-hand. Adding to the great variety of true, behind-the-scenes, little-known and long-forgotten stories are extensive and insightful interviews with Richard Petty, Junior Johnson, Mel Larson, Francis Flock, Cotton Owens, Hershel McGriff, Humpy Wheeler, Jay Signore, Linda Vaughn and many others. A read that is as quick as the races that Otto promoted, Ed Otto, NASCAR’s Silent Partner helps paint the real story of the time and how it influenced the events of today.

Ed Otto, NASCAR’s Silent Partner is being published by Coastal 181 and is available for sale at www.Coastal181.com.

A recipient of the Ernst & Young Florida Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Edgar Otto is the founder of more than a dozen businesses. He began racing at the age of 68—first in a Davy Allison 28 Busch Lumina and later in a Petty Dodge—and has competed in the stock car division of the Historic Sportscar Racing series at Sebring, Daytona, and Watkins Glenn. He lives in Boca Raton, Fla. with his wife Nina. For more information visit www.OttoMotorsports.com.

A former newspaper reporter and college professor, Joann Biondi is the author of ten books. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, Miami Herald, USA Todaywww.your-story.net., and National Geographic Traveler, among other outlets. She specializes in oral histories and biographies, and can be reached at

Located in Newburyport, Massachusetts, Coastal 181 opened for business in 2001 and is dedicated to offering racing books, videos and specialty items to the racing community.

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Photo Credits: Ed Otto Headshot (Otto Collection), Powder Puff Derby Winner (Susan Boudinot), Midget Match Race (Geraldine Bruner Barberi)