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 na ...

) is an American

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

racing driver and

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

. In the early 1970s, ''

Car and Driver ''Car and Driver'' (''CD'' or ''C/D'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine first published in 1955. In 2006 its total circulation was 1.23 million. It is owned by Hearst Magazines, who purchased it from its prior owner Hachette Fi ...

'' 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 Autocross, Rallycross, HPDE, Time Trial, Road Racing, RoadRally, and Hill Climbs in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs ...

(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-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, Connecticut, Salisbury, in the state's northwest corner. Built in 1956, it is the nation's thi ...

in a

Mazda RX-2 The Mazda Capella, also known as the 626 in Europe, 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 com ...

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

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'', 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 sports car and luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational corporation, multinational automaker, car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that ...

in endurance racing, and later drove in the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

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) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

Motoring journalists 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