Patrick Bedard (born August 20, 1941, in

La Porte City, Iowa La Porte City is a city in Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,284 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Waterloo– Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. History La Porte City was platted in 1855. It is named ...

) is an American

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

racing driver and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. In the early 1970s, ''

Car and Driver ''Car and Driver'' (''CD'' or ''C/D'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine. In 2006 its total circulation was 1.23 million. It is owned by Hearst Magazines, who purchased prior owner Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. in 2011. It was fou ...

'' magazine challenged its readers to a series of

Sports Car Club of America The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional r ...

(SCCA)-sanctioned, 25-lap "showroom stock sedan" races. In the ''Car and Driver SS/Sedan Challenge II'', Bedard finished first, driving ''Car & Driver's'' own Opel 1900 sedan. In the ''Car and Driver SS/Sedan Challenge III'' in 1974, Bedard drove a 1973 Chevy Vega GT No. 0, winning the tie-breaker race. This lone Vega beat 31 other well-driven showroom stocks.Car and Driver-January 1975. An unlikely victory in an unlikely car. The first racing victory by a

Wankel Wankel may refer to: * Wankel engine, a type of internal combustion engine using an eccentric rotary design instead of reciprocating pistons * Wankel AG, a German company that produces Wankel engines for ultralight aircraft and racing cars People ...

-engined car in the United States was in 1973, when Bedard won an IMSA RS race at

Lime Rock Park Lime Rock Park is a natural-terrain motorsport road racing venue located in Lakeville, Connecticut, United States, a hamlet in the town of Salisbury, in the state's northwest corner. Built in 1956, it is the nation's third oldest continuously ope ...

in a

Mazda RX-2 The Mazda Capella, also known as the 626 in North America and Southeast Asia, is a mid-size car that was manufactured by Mazda from 1970 until 2002. Sold in the Japanese domestic market under the Capella name, the vehicle was also commonly known ...

."The Rotary Club", Don Sherman, ''

Automobile Magazine ''Automobile'' was an American automobile magazine published by the Motor Trend Group. A group of former employees of ''Car and Driver'' led by David E. Davis founded ''Automobile'' in 1986 with support from Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, ...

'', February 2008, pp 76-79 In the

1984 Indianapolis 500 The 68th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday May 27, 1984. Rick Mears, who previously won in 1979, won his second (of four) Indy 500 victories driving for Penske. Contenders Tom Sneva and ...

Bedard's car slammed the inside wall and then flipped multiple times in the grass. He remarkably survived the crash. Bedard drove for

Jaguar Cars Jaguar (, ) is the luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that was responsible for the production of Jaguar cars ...

in endurance racing, and later drove in the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

in 1983 and 1984. He finished 30th both times, the second time retiring through a colossal accident where his car flipped several times. Bedard then retired from motor racing but continued to write for ''Car and Driver'' magazine, where he had been employed since March, 1968. After nearly 42 consecutive years of employment with ''Car and Driver'', Bedard announced he was leaving the magazine in his regular column after the August 2009 issue.

Racing record

USAC Mini-Indy Series results

Indianapolis 500 results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

Motoring journalists American racing drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 1941 births Living people People from La Porte City, Iowa Racing drivers from Iowa 20th-century American journalists American male journalists {{US-journalist-1940s-stub