Comments on: Jerry Grant: The First Over 200 MPH

By: Victor Weeks

Victor Weeks — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 07:59:27 +0000

Jerry was my uncle.
I have lots of great memories growing up. He’d take us kids (his two daughters and his sister’s kids…my brother and me) motorcycle riding. We’d follow him on our mini bikes. Picture a big guy with a cut off sleeve swet shirt on his big ass Triumph dirt tracker…and a group of little kids following close by.
He’d take us to the drag races at Irwindale and Orange county and when he’d be racing at Riverside or Ontario he’d all ways make time to take us kids and introduce us to all the drivers. Now that I look back we met some of the all time greats.
Before I moved away from California he took me motorcycle riding…just he and I. I was about 20 then…one of my best rides ever. That was 30 years ago.
Over the years I had limited contact with Jerry, maybe every three years or so when I was in California. Last year I made sure I spent some quality time with him and we spent a nice day together. I’ve become a real race fan over the years and wanted him to tell me his story…what a story teller…what a great day.
The last time I talked to Jerry was after last years Indy 500. I called him to ask what he thought of the Dario/Sato finish. As usual he was more interested in what I thought and told me he viewed races differently than a fan.
He loved racing and after retiring from racing, loved motorcycle riding. Kind of feel I missed out on some great rides with my Uncle.
Sure going to miss you Uncle Jerry.

By: Mark Wick

Mark Wick — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 12:22:20 +0000

I mostly remember Jerry Grant because of his attempts never to let anyone see the top of his head. He was one of three drivers, Dick Simon and Bobby Rahal being the other two that were, or were going bald and wanted to hide that fact. It is interesting that I noticed that back then. I’m not sure, but it may have been about that time that I knew I was undergoing the same process.
1972 was my first race as an accredited member of the media. I covered the race that year for The Indiana Daily Student.

By: Reno

Reno — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 17:59:19 +0000

Jerry was a good one.

By: Ron Ford

Ron Ford — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 14:04:37 +0000

That’s pretty funny:) I will have to search out one of the photos you refer to.

By: Ron Ford

Ron Ford — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 14:02:58 +0000

Good Morning George,

I can’t really add anything to what you have provided about Jerry Grant, but I found it interesting that you attended the 1992 500 after a long absence as that mirrors my experience. I attended most races in the 50′s and 60′s, but did not get back until 1992 as a guest of my uncle and with my daughter and nephew. At that point my uncle had attended 33 straight races. The night before that race it rained so hard that I could have floated my canoe down the street in Broadripple where my uncle lived.

The race began on a very cold, clean track and I would guess that most of your readers know the rest of the story including the famous battle between Al Jr. and Scott Goodyear for the win. We were sitting at the short chute at the end of turn one. There were some bad crashes there and I will never forget just how frighteningly fast the cars would come screeching at us and into the wall with a loud bang and with parts flying everywhere.

Thanks for filling our time as we wait patiently (?) for the next race.

By: billytheskink

billytheskink — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 14:01:51 +0000

The first two options in the poll are what people ought to first remember about Jerry Grant, but I first noted him for different reasons.
I was not yet around for Grant’s driving career, so all of my memories of him come from reading and seeing old photographs in Indy 500 books. As with most non-winning 500 drivers, the best, and most common, photos of them and their cars were their qualifying photos and those pictures are the first thing I remember about Jerry Grant. Grant’s qualifying photos were memorable to me because in most of them he’s doing two things unique compared to the rest of the grid’s photos.

First, he’s one of a handful of drivers to raise his hand as if to wave to the camera and second, he would pull his headsock off his face but leave it on his head for the photo.
I have read that he may have done the latter because he was losing his hair and did not wish to show his head uncovered. As a kid looking at fairly small photos in a history book, I thought the headsock bunched up on top of Grant’s head looked like a bandage, and wondered why he was allowed to race with an apparently bad head wound.