This decorated NASCAR driver quietly married his husband & people are just finding out about it

Ed Flemke Jr. was one of the most successful pro auto racers of his era. The son of a legendary racer and car builder, Flemke Jr. won nearly 20 career races and was a runner-up in points twice during his decorated career.

Yet when he married his long-time partner and became the only known out winner of a NASCAR-sponsored event, the historic news received little fanfare.

Ed Flemke Jr. and Christopher Barone-Flemke tied the knot in 2022, at a venue in bucolic Connecticut. The setting provided the quintessential New England backdrop to a love story that fell beneath the radar.

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The affair was blurbed in a local LGBTQ+ publication called CT Voice, which referenced the ceremony as part of a story about inclusive wedding venues in the Nutmeg State. Then there wasn’t another discernible peep, until a queer racing super fan did some well-meaning sleuthing.

Jordan Fixsen, who’s written about his love of NASCAR on our sister site Outsports, shared the article this past weekend on social media.

“Holy sh*t, there’s a queer nascar winner,” he wrote in apparent astonishment.

Dubbed “Red America’s Favorite Sport,” NASCAR rivals the all-encompassing popularity of college football in parts of the South and Midwest. The sport has a conservative fan base and mixed track record on LGBTQ+ inclusion.

This past June, NASCAR was the only major sports organization that didn’t reference Pride Month, despite previously celebrating the occasion. Three years ago, the racing league started Pride with an opaque apology to its LGBTQ+ fans, reportedly over hosting antigay Texas Gov. Greg Abbott at a major event.

In a sign of our regressive and reactionary times, NASCAR didn’t think twice when it invited the president this year to pace the track at Daytona 500, the sport’s signature race.

Still, there are a few out active pro drivers. Zach Herrin, an auto racing prodigy, competes in the NASCAR-sponsored ARCA Menards Series (NASCAR acquired ARCA, the Automobile Racing Club of America, in 2018).

Devon Rouse, a pro dirt track racer, has participated in two NASCAR-sanctioned events. Heart throb Travis Shumake, meanwhile, is gaying up the other kind of drag race. With a sponsorship from Grindr, he competes in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA).

He’s spoken candidly about the vitriol he’s encountered, including from members of the Westboro Baptist Church.

“I definitely had taken some tough beatings in the beginning,” Shumake told the LA Times. “I think I’ve earned my stripes, if that’s the right word for it. I kind of finally showed up on the racetrack and that silenced some of the critics.”

Internationally, the best known out racer is Formula 1 champ Ralf Schumacher, who publicly came out as gay in 2024 at 49.

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For fans of the Whelen Modified Tour, however, Flemke Jr. is a household name. His career spanned three decades from 1988 to 2013, and he won 17 races.

A stock car series owned by NASCAR, the Whelen Modified Tour is the oldest division in the sport. It was part of NASCAR’s creation in 1947.

Open-wheeled and boxy, the cars are much different than their better known counterparts in the NASCAR Cup Series. The Cup Series is the highest level of the sport.

At this point, Flemke is arguably the accomplished out pro racer in NASCAR history. We wish him and his partner nothing but happiness and eternal joy.

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