APOLLO, Pa. — Dirt-track racing lost a legend on Friday.
Jean Lynch, one of the first women inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, has died. Sprint car racer Sye Lynch confirmed his grandmother’s death in a Facebook post on Saturday. She was 88 years old.
Outside of driving, Jean Lynch performed just about any role that an individual could in the racing world. She worked as a scorer for NASCAR, CART and Indianapolis Motor Speedway and as an official for various sanction sanctioning bodies, including DIRT and the All Star Circuit of Champions.
Jean was also a board member for the All Stars for many years and coordinator of Ohio Sprint Speedweek.
She spent many years managing the East Bay Winternationals and also was general manager at Tri-City Speedway, Sharon Speedway and West Virginia Motor Speedway. She promoted events at several other race tracks.
Lynch, who took her first job in racing in 1968, was also active as a publicist, primarily for events she promoted and was a frequent contributor to motorsports publications, including National Speed Sport News.
Jean was preceded in death by her husband Ed Lynch Sr. who was successful modified racer in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. He won 27 sprint car races and 113 modified features.
Their son, Ed Jr. raced sprint cars and won 105 features at Pennsylvania’s Lernerville Speedway. His son, Sye, currently races with the All Star Circuit of Champions.
In addition to Ed Jr., Jean had a daughter Jill, and Sye Lynch is one of four grandchildren.
Jean Lynch was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2013. She’s also a member of the Pittsburgh Circle Track Hall of Fame, DIRT Motorsports Hall of Fame and Lernerville Speedway Hall of Fame.