The family eventually moved back to New York, his mother taking a job at Grumman Aircraft and his father operating a Sinclair gas station, and installing heating and cooling units.

This led him to study at the renown Juilliard School of Music in New York City and performing in the band of jazz trombonist Jack Teagarden.

Titus left his position as editor-in-chef at Sports Car Graphic and became a full-time racing driver for Shelby's team.

[1] While driving in a practice session on July 19, 1970 for the Trans Am race at Road America during the 1970 season, Jerry Titus' Pontiac Firebird experienced a steering gear failure that caused him to crash into the Bill Mitchell Bridge abutment on the outside of Turn 13.

The Billy Mitchell Bridge, which transporters used to access the circuit, became a source of controversy for many years at Road America with both cars and motorcycles for safety reasons.

After Memo Gidley's serious crash at the 2001 CART race at the circuit, and complaints by motorcycle racers, officials began formulating a plan to fix the problem.

Shortly after his death, the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association has named their annual "Driver of the Year" award, which is currently given to the driver with the most votes among the winners in each category (stock car, open wheel, road racing, short track, touring, and at-large), the Jerry Titus Memorial Award.