One of the greats of NASCAR history died this morning in Bristol, Tennessee. Family members [say] team owner and car builder Ed Whitaker died just after 8:00am Friday. His teams posted 28 Nationwide Series races wins and was a three time winner at Bristol Motor Speedway. Whitaker is known for helping many of the biggest names in NASCAR get their start on the Nationwide Series. Looking over the names of previous drivers who drove for Whitaker you will find Dale Earnhardt, Mark Martin, Alan Kulwicki, Tim Richmond, and Davey Allison. BMS officials say Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s first Nationwide race at Bristol in 1997 was in an Ed Whitaker-owned car.(WCYB)
AND former NASCAR car owner Ed Whitaker, who earned 28 victories in the former Busch Series, died this morning [8-22-2014] at his Bristol, Va., home, according to business associate Peter Laura. Whitaker provided Dale Earnhardt, Jr., with his first ride at Bristol Motor Speedway in what is now known as the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 1997 and built machines for the late Dale Earnhardt, Alan Kulwicki and Davey Allison and other drivers like Harry Gant, Morgan Shepherd and Mark Martin. ‘He loved every driver that every got in one of his cars. They were family to him,’ Maxine Whitaker, Ed’s wife, said in an interview earlier this afternoon.(Bristol Herald Courier), see Whitaker’s record as an owner at Racing-reference.info.
