PR-Famous Promoter Ed Otto Set History in Motion that Lives Today
"For the First Time! Foreign v. American Stock Cars!" So read the advertisement that Ed Otto penned to promote the 1953 International 200 NASCAR Grand National, now Sprint Cup, race at Langhorne (Pa.) Speedway. Four years before Toyota imported its first car to America, then-NASCAR Vice President Otto was running NASCAR's 'new' cars against foreign cars at Langhorne Speedway; so this week's race is old news. The actions of this motorsports pioneer still reverberate through the sport today.
Flashing forward, Toyota joined NASCAR's premier division in 2007 and won its first race in March, 2008 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway. The Japanese juggernaut captured its second win this past weekend at Martinsville, Vir. While few might immediately recognize his impact on these monumental victories by Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, Ed Otto's presence was very real at both locations.
Newcomers might believe that the two Toyota victories are the first for a foreign-owned manufacturer. However, historians know that honor belongs to Jaguar in 1954. Digging deeper, one learns that, like so many of NASCAR's historic moments, super- promoter Otto was at the heart of this monumental happening and the events that set its stage.
After promoting the 1953 Langhorne event, Otto spawned the idea to even the playing field with a road course race one year later. Staging and promoting the race on a temporary circuit laid out at the Linden (N.J.) Airport on June 13, Al Keller took the first victory for a non-domestic manufacturer in Sprint Cup driving a Jaguar XK-120 Coupe. As time marched on, history has begun to repeat itself showing Otto's early vision held strength for over 50 years.
Ed Otto left NASCAR 45 years ago and passed-away in 1996. He joined the fledgling sanctioning body's original owners group in 1949, as a silent partner, with a 20 percent stake. In 1954, that share grew to 40 percent making Otto an equal partner with Bill France, Sr. in NASCAR. He sold his shares to France in 1963.
A new book, Ed Otto, NASCAR's Silent Partner, looks into this and many more of motorsports' golden moments during Otto's stay from the 1930s through the 1970s. The first "foreign invasion" is detailed on pages 75-78 of the 197 page volume.
Otto was a true pioneer of auto racing bringing some of the greatest innovations the sport has ever known. The use of television to broadcast races, the chartering of airplanes to transport race cars from one event to another, the first NASCAR race out of the country (July 1, 1952 at Stamford Park, Niagara Falls, Canada), NASCAR's first race at Watkins Glen (1957) and promoting "The King" Richard Petty's first NASCAR Grand National race (1958 at CNE in Toronto) all came to be because of Otto.
The hardbound book, which launched the week of the 50th Anniversary Daytona 500, is available directly from publishers Coastal 181. The biography, written by Otto's son, Edgar, and Joann Biondi, has enjoyed significant interest and accolades from historians and major motorsports "players" alike.
Ed Otto, NASCAR's Silent Partner helps tell the real story of the time and how it influenced the events of today. In addition to the true, behind-the-scenes tales are insightful interviews with Petty, Junior Johnson, Mel Larson, Francis Flock, Cotton Owens, Hershel McGriff, Humpy Wheeler, Jay Signore, Linda Vaughn and others. The work enjoys never before or seldom seen pictures from NASCAR's earliest days as well as rare images from Otto- promoted events across North America.
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