JOE CONROY, USAC WINNING CAR OWNER, PASSES AT 87
Speedway, Indiana (January 14, 2019)………Joe Conroy, who’s distinctively bright orange racecars were mainstays on the USAC Silver Crown and National Sprint Car trails throughout the 1980s and 90s, passed away on January 13. He was 87 years old.
Conroy, a native of Cleveland, Ohio was a veteran of the United States Air Force and served in the Korean War. It was when he was stationed in Montana that he began his racing career as a driver, mechanic and car owner.
In 1982, Conroy and co-owner Ollie Feuerstein reached victory lane for the first and only time in the USAC Silver Crown series under the Jo-Ol Racing team banner and driver Larry Dickson at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield.
Conroy was most notably associated with driver Tony Elliott who made 47 starts together in the Silver Crown series, finishing a best of 2nd at both Du Quoin, Ill. and Eldora Speedway in 1992.
It was the following year in the USAC National Sprint Car division in which Conroy and Elliott would find their breakthrough, winning on Independence Day Eve in 1993 at Marne, Michigan’s Berlin Raceway. In 1998, Elliott was driving Conroy’s pavement car on the afternoon he clinched his first career USAC National Sprint Car driving title.
Conroy’s contributions to the sport are numerous, sponsoring drivers and teams and, in 1997, he invented and patented the racing device, Conroy Pneu Control.
Services for Joseph will be held at a later date. The family suggests donations be made in Joseph’s name to his favorite charity, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, https://www.stjude.org/donate/donate-to-st-jude. Arrangements have been entrusted to Carlson Funeral Homes & Cremation Services, 6421 Pearl Road, Brunswick, OH, 44212.