Eric Veralrud: Still racing at 74

Lawrence and Richard Veralrud are two of my great uncles who have been fans of racing and have raced themselves. Richard lives in Arizona during the winter months and races with his son Reed Veralrud. Lawrence had always dreamed of racing but being a farmer and raising six daughters did not leave him much time to race. In Lawrence's late sixties he became semi retired and bought a racing go-kart. Lawrence loved go-karts and decided to build a track at his farm in Oslo Minnesota. Here he had bought multiple go-karts and allowed friends and family to enjoy the fun.

Lawrence soon started racing in an adult class in his go-kart. After a couple of seasons of racing go-karts he decided to purchase a mini sprint car. It had always been Lawrence’s dr

eam to drive a sprint car but he decided to settle with a mini sprint. Lawrence had not only one but two mini sprint cars that he would race on the weekends. After meeting some drivers at the track Lawrence teamed up with the Stengl family who also raced mini sprints. The crew would travel to tracks in grand forks, devils lake, as well as many other tracks in the upper midwest. Being that Lawrence was in his early 70s when he raced mini sprints, many of us thought he would quit after a couple years of racing mini sprints. The funny thing is, we were all wrong.

At the end of last season Lawrence informed me and the rest of the family that he had bought a big sprint car. Being that a sprint car can have 800-1100 horsepower and can reach speeds over 100mph many of us were nervous on how he could handle the power. It is not to often you see a 74 year old racing a sprint car against men in their 20s and 30s. Keeping up with these drivers on and off the track can be difficult.

Many sprint car drivers have large sponsors who expect them to race multiple nights a week, sometimes four or five nights a week. Lawrence does not try to race this often but does try to race once or twice a week. Having six daughters and many nephews and nieces he has quit the fan base. Where ever he races he always has family, friends, and fans supporting him. Lawrence likes to travel to Devils lake, Oslo, Glyndon, and Greenbush to race. With all the support also comes worry when he is racing.

A winged sprint car is not the most stable of all race cars. Many sprint car drivers have rolled their car and every race may have a bad wreck or roll over. Lawrence has been in his share of bad wrecks but has also rolled his sprint car. When I see something like this happen I think that he may want to quit but he never does. He works away to get the car ready for the next race. This year was lawrence's rookie year in a sprint car and he had one frightening roll over. This did not stop him as he had the car fixed and on the track the next d

ay. Many people are impressed about his passion for the sport at his age.

Lawrence has become quite the celebrity at the tracks as he is always the oldest one in a car. As the season went on the interviews and coverage on him started to pick up. He has had news stories on him for WDAZ news, Valley News Live, The Grand Forks Herald, and radio shows. Even though he doesn’t always enjoy being in the spotlight he does it because he knows his family is proud of him and wants to see him do what he loves.

I can easily say that Lawrence has been an inspiration in my life and many others. In a TV news interview he stated “It’s what I want to do”. This hit me because wanting to do something and actually doing it is something many people fail at. Often when I think of a new hobby or activity I would like to get involved in I often think I am too old for it. Ive wanted to learn to play the guitar but thought I would of had to start at a young age to be any good. My thought process on this has completely changed after watching Lawrence race. He is a 74 year old rookie in a sprint car. He is living his dream. As the season closed this year I asked Lawrence what’s next. He replied,“I'm gonna put it in the shop and get it ready for next year”.the shop and get it ready for next year."

Pictures retrieved from WDAZ.com