Gleason Bros. Racing

A little late with this post, sorry. I was soaking up the sun in Spain for the last week.

A phone call changed everything. Sure, it was from a good friend, but who hasn't dreamed of being called up and offered a ride in an upper-level NASCAR division? That's what happened when my good friend Moose Douton offered me a ride in a Late Model for the August 12 race.


So I went down to his shop the Wednesday before the race to get fitted into the car and scaled. I'm a pretty big person, and it took a little squeeze, but I fit in ok. Not width-wise, but rather length-wise. We had discussed what we were going to do for the race, and we didn't want to get too serious about it. I hadn't been in a car at all in over a month, much less a faster and heavier car. So we decided on no infield pitting and I was content to just ride and get situated with the car. 


When I took it out for practice I had no idea what to expect. I know that what I do in my mini stock would NOT work in this car. So they throw the green and I stand on it, knowing that I have good brakes and I'll just baby it until I get an idea of what to expect. I get to turn one and I think to myself, "Holy crap, this thing's got balls, and the brakes aren't anything to sneeze at either." I get to the apex and forget that I'm in a 450 hp late model. I stood on it like a mini stock and I spun the thing out. Huge cloud of smoke, I nailed it when it started coming around. But it righted itself and I kept going. The car was really loose under throttle anyway, so I held onto it and got practice over with. I missed the second practice because we went out to find tires and change the stagger so I could manage it. The second practice went a lot better and I was starting to get the feel for it.


I started 15th, which was last in the feature. I really don't mind starting last, because you can't do any worse, you can only move ahead. I sat in the back riding, learning what tire chatter felt like, hoping my radio would magically turn itself up so I could hear Moose spotting for me more clearly. But as the race went on, the car started coming to me. I was getting quicker and quicker, and since I was putting more laps in, more used to the car. I missed a couple little skirmishes, and when a caution came with 4 to go, Moose comes on the radio and says "Hey, you're in 6th place!"


Huh? Did he just say 6th? I counted the cars ahead of me, and it was definitely 6th. I started to think about how the hell I got there, then Moose comes over the radio yelling something about the green flag being out. Luckily I stood on it and didn't get run over, but I had a new problem. What I'm about to admit to you, the public, is embarrassing beyond belief, but I'm an honest person. I don't give excuses, I admit my faults. But I committed a cardinal sin in racing: I doubted myself. I thought for a split second that I was totally out of my league, and that's when I entered turn one too high. I got sideways and I stuffed the car in the fence hard. That wreck hurt. It's been almost 2 weeks since that happened and I'm still bruised. 


I wanted to hide. I not only just crashed all by myself, but it was someone else's car. I should have gotten in the ambulance and had them cart me away to hide the shame. But I had to face it head on, whether I wanted to or not. They weren't too mad once I said I couldn't really hear over the radio. Which was true, I could only really hear under yellow. I'll be helping them fix it, I doubt I'll get to race it again, but it was an unbelievable experience. I'll never forget it.


Brent

So it's come to this: crew status. I've been sidelined since early July because of a blown motor and it's sucked every minute of it. Oh, and it is pretty much a total loss, the block cracked and the crank snapped, which took a piston with it. so there's a lot of work to do. 


Hope is not entirely lost, however. My father, who owns the #81 car my brother drives is helping me financially with the cost to have the motor rebuilt. It means a lot to me because I don't have really any help on this car. I work on it, I tow it, I fix it, I drive it, and I pay for it. Sure, what I do with BG Discount Grafx does help a lot when I get the work, but I need more than that to make it through a year. Hopefully I'll get the engine back before or just after I return from vacation in 2 weeks and I'll be at the track for a couple more shows. Here's hoping.