The Scoop
80-YEAR-OLD JERRY MUENSTER COPS LUXEMBURG FALL SPECIAL
Posted on: Sunday October 3, 2021
80-year-old Jerry Muenster of Green Bay is joined in victory lane with his daughter Jill at The Burg Speedway October 2. (Rod Dietzen photo)
There aren’t many 80-year-old men wheeling race cars in the United States – but Jerry Muenster has always been the exception to the rule.
The Green Bay driver scored the IMCA modified feature win at The Burg Speedway Saturday October 2. Muenster, who crossed the finish line second, was awarded the victory after Oconto Falls’ Lance Arneson was docked two positions after track officials determined he jumped positions on a late race restart.
Now in many cases having a feature win taken away in that manner would leave a driver hot and bothered. In Arneson’s case it was the complete opposite. “I ran over to victory lane, took his window net down and told him how happy I was for him and congratulated him, said Arneson. Arneson and Muenster have raced against each other for many seasons on local dirt tracks. “I mean Jerry is 80-years-old and still running up front. He has the passion for the sport still. He was one of my heroes growing up racing. When I was a kid my cousin and I would race bicycles. I’d always pretend I was Jerry Muenster and my cousin was always Eddie Muenster.”
For Muenster, the win was especially sweet since Muenster grabbed the track championship at the third-mile, clay oval back in 1968. “After the race they told us over the Raceceiver that “79 you are the winner of the race – 75 (Arneson’s car number) you have been docked two positions for jumping the start,” Muenster explained. “I led it for quite a while and had a pretty good battle going with Brian Mullen. It’s been probably four or five years since I’ve won a feature race.”
This was Muenster’s first appearance of the year at Luxemburg. “We still ran just Shawano weekly this year on Saturday nights,” Muenster said. “I still love racing, but I had to start slowing down just a little bit. I did win some heat races this year but to win a feature is so tough with these modifieds. The cars are so equal, and you don’t get just two of three drivers dominating like you did 25 or 30 years ago. At my age I’m happy with top five finishes and at Luxemburg honestly my goal was a top ten finish. But my car was hooked up great.”
Muenster was leading the race when a caution flag came out late. “For Lance (Arneson) to handle things the way he did was absolutely classy,” Muenster admitted. “I haven’t raced weekly at Luxemburg for a few years but having my grandson’s race (Jerry and J.J. Vanderloop) in the sportmods made it even more fun.”
Missing in action was Muenster’s son Eddie Muenster. Eddie and Jerry have battled each other for decades in the modifieds but Eddie Muenster had a surgery and was out of commission. “I ran Eddie’s tires for this race,” said Muenster, who sported a little ‘5’ after his own race number 79 in honor of his son who was unable to race. “I was amazed at how many drivers came by and visited with us. It shows you that racing family really is a very strong family.”
One of Muenster’s biggest supporters, daughter Jill Muenster, joined her dad in the victory lane celebration. “We were one of the last teams to leave the pit area Saturday night,” Jill Muenster said. “And yet dad was up bright and early texting me at 7:30 a.m. the next day. And Lance Arneson even said ‘if I had to lose a race like this I’d rather lose one to a guy like Jerry.”
Muenster gets peppered with the obvious question year after year – how much longer does he plan on racing? “Nowadays when I get asked that I just point to the sky and tell people ‘It’s all up to the man upstairs,” Muenster admitted. “Nothing is ever taken for granted and I’m blessed to be here, and to do something I love like race is an absolute bonus. I’ve still got all my original parts yet. And we’ll probably just stick with Shawano again on Saturday nights but after this deal at Luxemburg we may just have to pop in a few Sunday nights and race here, too.”
Trailing Muenster in the final finish to round out the top five were De Pere’s J.J. Anderssen, Arneson, Luxemburg’s Jared Siefert and Seymour’s Jerry Wilinski.