Biography

Gary Gudmundson has helped get many new racers started in this sport. He is a sign painter by trade, but in reality he is an artist. Many of the cars you see at the races each night are numbered and lettered by Gary. These are not computer generated stensils but free hand painted.

In the '70's when the C stock class evolved into the street stocks, the rules favored Fords and Chevys. Gary chose to pilot early '60's Studebakers. And he won with them. In the late '80's he started the Nostalgia Class that was made up of studebaker frames and vintage car bodies, many of them drug out of the river. These were full size versions of the modern day Legends race cars.

He was always outspoken at rules meetings, above all pushing for measures that made the cars safer to drive.

Anyone who has ever been to his shop also knows that Gary is probably the foremost historian on stock car racing in the whole state. He has hundreds of photos of race cars from all over the state dating back to the '50's. And he will be happy to tell you the story behind any one you choose if you have the time.