Gerhart Turns 50 Going To Pocono;
To Make 39th Pocono ARCA RE/MAX Series Attempt
LONG POND PA (7-16-08) – If experience matters then ARCA RE/MAX Series veterans Bobby Gerhart and Frank Kimmel are leading the charge, especially when it comes to Pocono Raceway.
 There are 69 Pocono starts between the two veterans dating back 20 years when Gerhart, the 1988 SunTrust Rookie of the Year, made his first ARCA RE/MAX Series start at Pocono that ’88 season, finishing sixth. In Gerhart’s last Pocono attempt back in June, ’08, the Lebanon, Pennsylvania driver finished fourth. In all, Gerhart’s made 38 career RE/MAX Series starts at Pocono with a career-best finish of third in 2004.
“I’ve probably turned as many laps there as anyone; and I still enjoy it,” said Gerhart. “It’s a hundred miles from home; it’s unique; it’s different, and it’s certainly a challenge.”
While Pocono’s been good to Gerhart, it’s also been bad. It was in the tunnel turn where Gerhart had a near career-ending wreck in August of 2007, one that certainly ended his championship run. It wasn’t the first time Gerhart wrecked bad at Pocono.
“Had a bad wreck there somewhere back in the mid-80s in a Cup race that put me in intensive care for a week; but despite all that, I still love the place. It’s one of the tracks I certainly look forward to the most.”
In 20 years on the ARCA RE/MAX Series tour, Gerhart has always fielded his own equipment out of his Lebanon-based shop, which is located at his business – Bobby Gerhart Truck World. Gerhart acknowledges that fielding his own equipment is getting more challenging by the day, especially when truck sales, the core of his business, are way down.
“Despite the lousy economy, I’m feeling really good,” said Gerhart, who turns 50 on July 21st. “We’ve had to shift our business around to adjust to these tough economic times. I started getting into more of the auto sales a year ago. Whereas we had 10 to 20 cars a year ago, today we have probably 60 – and it’s mostly gas mileage stuff.
“Fortunately, despite lower sales, there’ll always be a need for trucks. Whether you’re working with one on a job site or pulling a trailer, people still need trucks.”
Gerhart, who not only fields his own equipment, often drives the team hauler to and from the races.
“Driving the hauler is actually one aspect of racing that I truly enjoy, oddly enough. It’s my time to be alone with my thoughts and evaluate, not only our racing program, but all the things important to me in my life. Driving the rig to Pocono is our shortest haul, but it’s always one of my favorites.”
However, prior to Pocono, Gerhart will steer for Kentucky Speedway this weekend for the Kentucky ARCA RE/MAX 150 Friday night.
“In one way, Kentucky will serve as a test for Pocono. We’ve got a new car for Kentucky. We’ve made some fairly drastic changes. If they work at Kentucky, we’ll take that same car to Pocono. If they don’t work, we have our Pocono car ready, the one we raced there in June.
“Pocono is such a unique layout; I think that’s why it’s so attractive to so many drivers. It’s not just me; you can ask most any driver, and they’ll tell you they love to drive the track.
“It’s a heavy downforce track because you need all the grip you can get; but you still have to get down the long frontstretch, so you always have to concern yourself with that. Then there are the corners, which are all different, and nearly impossible to set-up for. Best thing, I think, is to be pretty good in two corners – then in three, you got what you got.
“We had a great run there back in June. Anytime you run the top-five in this series it’s a very good day. It’s getting harder and harder every year to run the top-five. There’s a tremendous amount of competition at the top. To run up front, it’s as hard as it’s ever been.”
While Gerhart will be making his 39th career ARCA RE/MAX Series attempt in the August 2nd Pennsylvania 200, Kimmel will be making his 32nd on the triangular-shaped superspeedway.
Kimmel’s first Pocono attempt was in 1992 when the Clarksville, Indiana native finished fifth. Since then, Kimmel has won three times at Pocono after 31 tries.
Both veterans will try again when the Pennsylvania 200 rolls off at 1:00 pm ET Saturday, August 2nd. The ARCA RE/MAX Series, which shares the track at Pocono with the NASCAR Srprint Cup Series, is scheduled to practice from 10:15 AM to 11:55 PM Friday, August 1st with SIM Factory Pole Award Qualifying slated for 1:45 Friday afternoon.
Catch all the Pocono ARCA RE/MAX Series action at arcaracing.com offering LIVE Timing & Scoring of all on-track activities as well as LIVE flag-to-flag streaming audio coverage of the race through the ARCA Racing Network exclusively on arcanation.com presented by Team Glock Racing.
Tickets for the ARCA RE/MAX Series Pennsylvania 200 and the Sprint Cup Series event at Pocono are available by contacting the Pocono Raceway Ticket Office at 1-800-RACEWAY (1-800-722-3929), or through PoconoRacceway.com.
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