Bobby Gerhart Sr.

For his son Bobby Gerhart Jr., see Bobby Gerhart.
Bobby Gerhart Sr.
BornE. Robert Gerhart
October 4, 1935
Jonestown, Pennsylvania
DiedMay 26, 2004(2004-05-26) (aged 68)
Motorsport career
Debut season1954
Championships3
Wins300+

Robert "Bobby" Gerhart Sr. (October 4, 1935 – May 26, 2004) was an American race car driver, equally skilled at Modified, Supermodified, and Sprint car competition. He won three track championships and over 300 feature races in a career that spanned three decades.[1]

Racing career

Bobby Gerhart Sr. began racing stock cars at Silver Springs Speedway PA in 1954, and later mastered sprint cars and supermodifieds, becoming the 1967 supermodified champion at Susquehanna Speedway.[1][2][3] He claimed a total of 42 victories at Reading Fairgrounds Speedway and was the modified champion in 1969 and 1970.[1][4]

Gerhart Sr. won feature events at additional Pennsylvania tracks including the Circle M in Auburn, Hilltop in Myerstown, Lincoln Speedway, Penn National in Grantville, Selinsgrove Speedway, and Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg.[5][6][7][8]

Bobby Gerhart Sr. was inducted into Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame and the Eastern Motorsport Press Association Hall of Fame, as well as local Pennsylvania sports halls in Lebanon and York Counties.[1][9][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Falk, Jeff (June 16, 2004). "Gerhart driven by racing, but family was first". Lebanon Daily News. p. 13. Retrieved April 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Gerhart family celebrates 50 years of racing in '03; and it starts at Daytona". Lebanon, Pennsylvania: Automobile Racing Club of America. February 1, 2003. Archived from the original on June 24, 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  3. ^ Householder, Bryan (November 28, 2022). "Local racing season featured wide range of champions at different tracks". The York Dispatch. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  4. ^ "And now it's nine for Gerhart". Reading Eagle. August 30, 1969. p. 6. Retrieved April 23, 2024 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ "Bobby Gerhart wins at Selinsgrove oval". Lebanon Daily News. June 28, 1964. p. 13. Retrieved April 23, 2024 – via NewspaperArchive.
  6. ^ "Gerhart wins at speedway". The Gettysburg Times. September 19, 1966. p. 3. Retrieved April 23, 2024 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ "Anderson, Bobby Gerhart are 1, 2 again at Grove". Hanover Evening Sun. July 8, 1967. p. 9. Retrieved April 23, 2024 – via NewspaperArchive.
  8. ^ "Lebanon's Bobby Gerhart wins 2nd at Penn National". Lebanon Daily News. August 30, 1971. p. 15. Retrieved April 18, 2024 – via NewspaperArchive.
  9. ^ Boggie, Tom (April 2, 1993). "Shoemaker enters Dirt Hall of Fame". The Daily Gazette. Schenectady, NY. p. D6. Retrieved March 22, 2024 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ "Auto Racing". The Blade. Toledo, OH. December 27, 2001. p. C2. Retrieved April 23, 2024 – via Google Books.