Jerry Baltes
Jerry Baltes began his drag racing career in 1951 as the builder/driver of a 1942 two door Ford sedan. Two years later he graduated to a more popular 1932 five window coupe that he raced in gas class but soon moved into the altered classes when he chopped the top on it. In 1955, Jerry took the altered coupe all the way to the historic NHRA championships in great Bend Kansas. The next year, with the assistance of Joaquin Arnett of Bean Bandit fame, Jerry was at the wheel of a flathead powered gas dragster. While still competing with the gas dragster, he was able to notch a spot for himself on the Drag News 1320 top 10 list. By 1962 it was time to step up to the top fuel dragsters, where he partnered up Red Lathrum and Bud DeBoer for a couple of banner years. During this period Jerry made it to the number three spot on the top 10 list for top fuel, set a NHRA speed record, set several new track records, won the 1964 World Series of Drag Racing at Cordova, and that same year finish number two in the NHRA World Points race.
In 1964 Jerry joined the world of automotive journalist when he became the PR Director for Drag News but didn’t give up his driving chores. In 1965 he drove Val LaPorte’s dragster and in 1967 was in the cockpit of the famous Guzzler. It was at the wheel of the Guzzler in 1967 in a race against Dick LaHaie in Indiana that Jerry was involved in a nasty crash and decided it was time to hang up his driving suit.
However, he wasn’t ready to quit competing in drag racing, so in 1972 he and his partner Tom Woodbridge, form the infamous Tom and Jerry funny car team. First, Bill Leavitt put together a Mustang that was driven by Harlan Thompson. They then purchased the Bob Banning Dodge and put Bob Mayer in the driver seat to complete the team. The team was very successful that year competing in match races in the US and Canada as a member of the Coca-Cola Cavalcade of Stars. Now a semi-retired successful businessman, Jerry has been one of the strong supporters of the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame. He continues to be the trophy sponsor for the Hall of Fame banquet each year.