Bob, Thanks for the information and comments, well said. I certainly
found Ed to be a great resource when I started vintage racing 15 years
ago. Our paths haven't crossed often in recent years. I was disappointed
when he didn't make it to Lake Texoma last fall for the national meet. I
hope the auto wreck that prevented his attendance didn't contribute to
his death. He had enough other health issues.
??? - Larry
On 9/14/2017 10:37 AM, Bob Kramer via Fot wrote:
>
> FOT
>
> I?m not on the FOT list so I do not know if this news has made it to
> the community. I saw on on?Facebook last night that Ed Barnard passed
> away unexpectedly?Monday?night. I knew he had a complicated medical
> situation but I don't know what happened. He leaves behind a blended
> family including Willie and Josh who we've met many times at the track
> and a bunch of folks who relied on him for everything from tech advice
> to restoring cars. He will be missed at the track and in the Triumph
> community.
>
> I first met Ed via the South Central VTR Regionals. I was still in the
> start up phase of the Hill Country Triumph Club, and combining roles
> as club president and doing the dot matrix printed RAGTOP monthly. I
> didn't know Ed at the time as but all the clubs shared newsletters and
> Ed handled the duties for the Red River Triumph Club. We had
> occasionally communicated about the various events going on around the
> state. I think he worked for Jeff Sloan?s British Auto Specialists at
> the time and was still racing his Spitfire. Anyway, in the?RRTC
> newsletter, Ed had said some disparaging?things about TR7's and being
> a defender of all things Triumph I called him to task for it. We were
> still a very small club at the time. Austin was in the early stages of
> massive growth and our younger demographics meant that we had a number
> of members with TR7's and 8's. We met and talked it out at the
> regional held in Houston and became friends. He was mostly kidding
> about the TR7's. I'm sure they grew on him over time as they have for
> pretty much everyone else.
>
> I really didn't get to know Ed until I started racing with CVAR. He
> was always at TWS helping in a variety of ways. He helped racers,
> helped the club and having an affinity for Triumphs?he migrated to the
> Triumph pits daily. I always found it humorous, and I hope I don't
> offend anyone here, that some guys loved the work that Ed did on their
> race cars?and some, rightfully or not, ?blamed him for the stuff that
> went wrong. The same guys, in a different year, might trade places and
> opinions about Ed's workmanship. The truth is he was a great resource.
> It's racing, stuff breaks. It isn't easy and you know what, if we are
> honest we know that we screw stuff up all the time in racing. Move on
> and smile, that's what Ed did.
>
> As the years went by I drove many a lap around?TWS knowing that Ed was
> on a corner cheering on the Triumphs. We are not pro racers. Nobody is
> keeping stats. We race mostly for our own satisfaction and maybe to
> earn a little respect inside our clan. If you haven't ever raced you
> don't know the how it feels to get a race car with competitors all
> around you. Even after you've done it a hundred times the doubts and
> nerves still creep in. ?You get a little sick to your stomach;
> probably from influxes of anticipation driven adrenaline. The whistle
> blows, we start the cars and during the pace lap it all gets replaced
> with focus. We are supposed to check out the flag stations on that lap
> but I don't ever recall seeing Ed, ?but on the cool down lap there he
> would be, clapping his hands in approval.
>
> That's how I will remember Ed.
>
> Bob Kramer
>
>
>
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