Jerry Grant, who had a highly successful and diverse racing career during the 1960s and 1970s both nationally and internationally, has died. Grant was the first man to ever turn a racing competition lap with an average speed of more than 200mph. He accomplished this feat in September of 1972 at the long defunct Ontario Motor Speedway. His steed for this accomplishment was the “Mystery Eagle” out of the Dan Gurney camp. Powered by a turbocharged Offenhauser engine, it actually hit 241mph at peak velocity on the 200mph average lap. According to previous reports and interviews with Grant, John Miller, who was the chief mechanic tweaked the waste gate and told Grant to short shift the car because it was going to be a handful to drive. Sideways coming out of virtually every turn and roasting the tires long into the straights, it was the perfect mix of the untamed car and the fearless driver that added up to racing immortality for Grant and the achievement of a mark all of his contemporaries were trying to break.

Like most top flight shelf drivers of his day, Grant drove everything from sports cars to open wheelers, to stock cars, to Can Am, and Trans Am cars. His association with Dan Gurney was long and definitely contributed to his success and recognition in the sport. He certainly earned his spot and kept himself competing at a very high level for the duration of his career and being with Gurney’s operation kept him in good equipment.

Grant’s career began like so many. He was a hot rodder and drag racer in the Pacific Northwest. While he enjoyed drag racing and ripping around town in a variety of vehicles that included an old straight eight Buick, and both a ’32 and ’40 Ford, he was fascinated by the sports car scene and road racing. His first road racing car was actually a ’40 Ford that spent lots of time sideways, providing the Grant the instincts and education that allowed him to be so successful in ever faster equipment as time went by.

While we firmly believe remembrances like this one should highlight the positives and successes in a career like Grants, there is one disappointment that bears mentioning. At the 1972 Indy 500, Grant was the man. He was in the lead and when coming down to the final laps, the finish seemed to be a forgone conclusion. Grant then had a tire start to go down, so he pitted. The stop was a disaster. He rolled into the wrong pit box, which cost extra time, and then the pit crew for Bobby Unser’s team, which was the box he stopped in, splashed a minute amount of fuel in the car, breaking a weird rule that states a car cannot be fueled with another team’s jug. Despite the fact that Grant left the pits and finished ahead of Mark Donohue for the win, it was not awarded to him. Race officials negated his last 12 laps and dropped him all the way out of the top 10. Grant is on record saying that it was one of the greatest disappointments of his career and life.

Jerry Grant won over 130 races in his career. For more than a decade he was one of the finest racing drivers in the world. Most importantly, he lived through one of the deadliest eras in motorsports while at the wheel of cars that killed people on a regular basis, despite their level of talent and the number of trophies they had won.

After leaving the driver’s seat, Grant became the head of racing for Champion Spark Plugs where he served for several decades with great success. He was both a giant in the sense of his driving career, but also a giant in the racing business though his work with Champion. By all accounts he was a fine man who loved talking about the good old days and still had a bunch of neat toys to hot rod around in during his later years.

Jerry Grant, another legendary name that has joined the grid at the great race track in the sky. Think he’s driving that turbo Offy powered Gurney Eagle? Maybe one of the FIA Cobras he raced? Hell, this list could roll for a while. Safe to say, the man is hauling ass in something epic.

Chad and I both send our thoughts to the family of Jerry Grant. An amazing driver and a fine man.