George Eisenhart Ends a Chapter in Racing Only to Start a New One
09/18/2014
George Eisenhart announced on September 7th that he will be stepping out of the driver's seat and retire. At the racers meeting in Detroit, he passed the key to Chris Carbone, from Papa Dukes Racing, to be the new driver in the Crockett Rocket. Now, just because he will not be in the driver's seat does not mean he will not be with us at the races, he plans to take on more of a roll of team owner/crew chief so he will still be with us at the OPA races.
George actually started his racing career in 1957 drag racing. At 23 years old in 1962 the owner of a new dragstrip in Thompson Ohio offered him the management position. In 1972 after ten years at Thompson, George took over 3 stock car tracks in Cleveland Ohio: Cloverleaf Speedway, Lorain County Speedway and Painesville Speedway. Not to be stopped in 1974 he added a second dragstrip, Dragway 42, the real first four-lane dragstrip. He at that time was operating two dragstrips and three oval stock car tracks all at the same time.
In 1996, George built a state of the art family fun center in Painsville OH, which includes a 44 lane bowling center and laser tag arena, nightclub/lounge and game room called Scores Fun Center. He raced in the summer and ran the bowling center in the winter.
When he retired from auto racing he pursued a change in racing, powerboat racing to be exact. His first powerboat was a magnum powerboat called "Grumpy Old Men". The first year they were voted Rookie Team of the year. They won APBA Great Lake Championship three years in a row 1999-2001 and finished second place three times in the Key West APBA World championships.
After some time off George teamed up with four time World Champion Tyler Crockett of Ruby Michigan. They won races all over the U.S. including the 2007 National Championship. They set a time speed record for a single engine 26 foot boat at the Lake of the Ozarks, MO, in 2010 at 90 mph. Over the course of their career together they have won numerous races. The highlight was winning 2012 OPA World Championship.
George decided this year 2014 was to be his last racing, he retired officially at the age of 77 years young. He will always be a huge part of the Crockett Rocket racing team and you will see him at the races still cheering everyone on.
