Gleason Bros. Racing

So it's going to be a while until I can climb into my race car, but at least everything I needed to do inside of it is all but finished. My knee surgery went well, and everything coming from the doctor was good news. If only he had warned me about how crappy the rehabilitation would be... but I guess if they told people beforehand, then no one would have surgery. But it's been a week and it's coming along. It's still quite sore and swollen, but at least I don't have to sleep on the couch with my leg elevated anymore.

I'm really going to be under the gun to get this car finished by the Icebreaker. I've got parts on the way, but I don't know if I'll even have time to paint and letter it. If I do, it's because I really hauled some serious ass to get it together. All the hard work and mechanical stuff is already done, but there's a lot of finish work that still needs to be done. I don't even have a truck yet!

I'm going to have to hustle to get this done, hopefully I can finish it with at least a day or 2 so I can throw some scales under it and get it prepped for the track. I don't want to go out there and not have a good car under me, because I already spent 4 months getting this thing rebuilt, and I don't want to spend another four because I wrecked it the first race.

Wish me luck!
~Brent~

(Note: Remember I said it would be a while before I'd get working on the car? Yeah, try one day later. The day after I wrote this, I was back in the garage working on the car, hobbling around with a peg leg. It's getting there quickly, and if I can get the truck together, I'll be up and running soon.)

Well, I have to stop work on my car for at least a few weeks, and that means its now going to be close as to if I can make it to the first practices in March or not.

I'm going in for knee surgery tomorrow (thursday the 19th) and it's going to put me on the shelf for probably at least 2 weeks, or at least until my sutures heal. But I'm stubborn, so I'll probably hobble down there, lay on the creeper, and do work on the underside of the car before I'm supposed to. Even though I've been working on it night and day, through freezing temperatures and no heat, taking time off from working on it will tighten the grip just a bit more.

Hopefully I'll get my uncle to loan me his truck some more, because I don't think I can get enough money together for my own truck by the time the season rolls around... taking work off sucks...

So, after yet another day in the garage, I think I'll fill everyone in on what's been going on since racing season left in mid-October. I had purchased a car from Jay Paquette about midway through the 2008 season, but I didn't have it ready until the last 2 point races. Went out and had mixed results until the World Series. I had told my brother Jesse (driver of Gleason Bros. #81 Thompson Sportsman, to those not familiar with us) when I bought the car, I would let him drive it once. Also, I wanted someone with a lot of experience in the car to feel it out.

In the first practice on friday, everything was well. We played with the rear springs and stagger to try and get the car to settle down in the turns. Second practice comes, and the car already looks faster... until a car gets crossed up in front of Jesse in turn 2. He checks up and the car just spins out. He gets it down to the apron, almost completely out of the way. I think "oops, he's going to be a bit embarrassed." That was, until 2 cars come racing out of turn two and head straight for him. You know, when I race, I look through the turn, not only to make sure no one is there, but to also plan my line. This was practice, there was no need to be racing. But, they headed straight for him, and one of them absolutely demolished the front end of the car. It spun through the air, shedding parts and came to rest in the middle of the track. Luckily, the other drivers were competent enought to hit the brakes and avoid it. The impact was so severe that it collapsed the windshield pillar down over the window net, broke the fire extinguisher mounts, and snapped off the fuel pump. So not only was the car leaking gas, but he was trapped by the window net, and the fire extinguisher was somewhere in the car. This was not because it was poorly built, it was just that bad. He got out, but it was a very bad day.

From that day on, I have been working nonstop on the car trying to rebuild it and get ready for the 2009 season. I have literally, close to a thousand hours in this car since October. Instead of telling you, how about you click the album below to see the pics? Besides, as the cliche goes, a picture is worth a thousand words...

Check you later!
~Brent~