Ed Pink, renowned in the racing world as “The Old Master,” was born in Los Angeles in 1931. Almost as soon as he could drive, he began participating in lakes racing on Southern California’s El Mirage dry lakebed in the Mojave Desert in a 1934 Ford coupe.
By 1961, Ed Pink Racing Engines (EPRE) focused on engine building full time, with the early support of drag racer “TV Tommy” Ivo. EPRE gained fame for its expertise with the 426 Hemi engine in Top Fuel racing and established a formidable reputation in Indy racing, where Pink developed the Buick V-6 program and enhanced Cosworth Racing efforts, leading to numerous IndyCar victories with multiple drivers.
His talents with the 426 Chrysler Hemi are legendary. They contributed to its development as the engine of choice among Top Fuel and later Funny Car teams in the growing NHRA drag racing series. Pink and rival Keith Black elevated drag racing through their dominant efforts within the sport.
He received countless accolades, but here are a few: induction into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2012, recognition from Engine Builder magazine as the inaugural “Performance Engine Builder of the Year” at the International Motorsports Industry Show in 2012, and induction into the SEMA Hall of Fame in 2018. During the 1990s, Ed became the leading engine builder for the USAC Midget Series, amassing eight championships and over 100 national event wins with drivers such as Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne. He reportedly built over 5,000 engines before selling his business in 2008 while continuing to work on consulting projects.
You will read plenty about Ed and drag racing, USAC Midget Series, and more, but here’s a good ol’ hot rod story you might not find anywhere else. We asked Roy Brizio to give us a hot rodder’s story on Ed:
Roy Brizio on Ed Pink
“I looked back when I met Ed Pink at Edelbrock. It was Vic Edelbrock Jr. who introduced me to Ed. You know that was in 2005, and then Ed told me about his car, which he’d had for 20 years, which Magoo (Dick Megugorac) started. Lil’ John Buttera convinced Ed to build one of the Magoo Model A highboy packages he was selling then. Ed was doing that in his garage, but he never finished it.
“After I met him with Vic, he asked me if I would be interested in seeing what Ed had, so I flew down there one day and said, ‘This is what we do every day, you know?’ This is no problem. And that’s kind of how it happened. Ed was a wonderful man. We had a lot of fun with that. I didn’t wear him out on it, but I always wondered why he didn’t do this many years ago and come to me or whatever.
“It was one of those deals where Vic invited me, Ed, Alex Xydias, and a couple of other friends to an event when he had gotten involved with the Robert E. Petersen Award. He asked me if I would accompany him, as I was his youngest friend, while Alex was his oldest friend, and Ed was in between. A couple of other people were there, so we went to dinner that night. I sat next to Ed, and that was when we first met. It was funny; I had never met Ed until then, and we developed a great friendship over the years. It’s too bad that Ed didn’t come to build an early hot rod sooner because he could’ve been doing his hot rod thing for at least 10 or 15 more years.
“Anyhow, he had a good run with the hot rods. He drove his car a lot, going to Canada twice with us and back and forth to Pleasanton at least three or four times. He drove his car. Like so many who have gone before and have yet to [die], Ed was a great hot rodder filled with passion for so many phases of our hobby. He was a gentleman and always willing to speak with younger hot rodders to stoke their passions.” MR
