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[sramoa]

Anybody can give me information about Eddie Nicholson's racing career?(Where and when he raced)

 

I think he started his career in 1940 February/March,died in 1946 June at Milwaukee Mile IMCA event.

 

Thanks

[Michael Ferner]

Nicholson does, indeed, appear to have had a very short career. My first entry for him is September 1940, at the Clay County Fair IMCA races in Spencer, Iowa. He was described as an Emory Collins protégé, which could perhaps be understood to mean that he drove a "hand-me-down" from the old master, but I don't think Collins had more than one car at the time. Maybe he just helped with the preparation. The next year, Nicholson drove for Arlie Lake, brother of the deceased former AAA and IMCA driver, Roy Lake. The car was a pretty potent Miller, and Eddie did well with it, competing on the new National Speedways, Inc. circuit of ex-IMCA officials Al Sweeney and Gaylord White under CSRA sanction. He was a distant second to Collins in NSI points, and 10th overall in CSRA - not bad for a sophomore!

 

In 1942, he entered the limelight by purchasing the Gus Schrader/Offenhauser, one of the fastest cars in the country. It's difficult to see how he could have afforded the car with his race winnings alone, so he must've had a financial background. He ran a mixed season of CSRA and IMCA events, winning a couple of mains before the war ended the racing season halfway through the year. By that time, he was 9th in CSRA points, while the IMCA did not publish standings.

 

He resumed his racing in 1946 with NSI and the IMCA, finishing second to Collins at Cedar Rapids on Memorial Day, and then crashing during the second heat at the next event in Milwaukee, ten days later. If I recall correctly, he never regained consciousness and died within a fortnight.