Ed Negre, who fielded the car Dale Earnhardt drove in his first start in NASCAR’s premier series, died Wednesday in a Hospice care center in Longview, Washington. He was 86. Without drivers such as Negre, who started 338 races in NASCAR’s top series from 1955-79, the fields in NASCAR Cup Series races would have seemed mighty skimpy during the 1970s. Negre, Baxter Price, Frank Warren, Walter Ballard and other ‘independents’ without heavy sponsorship assured that there would be full fields at most events, usually meaning competition all the way around the tracks. Racing his own Dodges mostly out of a shop in Concord, NC, Negre posted four top five finishes and 26 top 10s. His best finish was fourth in a 150-lap race at Portland Speedway in Oregon in 1956, an event won by NASCAR Hall Of Famer Herb Thomas (see his stats at racing-reference.info). Negre is perhaps best known for providing a car to a young, shy, long-haired driver from Kannapolis named Earnhardt for his first Cup Series start, at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 25, 1975 in the World 600. Earnhardt finished 22nd that day, Negre was 32nd. After retiring from racing, Negre returned to the Northwest fulltime in ’79 and founded Bee Line Truck in Kelso/Longview. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Faye, four daughters and a son, Norman, who lives in Concord. At Ed’s request there was to be no service, but his body cremated and the ashes placed with his Samples grandparents’ remains at Longview Memorial Park. Memorials may be made to Community Health and Hospice, P.O. Box 2067, Longview, Wash., 98632 or to a hospice of choice.(full story at the Charlotte Observer)
