Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

So, I recieved the mail the other day that Gaerte has been sold to Topps performance, I dont know much about the history of the new owners and not a huge client of Gaertes either , occasionally purchasing items , the continueation of engines and services seems to be unaltered and remain the same, anyone know much about the new ownership or changes?,   Back when I became addicted to sprintcars a Gaerte under the hood was your first right move.. Im under the assumption alot if local IN cars still use them?

a gaerte is still a good choice...

Topps has fielded winged and nonwinged sprint cars for Tyler Courtney the last couple of years. They are focusing on the USAC championship this year. I know they are based out of Rochester, IN. Gaerte has been around a long time and has always had a good product and hopefully the new ownership can help build to the brand back up.

I don't think that Gaerte was ever in bad shape like the original post kinda suggests. I can name a bunch of guys who run Gaerte motors. I drive for a team for 2 years a few years ago and we had new Gaerte 360s. They were really good motors. We won 7 features in 2 years including a couple bigger shows and I bet 15-20 heat races when the track was heavy and you needed hp. They were always great motors as far as I was concerned.

How do you portray that I mention Gaerte was in bad shape? Maybe the Emails and plublic notices by Joe himself mentioning "not going out of buisness" , would be more to the effect 90% of  us have heard the rumor chatter for the past two - three years?  Just a observation , and noted.  I "mention having a Gaerte was your first right move" regardless It looks like that same product will be machined and built at Topps/Gaerte..

Fair enough. I wasn't trying to start an argument lol. You said "back when you got addicted to sprint cars having a Gaerte under the hood was your first right move" so I assumed that you were implying that they weren't that popular and or good anymore. No worries my vad. Regardless I hope that everything works out well for them. 

no  prob, its easy to take things out of context without a discussion across a tailgate, a smerk,laugh,  or serious look in the eye can tell alot about what someone is trying to describe, body english can speak for itself sometimes, and on a msg board,  its hard to navigate thro a discussion without it,

 Anyhow,  back in the mid 80's i was pre teens and my father and uncle introduced me to sprintcars, I remember Gaerte being one,  if not the only one,  I remember seeing on the cars ect, Gosh,  there is such a list of them now its hard to pinpoint which is on top, as a racer, we take sharp intrest in which builder is finding a edge, but todays world it is so competitive, they all have the avalibility of the latest parts, machining and dynoing to even find the slightest improvement..  There is just so many of them that build a good product, I cant help but be impressed by something each of them has delivered, Its funny tho, it seems they each go thro a cycle, I remember mid 90's a Wesmar 360 was the top of the list, Kistler has had huge success  410 & 360 ,look at the list,   Cappetta,Hampshier,Parker,Rider,Shaver,Shark,Ostrich,Don Ott,Moyle,Speedway, and im just tipping the edge of them!,  there is so many that dont even specialize in injected methanol engines that still build brutal HP, Ive been very satisfied by my buisness with Gaerte Ive just purchased a few  items they produce in house that i cant find in a typical cataloge somewhere, natrally its pricey,  but its always been a top notch quality product, and im ok with spending more on something that is a good quality. thier tech support has been Awesome,  and always willing to lend some Knowledge on several topics I have underwent with engines that wernt even thiers..  Thats racers helping racers  , I hope them success and will continue my buisness with them.

I remember talking to Joe about a year after Earl passed away and he told me everybody thought they were out of business which was not the case.

Two years later my dad passed away and the same thing happened, everybody thought we were done and out of business.  It's getting quite a bit better but it was slim there for awhile.

When my dad started dabbling in the sprint car engines at Blue Max in 1981 (Bobby Marshall, driver) and then Sammy in 1983 there were basically two other "professional" engine builders out there, Ron Shaver and Earl Gaerte.  Now there are numerous engine builders out there AND quite a few independants as I sell parts to quite a few of them.

But just like anything else in business and life it sure has changed.

2 builders, Gearte, Wesmar, that you could always depend on for good power.