Ed Stauffer

SprintCarUnlimited.com continues its list of the Top 25 Crew Chiefs since 1990 with central Pennsylvania legend Ed Stauffer. The No. 23 crew chief was a major player before the start date of this list and throughout most of the 1990s.

Accomplishments: Stauffer, who won the 1988 Williams Grove Speedway title with Steve Stambaugh, hooked up with Fred Rahmer in 1991. The pair clicked right away, earning 17 wins in their first season together in the Apple Chevrolet machine. Over the next four years, Rahmer and Stauffer registered 78 more victories, including a 24-win season in 1993. The team split in 1996, and over the next two and a half years, Keith Kauffman, Kevin Gobrecht, Tim Shaffer, and Greg Hodnett sat in the iconic seat. Stauffer, who succumbed to cancer in 1998, finished with over 100 wins in nine years, four Pennsylvania Speedweek titles with Rahmer, and a fifth with Kauffman.

Ed Stauffer, far left, with Kenny Weld and car-owner Bob Weikert. (Photo courtesy of Barry Skelly)

Did You Know: In a time when innovation mattered, Ed Stauffer was ahead of the curve. When Fred Rahmer was driving the Apple Chevrolet car, Stauffer and his son Lee built a motor dyno in a 40-foot trailer that was kept in an airplane hangar. Said Rahmer, “One year, we clearly had an advantage, and Ed and Lee built the motors. They had their own Dyno, so they had an engine Dyno before most people had a shock Dyno. Ed had been around a long time and was open to new ideas. He always said, ‘If it bends crooked, it bends straight.’ Now if it bends crooked, you throw it out and buy a new one.”

Why Here: When you think of top-flight crew chiefs in central Pennsylvania Sprint Car history, Stauffer is a part of the conversation. Stauffer, who also paired with Kenny Weld in a Bob Weikert entry during his career, had a mix of wins — over 100 in our time frame — and showed innovation in a time when the crew chief was as important as the driver. Throw in Ed Stauffer mentoring his son Lee, who will appear on this list later, and you can understand his position among the best crew chiefs in the last 30 years.

They said it: “He could build anything from motors to anything he really wanted. He was a great machinist, and he worked with a lot of great people … Kenny Weld, Mackison, Grant King, you name it. He was totally dedicated. It was good times with him, and I respected Ed a lot.” — Sprint Car Hall of Fame driver and central Pennsylvania legend Fred Rahmer.