Gleason Bros. Racing

So the season ended the right way, in one piece. It was a good year, we had a lot of good experiences and learned a lot of things that we can take into next season. 

As for the World Series, there was a lot of waiting around. Friday was a wash-out so we basically just hung out the whole day. Saturday was the same, except for making two practices. I knew my right side tires were getting pretty old, but I figured I would get one race out of them because the tour rubber would add some grip to the track. That wasn't the case because it started raining as soon as we hit the track for the feature. The track crew did a really good job drying the track, but the tractor tires they dragged behind their trucks took all the rubber off the track. Oh well. I got up to second and I had the motor to win the race, but the handles weren't there. 

I've got a lot more ideas in my head to make it to the front next year, it's all going to come down to the research I can complete this off-season and putting together the right package to be able to compete right out of the box. I'm not one of those guys who races just for fun, I want to win. I'm not putting money and time into this program to just putt-putt around. I'm setting myself up to win a lot of races and championships, and getting there takes a lot of work and time.

I've got a plan in order, it's just a matter of putting the pieces together. 

'Til next year,
Brent

So I finished out the year 8th in points. I will admit that I wasn't that optimistic coming into this year since my first two seasons were so lackluster. I just wanted to get a couple top ten finishes, maybe steal a top 5, and finish better in points. What happened was, I picked up 2 top-5's, multiple top-10's, 2 heat wins, and a top ten in points. Any time you exceed your expectations its a good year. 

Not much to say about the race. I've been trying a bunch of stuff with the car all year, and I tried something that made the car hard to drive. Any time it's hard to turn the wheel, means it's hard to do anything with the car. So, that just makes it slow. But since I know what works now, and learned a few more things to try, so we'll give it a shot for the World Series. It's hard to figure out how to get a car to work when you're working on it yourself. It's a huge learning process that takes time. But, I think it's safe to say I'm definitely learning something.

Brent

I'll keep this brief, since I don't have too much to talk about. I was racing sick. I was throwing up all night beforehand, didn't get any sleep, then got out of bed and went to the track. I made a few changes to the front end again, and I gotta say, it made a big difference in the driveability of the car. It showed in the heat race, because I managed to slice through the field and finish 2nd. Little did I know, I actually won because the winner got dq'd for low frame height. 

People know I caused the wreck on lap 1, but here's my explanation. For some reason I thought I was going to be safe when I sent it in under the 96. My motive was to stay on the bottom and try to snag a spot quick because of the pressure from behind, but it didn't turn out that way. I made it up to his window, which led me to believe that I was still safe, and contact ensued. Anybody I asked who has raced or does race said "if you're up to his window, you had position", which is generally an unwritten racers law. However, that really isn't the point. Whether you have position or not, making a move on the first lap isn't a good idea.

We all make mistakes, and I'm learning still. I finally have a quick car, so there's more I need to learn about how to drive it, be patient, and utilize it to its highest potential. It's all a part of the learning curve, and sometimes you're on the wrong end of that learning curve. I learned a few things that will apply to how I drive a race car, and we'll have to move on from there.

Brent

"I could tell, you had your fangs out tonight. You wanted it."

My brother told me that after my feature. I did want it. I wanted that race more than anything in my life. It was the first time I was so focused on a race that I didn't get nervous, or jittery, or even look in the mirror. I was so focused on that race that I had tunnel vision on every car in front of me. I knew I had something to compete with, and I was tired of having something good only to get held up and punted back to around 10th. I wanted to stay up front and put myself into a good position to win the damn thing.

What I didn't want to do was make a stupid error and put myself in danger. That's what I did in turn one when I was challenging Mike Viens for the lead. Mike knows what he's doing, obviously, he's a freaking champion. He gave me a lane to race in and when I sent it in, I went in a little too deep. Realizing that, I rolled out of it too much and got it sideways, right into the side of Mike. That gave Travis in the 96 the opportunity to get by us and that screwed both Mike and I. I felt bad for getting into him, but I couldn't let it get into my head, so I just kept at it. Chad in the 21 got by me, then a caution flew. So I was back anyway, all because I made a tiny error. From which I learned: don't screw up when racing for the lead.

I managed to work back up to 3rd when another caution flew. On the ensuing restart Danny Field finally got by me, so I tucked in behind him. Then Chad and Travis got together and spun in front of us. This is where it gets a little fuzzy, because I'm not quite sure what happened, all I know is that I've got a lot of different paint colors on my car. I had to watch the tape to remember it all, but from the looks of it, I hit Danny pretty hard, then Louie accordioned into me, then I think I hit Chad as he was spinning and then hit Jurcik when he was stopped. All I remember was slowing down, hitting Danny, getting hit by Louie, then mashing the gas and powering through the next few hits. I'm certain it's the first time I've ever floored it through a wreck. 

Scoring lined me up 2nd behind Danny for the restart. He is, by the way, the luckiest driver ever. I've never seen somebody luck out when there's been wrecks more than that guy. Anyway, I wasn't happy with my car on the restarts, it wasn't as powerful as it had been on restarts. Once it gets rolling it goes, but restarts haven't been great lately. So I tucked in behind Danny after clearing Louie and set off after him, all the while praying, "come on you bugger, break down! Something please let go!" But it didn't, and even though I began to reel him back in, Danny beat me to the line. 

Most people would be ecstatic to finish 2nd for the first time. I was happy, but I wasn't beyond myself with joy. Simply because I remember the first time my brother finished 2nd. He had already won a race or two, but he never finished 2nd before. It was a terrible feeling, because you know you had a car capable of winning, but it didn't go your way. Your efforts were thwarted by a cruel twist of fate. I started running through my head all the things that could have happened differently and resulted in me winning the race, but instead of beating myself up about it, I went into the garage and went back to work on the car... which is pretty beat up. The body was hanging off the right side, the left front bumper was sheared off, the nose was caved in, the starter won't work, just a list of things that went wrong. 

We'll get them next time.

Brent

Before I start, I just want to say thanks to everyone who congratulated me on my first 'win', it really means a lot to me. I put quotes around it because it was a heat race. I know I should be more excited than I was (don't get me wrong, I was pretty happy about it), but you all should hear why I didn't get all worked up.

I've wrenched on my brothers car for about 12 years now. I can't even count how many heat races he's won over the years. One season he won about 10 heats, just bear in mind we've averaged around 17 features a year (given the few rain-outs we usually get). It's been programmed into my brain that winning heat races is good, but its just the first step. Winning features is the main priority. Granted I have some catching up to do since my brother/father's team has won 7 features. But my brother has told me that it's one thing to race, it's another thing to lead races, and the best way to gain experience leading races comes with leading heat races, because it's hard to lead races if you don't have the experience. I got comfortable with leading races this season, but I still need just a bit more seat time up front.

The feature was ok, the car was a little tight in traffic and I'm not liking how it rolls into the turns. The chassis is getting upset on corner entry and its washing up the track. I'm not getting the rotation I used to get. But no matter, we'll get it straightened out. Most of it is me not driving the car well, but some of it is setup related. It's coming along though, and we'll be up front before you know it.

Peace,
Brent

I'd been saying that I needed a good finish to end my slump. I finally got one, and what's good is that I know it can be better. I put a lot of work into getting this car back into shape, and my sponsors have as well.

I started out the week by making my own tools to change the valve springs on my motor. That took me 2 nights to perfect, but I didn't have any new ones to put into the engine. I had ordered them the Friday before, but they would come in Thursday. Since I didn't want to have another thrash on race day, I decided to beg my engine builder and see if he had any new ones. However, he did, so on Wednesday night I re-degreed the cam and put the new valve springs in. While I was in there I did some tweaking to the carb as well. After scaling it I loaded it up thinking it might be my best shot at getting back in order.

I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary in practice, other than I was definitely faster than people who passed me last week. I never really knew the potential of the car until the heat race. I started the race knowing I was going to have to drive as hard as possible to have any chance at a good qualifying spot. I got a little physical after I got held up a bit and shuffled back to 6th, which was one spot out of a HQ spot. Then the car came good. I realized the car was a lot better than I thought. I parked myself in the top lane and marched back up to 3rd. I knew the car was good, it still wasn't handling like I wanted, but I had such a big smile on my face because I never had a car that could run that well.

In the feature I was a bit worried. I still wasn't great on the bottom of the track and I was starting 3rd. After two false starts, I missed a shift on the third start. That let a few cars by on the top side and I went back to almost 10th. I kept at it and got back up to 7th, when I caught up to the #43. I tried the bottom side to get around him, and couldn't quite get it done, but I learned a lot about working the bottom side. I also learned that the engine I cobbled together pulls a lot better than I hoped. If I made a mistake, that thing could pull 2-3 car lengths on the car in front of me. That's the nicest thing of all. 

I've got a few things done on the car for next week, and a few more ideas for when something else needs to be done. Let's have at it.

Brent

So, I've hit a slump. It happens when you're a low dollar team that has some expensive problems. We've been trying some setup stuff, I thought it was wrong but we tried something else and it was right all along. The engine has been a major issue all season, I wish we had the longevity. And the power. I've been relying on the bumper of the people behind me for the past few weeks. 

I think we're close to making a turnaround. We've put too much work into this car to start dropping off now. I finished in the top ten the first few races. The last 4 I've finished 10th, 12th, 17th, 12th. This shouldn't be happening. We should have a car that finishes well every night but it just isn't. I haven't been counting points for over a month, because counting points takes the fun out of racing. But we'll keep plugging away at it and see what we can do. We've got a few things that my sponsors and I want to try, so we'll get it in order.

Brent

There comes a time in every racers life, where they question their methods and means. I think it's about time I question mine now. 

The cars we race have weak parts. If we want strong parts, they cost a LOT of money. The question is this: Keep racing and breaking parts, pay out the ass for parts, or give it up? I would like to race a street stock, but I can't afford the gas, tires, or a majority of the engine. Granted, I do have every part imaginable from my brother's car, but it's not feasible.

I don't know what happened to the car last week. It was so fast in practice I had an ear to ear smile. By the end of the feature I wanted to burn the car. My time with the borrowed engine is up and mine isn't ready. I couldn't afford to miss the one race, now I'm looking at missing two. I guess the real question is: why bother putting in the effort to run a full season if the parts don't last that long? This is why I'm thinking of selling out or moving somewhere else. 

Hopefully we can come up with something soon to add longevity to these engines because I'm running out of money and parts very fast. I just want to get back to racing.

Peace, 
Brent

Racing has many sides, and I've seen them all before. Most days you run average. Some days you run exceptionally. Once in a while you either run the race of your life, or wreck harder than you thought you could.

I had one of those struggle days last week. The car was a little slow, and the timing marks on this borrowed engine are hard to read, so we didn't quite have it right. We've been trying different carb setups, and also trying a bunch of other stuff. The week before, the car was great. This week, after not touching the car, it wasn't as good. That's just how racing goes.

Everyone knows I'm mad at a couple of my competitors after I said they "used me up" in the turns. I'm not saying I'm taking immediate revenge or anything, I took it as a learning experience. I learned that my fellow competitors are unpredictable, and that I needed to take preventative measures to ensure that the next time they try to take advantage of me, I will be ready. Being knocked out of the way is really unjustifiable. I just want to say that you guys may have been racing longer than I have, but that doesn't mean I don't know my way around a race track. I've been in racing a long time. Next time someone drives into me with malicious aforethought, or thinks I'm some chump, is really in for a shock, that's all. 

Thanks to Jette Motorsports for being nice enough to lend me an engine until mine is complete. The motor is for sale if anyone is interested! I might even pick it up at the end of the year if I have the funds. But if anyone is interested, come see me at the track.

Thanks,
Brent

Well then. As the title states, "that's more like it". It figures that I borrow an engine and I end up getting my best showing at the race track yet.


All the hours put into the car over the past 2 weeks (and the last 3 years, really) have finally started to pay off. Not only that, but I have really good help from my sponsors. The borrowed motor ran pretty well, but I was finally starting to get the feel for the new setup I've been running. We managed to knock off a half-second from my lap times in 2 weeks. 

I was pretty determined to grab the lead and hold onto it for as long as possible during the feature. I got such a good jump on the initial start that I thought it was going to be called back, but I guess the flag was flying when I took off. I drove that car, probably faster than the setup would allow me to, but I had to. By the halfway point I was still in the lead, but she really started to give up on me, and I started slowing pretty badly. I kept up the fight as much as I could, and I ended up 5th.

I learned that I can (as a driver) contend. I also learned what I have to do to get the car to be more competitive. The funny thing is, being in the lead with a car that wouldn't handle that well, gave me input as to how it needs to be adjusted so that it can compete better. I learned a lot about how to correct my line, and how much being smooth matters. I'll take this as a learning experience and move forward from here.

Hopefully, there will be more weeks like these.

Brent