GERRY VANTREIGHT 2006 INDUCTEE

Being born into a racing family whose numerous members could trace their lineage back to the days of Langford Speedway, Gerry Vantreight was pretty much destined to also get involved which in his case included getting behind the wheel of a racecar. Not only did he, but he managed to skip one of the time honoured steps that most drivers take, proving that some people are just born to drive a very fast and very powerful car right from the start.

First slipping behind the wheel of the Super Modified built by his talented and veteran car builder Dad Bob without having done time in the entry level racing classes of jalopies and/or Stockcars, Gerry none the less quickly familiarized himself and along with guidance from the car’s regular driver, veteran Al Smith, Gerry at age twenty-four appeared in five races in 1977 on the Canadian American Modified Racing Association (CAMRA) circuit as a total rookie and was an instant success. In his debut at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe Washington, he won the “B” trophy dash, was third in his heat race and placed fifth in the “A” main event. Also competing with the Washington Racing Association (WRA) he ended that first season in twelfth place in WRA points standings which was only one position behind his mentor, Al Smith.

Over the next year and a half, Gerry honed his skills and gained the necessary driving experience to be a solid contender on the CAMRA circuit. He was the fastest qualifier for the 1979 Daffodil Cup race at Western Speedway but was forced out of that race due to mechanical problems. The following CAMRA race in Victoria was the Strawberry Cup where he again set fast time and won the “A” dash, came third in his heat and then won the fifty lap feature. In the seasons that followed he campaigned throughout the Pacific Northwest and scored numerous top ten finishes.

In 1983 he was involved in a major crash at Portland’s Rose City Speedway where he hit the wall at one hundred and thirty miles per hour but escaped with a broken collar bone, nerve damage in his neck and a car that was about five feet shorter than it had been before the accident. This was a most unfortunate turn of events as he had been sitting in second spot in the CAMRA points standings.

In 1985 Gerry was crowned the USAC Northwest Champion and the following season he placed third in points for the year. In 1988 he ran five races in three different cars and picked up a third and fourth place finish. After competing in cars built by his father, his team purchased an eight hundred and seventy horsepower methanol-powered machine for the 1989 Northwest Super Modified Racing Association season. In subsequent years he drove for the Veenstra family out of Boise Idaho.