JULY 7 GERHARDT CLASSIC AT MADERA SALUTES FAMILY’S 70-YEAR-PLUS RACING HISTORY

Madera, California………The July 7 “Gerhardt Classic” at Madera (Calif.) Speedway celebrates eight decades of auto racing history for the Madera family. Included in the day’s racing are events for USAC’s Western U.S. Speed2 Midgets under the direction of current series Competition Director Kevin Gerhardt, who also supervises the Speed2 entry for driver Blake Brannon, one of the series stalwarts and 2017 Dirt Rookie of the Year. The race also celebrates 47 years of racing at the Speedway which has hosted nearly 200 USAC events since the USAC debut in 1976.

Few families have devoted so much to our sport. From four generations of drivers to numerous historic racing vehicles, the family has truly earned its niche in the history of motorsports. Fred Gerhardt passed away nearly 18 years ago but his grandsons have assured his legacy with the 18th running of the “Gerhardt Classic”. Fred’s automobile history dates-back to his early says building hot rods in his father’s garage.

In 2010, Cody, for whose grandfather the “Gerhardt Classic” was originally named, earned three USAC racing championships of his own. He was the king of the Pavement, California North and California Pavement Ford Focus series. As such, he was among those individuals honored at USAC’s National Awards dinner in Indianapolis, Ind. The following year an Australian driver, Brodie Kostecki, posted 22 USAC wins in the Gerhardt entries on his way to three USAC titles.

The Gerhardt family’s involvement in the sport’s most spectacular event – the Indianapolis 500 – is well documented, from the 1960s through the1980s. Included was a great third-place finish by driver Mel Kenyon in 1968.

The Gerhardt family produced nearly 50 Indy cars during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s many earning starting berths in America’s greatest racing classic. Eight times Gerhardt chassis graced Indy car victory lanes between 1965 and 1970 with drivers Gordon Johncock, Gary Bettenhausen and Art Pollard.

Rick Gerhardt actually won USAC’s second race ever at Madera, a Midget race in 1985 (Sleepy Tripp won the first nine years earlier) and Cody won a 2014 Madera Midget feature!

Cody continues to carry on the Gerhardt tradition as the driver of a USAC Silver Crown Championship car with chief mechanic Kent Gerhardt.

One of Gerhardt’s earliest drivers was the great Bill Vukovich of Fresno, Calif., who won the 1950 National Midget championship and eventually raced to victories in the 1953 and 1954 Indianapolis 500s. Among Gerhardt’s earliest accomplishments was a victory in the 1948 Turkey Night Grand Prix in Los Angeles.

In 1977 Fred was honored as an inductee into the National Midget Hall of Fame.