Cord Ehrhart: An Old-School Racer With a Passion for the Craft

Cord Ehrhart: An Old-School Racer With a Passion for the Craft

ANTWERP, Ohio – For Cord Ehrhart, racing has always been about more than driving. It is about building, learning and understanding the machine.

A second-generation racer, Ehrhart grew up following his father, who competed in midgets in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Today, the father-son duo continues that tradition by building and preparing their own race cars.

“I consider myself an old-school racer,” Ehrhart said. “I’m a second-generation racer.”

After earning a mechanical engineering degree from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Ehrhart competed in outlaw late models before deciding to build a car from the ground up with his father. That same hands-on approach eventually led to a scratch-built supermodified and, later, their move into non-wing sprint car racing.

The yourBIGplans.com 500 Sprint Car Tour appealed to Ehrhart because of both the competition and the people.

“The 500 series is a great group of people to work with from the series standpoint and the racers,” he said. “There was a good group of racers. It was a good sanctioning body. Everybody was kind to each other.”

Cord Ehrhart (#OZ) competing at Toledo Speedway in June of 2025. - Rick Kimball Photo

Away from the track, Ehrhart is a high school mathematics teacher and has spent 26 seasons involved in cross country. He sees plenty of similarities between racing, teaching and coaching.

“They both have taught me patience,” Ehrhart said. “But they both have the common thread of, you’ve got to be a good problem solver.”

His classroom experience also provides plenty of opportunities to connect math and physics with racing, using examples such as velocity, gearing and suspension geometry.

Ehrhart's passion for racing history is another defining part of his story. He enjoys racing at historic venues such as Winchester and Salem, tracks that carry generations of racing history.

“The Joe James/Pat O’Connor is just one of those classic races that if you say it, people know what that is,” Ehrhart said.

If given the opportunity to travel back in time and watch one race, Ehrhart wouldn't hesitate to choose the 1977 Indianapolis 500, particularly to see A.J. Foyt compete with a car and engine developed largely through his own operation.

That same spirit of ingenuity remains at the heart of Ehrhart's racing program.

He and his father handle much of their own chassis and engine work, working with a local machine shop for specialized machining.

“Is it affordable? No,” Ehrhart said. “Is it more affordable than going and buying X, Y and Z? Absolutely. Is it harder work? Also, absolutely. But you make your choices in life.”

That old-school approach continues to define Ehrhart both on and off the track.

His best yourBIGplans.com 500 Sprint Car Tour finish came at Berlin Raceway in 2025, where he finished 13th.

Now, Ehrhart is ready for another milestone.

On Saturday, he will look to make his first non-wing sprint car start at Salem Speedway, taking on the historic high banks in the Joe James/Pat O’Connor Memorial.

For Ehrhart, it is an opportunity to race at one of the venues he has admired for years while continuing to build his own racing story.

It is about more than the finishing position. It is about building something with his father, learning from every lap and continuing to get better.

Solve the problem. Learn from it. Get better.