| 03.08.11 |
George Gwynn |
I assume that there may be many, many folks who frequent 3
Wide that never saw Jan Opperman race. In fact the older I get the more I
realize that because I've been around for quite a while now that my
knowledge of the history of our sport is a might better than those folks who
are 20 years younger than I am simply because I've seen so much racing over
the past 60 years.
Well....for all of you young folks....Jan Opperman was a brilliant race
driver. Probably one of the most "gifted" I have ever seen. He literally
rewrote the record books during his early sprint car days out in the mid
west and during his time here in central PA. Not only was he terrific behind
the wheel but he had a charm and charisma that enabled anyone who spent any
time talking him to become an instant fan.....and I mean instant.
That charisma and pit side attitude endeared him to everyone, except some of
those competitors who wanted desperately to beat him.....but there weren't
many of those who could. All of us who were around, during those times,
clearly recall the absolutely spellbinding duels that Jan and his closest
rival entertained us with. On the track, Jan was a pit bull. Off the track
his demeanor was disarmingly pleasant and friendly and that only heightened
the rivalries between Jan and others. Needless to say his rivalry with Kenny
Weld was stuff that inspires Hollywood movies.
His tenure in the Modifieds was all too brief. He had already more than
proven his abilities in midgets, champ cars and sprint cars....winged or
wingless....dirt or asphalt....didn't matter. And at a time (in the early
70's) when more and more terrific sprint car aces were building and racing
modifieds, (due to the fact that modified racing was paying a lot more than
sprint car events were) Jan was also showing incredible talent behind the
wheel of the "taxicabs" of that time.
Jan was critically injured at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in 1976
suffering from severe head injuries. His slow return to racing was then
totally derailed at Jennerstown, PA in 1981 with yet another terrible crash
that left Jan in very bad shape. We would never see Jan's unbelievable
driving talents again.
In "Where Eagles Dare Jan Opperman....the rest of the story" by Harvey
Shapiro, published in 1996 (this book should be in every race fans library) Dr. Dick Bergren wrote:
"I've met about all of the heavy hitters in this business. Not one of
them is like Jan Opperman (was) in his prime!"
He was, after all, the original Outlaw. And sometimes outlaws are good guys,
after all.
This outlaw was real, real good.
George Gwynn
Frederick, MD |
