EARL BALMER, FLOYD KNOBS, INDIANA: One of the most accomplished driver’s in the Kentuckiana area, Earl Balmer came to FMS out of Floyd Knobs, Indiana. After racing at Sportsdrome and Fairgrounds Motor Speedway, he blazed the trail for newcomers from our area into the major leagues of NASCAR. He had a hard charging driving style that led him to some of NASCAR’s best racing teams of that era. In 1965, he was paired up with NASCAR teammate driver, Darel Deringer aboard a highly competitive Bud Moore Mercury for superspeedway events. He finished 4th in the “Daytona 500” in 1965 and later that year, place 2nd in the “World 600” at Charlotte. In 1966, he was tapped by Ray Fox to drive the #3 Dodge Charger for the Chrysler backed team at Daytona. He astonished everyone by winning one of the two qualifying events that gave him a front row starting spot for the “Daytona 500” that year. Later in the season, he found himself aboard the new Nord Krauskoph, K&K Insurance Dodge Charger. He would place 5th in the NASCAR “National 500”. He and Harry Hyde recommended Charlie Glotzbach to Krauskoph, giving “Chargin” Charlie his big NASCAR break. In 1967, the famed Woods Brothers invited Balmer to drive their Mercury in the “Rebel 400” at Darlington in his last event on the major league circuit. Earl came out of retirement in 1973, to substitute for an injured Jesse Baird and won several feature race events once again at Fairgrounds Motor Speedway in Jesse’s #9 Camaro. In this photo, Earl Balmer is competing in a Ford Galaxie (presuming it musta been an ARCA race) and it was sponsored by Delmonico Foods, one of the major stockholders of Fairgrounds Motor Speedway. Earl retired as a brick mason and in my last conversation with him in 1997 he still lived in Floyd Knobs. Ive lost contact with him since.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 03:37:43 +0000