Hall of Famer Dixon passes at 68
Hall of Fame racer Ed Dixon, whose three-wheeling, wall-scraping exploits at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 highlighted a career of more than 600 multidivisional victories and three UMP Super Late Model weekly championships, died this morning after a lengthy battle with cancer. The 68-year-old Dixon passed away at a hospice center in his hometown of Washington, Mo. | Slideshow
Dixon’s death was reported by STLRacing.com after receiving information from Dixon’s son, Daniel Dixon.
Dixon, a 2004 National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame inductee, captured United Midwestern Promoters titles in 1994, 1999 and 2000 and was a five-time division runner-up.
Dixon was a multitime track champion among eight dirt tracks, mostly at St. Louis, Mo.-area ovals, including I-55, Godfrey (Ill.) Speedway and Belle-Clair Speedway in Belleville, Ill., and a five-time winner on the DIRTcar Summer Nationals circuit, three times at I-55. He was also a five-time winner of I-55’s Pepsi Nationals.
Along with piloting his own No. 50, Dixon had stints for team owners Charlie Barzoff of B Auto Parts, Peoria, Ill.-based Allen Automotive, Tiffany Motorsports and P.J. Passiglia's Highside Motorsports.
Dixon’s 620 career victories came in modified, sportsman, Late Model and ARCA competition, including an ARCA triumph in 1995 at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb. He finished fourth in ARCA points in 1996 in a Barzoff-backed entry. His richest Dirt Late Model victories came with five-figure paydays at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill. (’98), the Summer Nationals at I-55 (’00) and State Fair Raceway in Yakima, Wash. (’03).
The lively and always-smiling Dixon, often at the center of postrace gatherings in the pits, was primarily a weekly racer but enjoyed travels that gave him victories among eight states overall.
“It kinda puts a perspective on where the hell I really stand,” Dixon said in a 2000 interview. “Sometimes you feel like you’re doing real well, and then you go race with (traveling professionals), and it kinda puts you back down. But you can learn something when you run with them guys, which makes it easier when you come back to your local track.”
Dixon’s career spanned from 1972-2014 with his first victory coming in Farmington, Mo., and his final triumph in 2012 at Belle-Clair in the Mike Meurer Memorial.
Along with his son Danny and his wife Margo, Dixon is survived by his father Mel Dixon and stepmother Carol and with his sister Sharon Dixon Jennings and her husband Art Jennings. Also surviving are two grandchildren. Millard Family Chapels is handling arrangements.
Editor's note: Additional information provided by Jimmy Dearing of STLRacing.com.
