At the age of 4, Gerry was introduced to auto racing by sitting on the family home’s kitchen counter and watching the racecars being towed by on the highway on their way to Nanaimo’s “Grandview Bowl”.
At age 14, he began helping out at the Grandview Bowl track as a cornerman in the 1st and 2nd turns. He carried a red and a yellow flag, watching the Starter’s post during races for either of his two flags to be displayed and then waving the correct one at approaching drivers. He next drove the cement or “crash” truck, cleaning up the oil and water from many accidents which enabled him to watch a host races from the infield which included the “International Drivers Challenge” series for Modifieds and for Super Stocks. Gerry later, due to his recovery from knee cartilage surgery, switched to operating the time trials clock in the tower at Grandview Bowl.
In 1976, He began flagging duties, assisting head starter Ken Ozero and the following year was elected Vice-President of the “Mid Island Auto Racing Association” (MIARA). That year he also crewed for Nanaimo Super Stock driver Dave Johnson in the “Island Series”.
For the 1978 season, Gerry assisted Dave in the building of a new Mercury “Cougar” Super Stock which he also crewed on, also crewing for Rob Davies. The following year he built a square tube Camaro front clip Super Stock with a Ford Mustang body that he raced the “Island Series”.
In 1981, having a liking for “Modified” cars, Gerry had Port Alberni’s Bill Vater build a rolling chassis for him which he completed and ran on a practice night at Grandview Bowl, unfortunately blowing the engine. Gerry subsequently parted the car out. From 1982 to 1985, He crewed for Earl Simpson and won 3 mechanic’s races in a row driving a Chevy “Nova”, crewed on Dan McLellan’s Nova and then was crew chief on Dave Emmerson’s Nova which ran in Nanaimo and at Saratoga and was in the top 5 in the point standings. Gerry borrowed a car and ran in the last stockcar race ever to be run at Grandview Bowl. He was then a crew member for both Clive Rompain and Tom Currie at Saratoga and also for Tom when he ran the last four meets at Cassidy Speedway in 1988.
In 1989 and 1990, Gerry was with Lance Wade on the “International Pro-Stock Series”, was flagman for the 1st Cassidy Speedway “Dirt Cup” and had the 1st meeting of the “Central Island Modified Association” in his kitchen in September. 1991 saw him fabricate 3 rolling modified chassis for Jack Mowatt, Don Banasky and himself and also win MIARA “Sportsman of the Year”. In 1992 he raced his modified at Cassidy where he won 2 trophy dashes and 2 main events, later selling the car to Wayne Heckford. He then hooked up again with Lance Wade as a “jack man”, assisting through the 1995 season. Gerry also retained his love of modifieds, building a new car in ’94 which he debuted at Skagit. He also helped Bill and Daphne Vater on the “Northwest Tour”.
In 1997 he stepped aside from driving, turning the wheel over to his son Ryan and with Gerry as crew chief, they ran until 2000. A highlight of 1998 was him crewing for the Wade’s “Winston West” car when it raced in the “Twin Ring Motegi” in Japan with Gary Smith driving. Gerry won “Mechanic of the Year” and “Sportsman of the Year” for modifieds in 1999. 2001 saw Gerry sell the modified and take a few years off. But he couldn’t stay away and in 2004 crewed for Otto Bohati on a Sportsman Late Model, racing many tracks in BC. Starting in 2010 and until 2015, Gerry was again with “Wade Racing” as crew chief, this time on a “Wilroc Lites” sprint car and in 2015 he was “Director of Competition” for 3 Wilroc sprint car races.
