Erik Gehrke is always in hot pursuit of someone. During the day, it’s drivers violating Illinois’ speed limits. But come evening and weekends, it’s his American Super Cup Series competitors. The newest Team E3 Racing Tier 1 winner makes his living as a law enforcement officer, but fulfills his passion as a driver for Lawmen Racing, Inc.
A nine-year, fourth-generation police offer, Gehrke is an active hostage negotiator for the northern Illinois region. But he’s also a pro at negotiating the curves of a race track at top speed. He started working on Legends cars in 2002 for CPM Racing, then drove Legends cars in the 2003 season. In 2004, he began racing in the Super Cups series. He’s since racked up more than 40 wins, landed the 2005 National Short Track Championship and took back-to-back Super Cup Championships in 2007 and 2008. Gehrke has won all three of his feature races at Madison International Speedway and three feature races at Rockford Speedway on the last lap.
If Gerhke’s name sound familiar, that’s because he was a Team E3 Racing Tier 2 winner last year. He made the most of his win by having his entire Lawmen Racing team don E3 Spark Plugs T-shirts and hats and plans to do it all again this year, adding our logo to all cars in the Super Cup series and thousands of handout cards. Based in Antioch, Illinois, Lawmen Racing is comprised primarily of current or retired police officers and their families, performing every racing-related task from driving the cars to maintaining the engines to marketing the brand.
Gehrke races a Chevy Impala Minicup car with partner and fellow Team E3 Racing winner David Cerer. He’ll race throughout the 2013 season while also helping his son rev up his own racing career.
Welcome back to the team, Erik!