Pletch, Gerster This Week’s Guests on Thunder Relived
Speedway, Indiana (April 7, 2020)………Terry Pletch and Brian Gerster are this week’s guests on episodes seven and eight of USAC’s Thunder Relived, this Thursday and Saturday, April 9th and 11th, respectively, at 8pm Eastern on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/2J7pxEs.Pletch, who was active with the USAC National Sprint Car series between 1982 and 2004, was the victor of one of the most memorable come-from-behind triumphs of all-time at the 1999 Tony Hulman Classic at the Terre Haute Action Track. He discusses the biggest night of his career in-depth with Thunder Relived hosts Richie Murray and Kirk Spridgeon and also tells of his wild beginnings in the sport of motorcycle racing before making the transition to sprint cars.
Thursday’s Thunder Relived episode featuring Terry Pletch will precede round two of the 2020 AMSOIL USAC iRacing Challenge presented by NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car race from Knoxville Raceway at 9pm ET, exclusively on FloRacing. The event will feature the stars of USAC Racing competing against one another in the world’s leading motorsports simulation weekly each Thursday night throughout the month of April.
Gerster, meanwhile, burst onto the scene as 1992 USAC National Midget Rookie of the Year as developed into a perennial frontrunner with the series in the mid-to-late 1990s, then made a transition to sprint car racing. There, he’s won with USAC on National TV and is one of the premier winged pavement sprint car drivers of the past decade-plus.
Gerster joins Thunder Relived on Saturday night to discuss two of his nationally televised USAC victories, one with the Midget at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway in 1995 and with the sprint car at Louisville (Ky.) Motor Speedway in 1999.
Following Gerster and Thunder Relived on Saturday night will be the highest-paying USAC iRacing event to ever be held, in an invitation-only race featuring the top racing stars of the United States Auto Club.
The AME Electrical “Saturday Night Lightning” FALS Invitational will pad the wallet of the front runners who can get the job done in the virtual USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget feature held at the quarter-mile Fairbury Speedway in Illinois.
The total payout includes $2,020 top prize going to the winner courtesy of AME Electrical, $1,000 for second from Rex Reinbold and $500 for third from Hunter % Hammer Head Garage while a $100 hard charger prize will be posted by Todd Underwood of Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports. You can watch it all go down at 9pm Eastern exclusively on FloRacing.
Thunder Relived promises to take you under the helmet and in-depth with USAC personalities past and present as we revisit all the thrills, spills and the greatest moments from USAC’s vast Sprint, Midget and Silver Crown video vault. Stay tuned for more information regarding Thunder Relived on USAC’s website at www.usacracing.com, our social media channels at www.facebook.com/usacracing
Sources: USAC PR
#26 Brian Gerster during the 1999 USAC National Sprint Car season. (John Mahoney Photo)
#26 Brian Gerster during the 1999 USAC National Sprint Car season. (John Mahoney Photo)