Jerry Titus

Jerry Titus (October 24, 1928 – August 5, 1970) was an American motorsports driver, mechanic, model,

Background Titus was born Gerald Arthur Titus Jr. on October 24, 1928 in Johnson City, New York, to Charlotte Kathryn (nee Burlew) and Gerald Arthur Titus—a year before the stock market crash of the great depression. His parents moved through many jobs, including running a dairy farm in Florida. The family eventually moved back to New York, his mother working with Grumman Aircraft and his father operating a Sinclair gas station and installing heating and cooling equipment.

Titus originally became a talented trumpet player, later studying at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City and performing in the band of jazz trombonist Jack Teagarden.

After reporting and reviewing sports cars, Titus became a racing program test driver, including for the Bill Thomas Cheetah, and Elva Porsche. In 1968, he left Sports Car Graphic and devoted himself full time to racing with the magazine sponsoring him in a factory racing Sunbeam Alpine in 1962 and 1963.

Titus was a resident of Tarzana, California, when he died in a single car 1970 race practice accident, leaving behind his second wife, Anna, and two sons from a previous marriage, Steven, age 17 (flown in from Vietnam to be at his father's bedside), and Rick age 20, who would later become an automotive journalist and race car driver.

In the 1968 season, poor performance by the Terlingua team, which resulted in four DNFs out of 12 starts, had Titus preparing to leave the team to race a Pontiac Firebird. When Carroll Shelby learned of the impending change, he decided not to enter Titus in the last race of the season. Not to be deterred, with funding by Canadian businessman Terry Godsall, he purchased a used 1968 Camaro Z/28 Trans Am car and reskinned it as a Firebird, with plans to race it under T-G Racing banner for the 1969 series.

Titus entered the 1969 24 Hours of Daytona and raced to a class victory and an overall third place.

The 1969 season was plagued with engine configuration problems for the new car, resulting in 3 DNFs for the team. The highlight of the season was a second-place finish for Titus at Sainte Jovite, Quebec.

Titus completed only one race out of seven in the 1970 season, taking seventh place at Laguna Seca. into the concrete abutment of the Bill Mitchell Bridge outside of Turn 13. Titus's car erupted in flames, and he received a frontal skull fracture, internal injuries and a broken arm. He was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Milwaukee and was removed from the critical list a week later but succumbed after complications, thought to be a blood clot to the brain, Titus had been quoted six weeks earlier in the Franklin, Pennsylvania News Herald, saying, "TransAm Racing is a deadly business."

The Billy Mitchell Bridge, which transporters and spectators used to access the circuit paddock, had become a source of concern for safety reasons. After Titus' death and Memo Gidley's serious crash at the 2001 CART race, as well as complaints by motorcycle racers and the use of larger transporters for professional teams that made the bridge impossible to be used, officials began formulating a plan to fix the problem. In the winter of 2006, the bridge was demolished, adding runoff at Turn 13 while adding a new tunnel and eliminating the point of impact where Titus was fatally injured.

Shortly after his death, the American (AARWBA) named their annual "Driver of the Year" award the Jerry Titus Memorial Award and awarded it to the driver with the most votes among the winners in each category (stock car, open wheel, road racing, short track, touring, and at-large).

Racing results

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

Year Track Car Engine Class Finish Start Status 1964 Riverside Webster Special Climax D Modified 1 Running 1965 Daytona Ford Mustang GT350 B Production 1 5 Running 1966 Riverside Porsche 911 D Production 1 Running Elva Mk.7 Porsche E Sports Racer Retired