Jerry Hansen


Gerald Jon 'Jerry' Hansen is a former racing driver. Hansen has won a record of 27 SCCA National Championships. Hansen has also competed in Can-Am, the Atlantic Championship, USAC ChampCar among other series.

Racing career

Early career

Minneapolis stockbroker and real estate investor Jerry Hansen started his racing career in 1961 in an Echidna Racing Special in the SCCA C Modified class. In 1965 Hansen traded his Echidna for a Scarab Mk.II. In his first race at Road America, Hansen had a fearsome crash. At the Carousel corner the Scarab skidded of the track and hit the guardrail. The car flipped multiple times, was on fire and knocked over a tree. Hansens injuries were minor.

Open wheel racing

Hansen made his SCCA National Championship Runoffs debut in the Formula Vee class. Racing at Riverside Raceway the driver finished fourth, behind William Duckworth, Roger Barr and winner Lewis Kerr. Stepping up to Formula 5000, Hansen was a longtime competitor in the class. In the 1968 SCCA Grand Prix Championship Hansen won the Badger 200 at Road America. Starting the race from pole position, Hansen beat his competition in the combined Formula A, Formula B and Formula C field. At the 1968 SCCA National Championship Runoffs Hansen finished second in the Formula A class, 5,5 seconds behind Ron Grable. In 1969 Hansen was on the entry list for most of the races. But technical retirements hampered strong results. For the final race at Sebring Hansen was signed by Carl Haas Racing Team. After starting the Lola T190 in eighth place,
Hansen finished fifteenth. After not racing in the national Formula 5000 series, Hansen returned in the class for 1971. After scoring a heat win, he finished the main race in second place, behind Hogan Racings David Hobbs.
During the season he also made four appearances in the pinnacle of American autosport, the USAC National Championship. He failed to finish due to a broken valve in his debut race at his hometrack, Brainerd International Raceway. Hansen had a better run at Pacific Raceways. A double header, with two 45 lap races on the same day, Hansen finished in the top ten twice. He beat many series regulars such as Bobby Unser, Mark Donohue and Billy Vukovich. After a mediocre 1970 racing season, Hansen won several championships in 1971. In 1971 Hansen won the SCCA National Championship Runoffs in Formula A, A Sports Racer and A Production. It was the first time in Runoffs history that a driver won three classes at the Runoffs in the same year. This feat earned him the SCCA President's Cup.
Hansen, and his crew chief Mike Lindorfer, made modifications to the Lola T192 IndyCar to run in USAC and IMCA sprint car races. In a spectaculair race at the Minnesota State Fair, Hansen won by lapping the whole field three times.

Sports car racing

Hansen raced in the original United States Road Racing Championship, sanctioned by the SCCA. After a couple of races, during 1964 and 1965, Hansen competed in most of the 1966 season. Racing a Chevrolet powered Lotus 19 proved no success. In 1965 Hansen requested Lee Dykstra and George Anderson to design and build Can-Am spec car, the Wolverine LD65. Although the plan was to build three cars, only one was built. The first race at Mid-Ohio proved fruitless with a retirement after 27 of 85 laps. During his Can-Am debut, in 1966 at Mont-Tremblant, he finished in 20th place. Hansen returned to Can-Am competition in 1967 at Road America in a McLaren M1C. In 1968 Hansen raced most of the Can-Am season in a McLaren M6A. His best result came at the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix finishing seventh. During the same year he also won the A Sports Racer class at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs in the McLaren M6A. He won the prestigious race for Can-Am spec cars in 1969, 1971, 1972 and 1975 thru 1984. Hansen also raced in the B Sports Racer class in 1973 and 1974 winning both races.
In SCCA regional competition, Hansen was very successful racing a McKee Chevette, designed and built by Bob McKee. Hasnen won races at Breezy Point, Lynndale Farms, Metropolitan Stadium and Meadlowlands.

GT racing

Hansen was also a successful GT racer. The driver won the SCCA National Championship Runoffs in the A Production class in 1972 racing a Chevrolet Corvette C3. In 1975 Hansen made his Trans-Am Series debut at Nelson Ledges. He won the following two Trans-Am races at Road America and Brainerd. Hansen continued in Trans-Am in 1976 and 1977. In 1977 he finished third at Road America after starting 39th. He won another Trans-Am Series in 1978 racing a DeKon Monza at Brainerd. Racing a Corvette, Hansen won two races in the 1982 Trans-Am Series.

Brainerd International Raceway

Jerry Hansen bought Donnybrooke Speedway in 1973 from the original owner George Montgomery. Renaming the track Brainerd International Raceway Hansen placed a new management team with Mario Andretti as a director for several years. The track had closed down after 1972 but Hansen re-opened the track in 1975 with the Trans-Am Series returning. In 1977 a drag strip was added with the NHRA visiting the track regularly. Under Hansen's reign, the AMA Superbike Championship was introduced to the track in 1982. The Superbike World Championship also visited the track, in 1989, 1990 and 1991. Hansen sold the track in 2006 to Jed and Kristi Copham.

Motorsport results

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

YearTrackCarEngineClassFinishStartStatus
1964RiversideFormcarVolkswagenFormula Vee4Running
1967DaytonaLolaChevroletC Sports Racer11Running
1968RiversideMcLaren M6AChevroletA Sports Racer113Running
1968RiversideLolaChevroletFormula A21Running
1969DaytonaMcLaren M12ChevroletA Sports Racer11Running
1970Road AtlantaLola T220ChevroletA Sports Racer21Running
1970Road AtlantaMcLaren M10ChevroletFormula A85Not running
1971Road AtlantaLola T220ChevroletA Sports Racer11Running
1971Road AtlantaChevrolet CorvetteChevroletA Production32Running
1971Road AtlantaLola T192ChevroletFormula A11Running
1972Road AtlantaLola T300ChevroletFormula A11Running
1972Road AtlantaLola T310ChevroletA Sports Racer11Running
1972Road AtlantaChevrolet CorvetteChevroletA Production11Running
1973Road AtlantaLola T330ChevroletFormula A11Running
1973Road AtlantaLola T292FordB Sports Racer11Running
1974Road AtlantaLola T292FordB Sports Racer11Running
1974Road AtlantaLola T332ChevroletFormula A11Running
1975Road AtlantaLola T220ChevroletA Sports Racer11Running
1975Road AtlantaLola T330ChevroletFormula A11Running
1976Road AtlantaLola T220ChevroletA Sports Racer11Running
1976Road AtlantaLola T330ChevroletFormula A11Running
1976Road AtlantaLola T460FordFormula B21Running
1977Road AtlantaLola T460FordFormula BDNSDid not start
1977Road AtlantaLola T332CSChevroletA Sports Racer11Running
1978Road AtlantaLola T460ChevroletFormula B12Running
1978Road AtlantaLola T332ChevroletA Sports Racer11Running
1979Road AtlantaLola T332ChevroletA Sports Racer11Running
1980Road AtlantaMarch 79BFordFormula Atlantic117Not running
1980Road AtlantaLola T333CSChevroletA Sports Racer11Running
1980Road AtlantaChevrolet CorvetteChevroletB Production12Running
1981Road AtlantaLola T332ChevroletA Sports Racer11Running
1982Road AtlantaLola T332ChevroletA Sports Racer12Running
1982Road AtlantaChevrolet CamaroChevroletGT1DNSDid not start
1983Road AtlantaRalt RT4FordFormula AtlanticDNSDid not start
1983Road AtlantaLola T332ChevroletA Sports Racer11Running
1983Road AtlantaNissan 280ZX TurboNissanShowroom Stock GT26Running
1983Road AtlantaChevrolet CamaroChevroletGT113Running
1984Road AtlantaPontiac Trans-AmChevroletGT124Running
1984Road AtlantaLola T332ChevroletA Sports Racer11Running
1986Road AtlantaPontiac Trans-AmChevroletGT132Running

American Open-Wheel racing results

SCCA Grand Prix Championship

USAC Championship Car

Atlantic Championship

YearEntrant12345678910PosPoints
1980LBHSONWMPBIR
3		LRPROATROBRIMONMEX19th19