Tom Baker (00:00)
Hello everyone and welcome to a special Inside Groove Spotlight. My name is Tom Baker. I'm the host of the Inside Groove Short Track Show and also the Tom Baker Show. That show airs on PowerTube TV weekly on Monday nights at eight o'clock on their podcast channel. This show, Inside Groove, has been an audio podcast up to now.
We're slowly going to start working some video into the stew here on the groove. That's this logo, by the way. And joining me on this special spotlight is Jackson Gill. Jackson is from Alexandria Bay, New York, or A Bay, as we used to like to call it when I was living up there in Oswego. And he is a big block modified driver up north. Jackson, it's great to have you on the show. You are part
Tom Baker (00:54)
of a family that I feel like has been involved in racing in one way or another for a long
time up in the North Country in New York. Talk a little bit about your background and your family's background in the sport.
Jackson Gill (01:09)
Yeah, thank you Tom for having me on here too. It's a great opportunity to be able to talk on your show and be able to say, you know, my sponsors and get them out. So I really appreciate being on here. And yeah, my family's been in racing for three generations now, just starting with my grandpa and
He was racing at Evans Mills Speedway and Watertown Speedway in the hobby stock class. you know, old school racer and just putting the cars together himself and just like the old school ways with a buddy and him and Jeff would run the cars. Jeff would run it on asphalt and my grandpa would switch it over a dirt and he'd run the dirt portion. And it's really cool to hear the stories back in the day of how racing used to be and
Tom Baker (01:49)
Okay.
Jackson Gill (01:54)
the blood and the tears and the sweat that all those guys put on it and paved the way for us, you know, because it changes so fast, you know, from when my uncle Bill raised to when my grandfather raised. And now when I race, it's cool to have those three generations to be able to hear those stories and look back and reflect on what we're doing now and see what they've built for me. And it's been a long, long journey throughout all of our generations.
Tom Baker (02:23)
So walk us through how old were you when you sort of got interested in racing and then how did you actually start racing and what did you start racing?
Jackson Gill (02:36)
I started when I was five years old with go-karts, so I've pretty much done this my whole life. It's been right in the blood and I just somehow got to be the lucky person and driving a car myself. I really couldn't imagine life without racing. It's a part of me at this point. It's what I do. So I've really been lucky and thankful that I even have this opportunity to go out on the track and
Tom Baker (02:39)
Okay.
Jackson Gill (03:02)
have fans and be able to develop a brand and it's been a long journey and we've raced throughout the dirt kart series and northern dirt kart series or New York dirt kart series and it was a really big big family I'd say of karting communities and it was really competitive and it taught me a lot of the more traveling and racing different tracks.
and getting familiar with those tracks and being able to not really race at the same track every week. We were always traveling when I was young. And so I didn't really get to watch much of my Uncle Bill race throughout the years as much as I really would have loved to be a part of that where I am now, like being able to learn how to grind tires and site tires and all that stuff at a young age. Like a lot of these kids that work for their dad or something.
they do a lot of the big car maintenance on the car and I was racing go-karts so my dad would take care of a lot of the maintenance on the carts and stuff and I'd learn that but when I was 12 and we switched over to the big cars it was a lot to learn pretty fast too so throughout the years with Uncle Bill racing
Tom Baker (04:11)
that's it did you say sorry hang on
did you you said when i was 12 and switched over to the big cars that's young what did you you went from carts to what
Jackson Gill (04:23)
carts right to 602 sportsman modified. It's just like what I run now just with a smaller engine. And it was kind of a slow of pace honestly on the race racing side of it compared to the go-karts when you're really low down into the ground. It just makes everything seem a lot faster. Like I'm sure when you'd hop into like a mini mod or something, it seems a lot faster and there's a lot more going on when you have such a smaller wheelbase.
Tom Baker (04:27)
Wow. OK. Yeah.
Yeah, it does.
Jackson Gill (04:52)
compared to when I went to a big car, it almost felt like in slow motion. it was a really, it was really a good opportunity to start in the go-karts and learn and race competitively in the go-karts. And then when I got into the sportsman, it made it so I was able to compete relatively quick at a younger age and it helped.
Tom Baker (05:13)
Now, what was your success like in the the carts? Did you win a lot, championships, anything like that? Talk a little bit about that because obviously that feeds confidence to get into the big car and feel like you can figure that bad boy out. Talk about kind of the highlights of the cart career.
Jackson Gill (05:34)
Yeah, going through carts, I was always competitive right from the start. My brother, he raced along with me when we were racing and he got in an accident and just kind of lost interest in racing. But he got the go-kart first when I was five, or I was four at the time and he was five. So he got the go-kart first and that is what really brought the fire in me because I knew that I wanted to do that. And I started out kind of
Tom Baker (05:47)
And it'll do it.
Jackson Gill (06:01)
rough around the edges. called me Jack Hammer. I just about hit everything out there. But with go-karts, that helped out a lot throughout the go-karts to already be so like sped up. It was more so slowing me down and taking a step back and letting you know the people and not dumping everybody. But yeah, I was rough around the edges. That's for sure. But
Tom Baker (06:24)
Hahaha!
Jackson Gill (06:26)
Yeah, I learned the bump and run really fast, really early in my career. And we had a lot of success in the go-karts, but I give a lot of the credit to my dad because yeah, I had to drive the thing, but he was really meticulous about the carts and the setup and stuff. And I was, I was young at the time and I was more interested in playing football with my racing buddies in the pits and stuff. And my dad really, he really hunkered down and
Tom Baker (06:51)
Yeah.
Jackson Gill (06:55)
did all the work for me so it was really beneficial for me i when i got older i'd i realized that i was more thankful you know you when you get older you look back on those things and you end up taking up a little bit more responsibility and and i'm glad for that but yeah we we want a couple the one big year i think it was two thousand thirteen we won
the championship there for the New York Dirt Cart Series. that was a big highlight. That was kind of towards the end of my go-kart career. 2015 is when I got out of it and I was super young again. So it's kind of hard for me to remember all of the go-kart days, but I do remember that being a highlight. And halfway through the season through the New York Dirt Cart Series, we came to my home track here at K and we were running crazy amounts. I was
Tom Baker (07:32)
Sure.
Jackson Gill (07:45)
12 at the time so you could run four classes. It was either four or three. No, it was probably like three. Three classes I could run so I had three go-karts all running at the same day and we ended up winning two out of the three of the races that day so it was kind of just one of those things where we were expecting to win in the go-kart series and it kind of didn't make it so much fun.
you know, when you have high expectations like that. we're looking to, you know, get into out of our comfort zone, which is where I really like to be is out of my comfort zone, just have something to work towards. And I feel like going into this year, we're kind of in a spot like that going into 2025 where we're going to be running against pretty stiff competition. And I'd like to, to perform, but there's also
you know, kind of low expectations, but we're going to try and hopefully get some wins this year and keep our heads down and work hard.
Tom Baker (08:50)
Okay, so you jumped into the 602 Sportsman at 12. How long did you the Sportsman before you actually went to the Big Block Modified?
Jackson Gill (08:57)
Mm-hmm.
We ran sports until I was 17 and it was, it was, I was in it for quite some time and we got to run down at Charlotte and do a lot of cool races like that and travel with the, with the six Oh two. ran can am every week and Fulton and yeah, we had a good career, a couple of championships, one at, had a couple get away from me too and learn how that felt feels like and, uh, how you don't want those things to happen again. but.
Tom Baker (09:05)
Okay.
That happens.
Jackson Gill (09:32)
you know that's racing and points racing too and keeping your wheels underneath you all season's a task and taking care of your equipment but yeah we I don't know really how many wins we had but we we saw success relatively fast at Can-Am I think going into my first year we got a win so that was really cool just to have early success like that but it doesn't take you long to get humbled and and race against some competitive guys where
you know, you're trying to learn from them and be better too. always coming up through my career, I've had some people that I race against where I look up to them and they're a challenge. And I'm really thankful to be able to race against a group of guys where, you know, you're kind of the underdog and that's where I kind of like to be, you know, and have a good challenge.
Tom Baker (10:23)
What you came, you said that you were able to run Charlotte and what was it like to come to Charlotte Motor Speedway? And it's sort of interesting because obviously so many young racers dream of running Charlotte in a NASCAR, in a stock car running on the big track. You came down around the dirt track, but the thing that I find
is whether you're running a quarter midget or a road race car or whatever it is or a go-kart, when you come to Charlotte Motor Speedway and you're on the grounds and you're running at the facility, it still seems to feel a lot the same. It's a big stage. I the world final, the short track nationals before it every year, just a massive stage for a young driver like you to come and run.
What was that like traveling down the anticipation of it and what was the experience like when you got here compared to what you were expecting?
Jackson Gill (11:22)
I like the pressure that brings. I like when we can go down and travel to those races and have the opportunity to go down there. It takes a lot of help and a lot of those times that we can't go down there, like the past few years at the World Finals, we haven't gone to them just because it's a lot of money to go down there and race. So I'm really thankful to go down there and put my hard work in.
Tom Baker (11:43)
It is. Yeah.
Jackson Gill (11:50)
You know, put on a show on the big stage for all the people that help. It, it really amps it up and makes you want to drive harder. So going down to those big races and where there's big stakes, seem to like to perform a little bit better. I seem to, you know, perform better under pressure. So I like going to those races at, Charlotte and the ones where they're televised and you can show off your sponsors. It's a.
It's really good that they even let the sportsman cars go down there. I like how they share the limelight with us Northeast folks down there. And we get to run down at Charlotte because, especially going down to Charlotte, that seems like it's the hub of NASCAR. And there's always lots of talk about NASCAR. was actually just down in North Carolina with my buddy. was doing some work for him down there in North Carolina. And yeah, yeah, I was down there doing some.
Tom Baker (12:41)
Max McLaughlin.
Jackson Gill (12:45)
electrical work with them and it's cool to just hear one of your buddies talk about those big names and like like William Byron and and There and that counterzeel so that just won the Xfinity race It's just it's cool to be in that environment like being up here in New York. You're a little bit excluded You know just because our cars are so based up in Northeast having the opportunity to go down to North Carolina and kind of be in that world too is is a
Tom Baker (12:52)
yeah.
Yep.
Jackson Gill (13:15)
It's really just a privilege just to be able to to know those types of people and communicate with them and share the same passions that you have so I Really want to get back down there at North Carolina and run the world finals There's a little bit of talk in our shop that we might end up going down there this year We got a good engine there that I think will perform well down there. So if we can run good, hopefully we do you know, it's just another one of those things where that's kind of no expectations, but
Tom Baker (13:39)
Yeah.
Jackson Gill (13:43)
We're not going to go down there if we feel like we're not going to be competitive. hopefully we can be competitive down there and put on a good show there this year, but time will tell.
Tom Baker (13:54)
Well, it's obviously good for the sponsors, especially the ones if you've got sponsors that market nationally, it's good to get, you know, to be a part of that because that's one of the most watched events of the year for your particular type of racing with the big blocks. But, talk, talk about the tracks. I mean, you, you've run obviously a number of different tracks up there. You mentioned Fulton, Brewerton, Cornwall, you know, Can-Am you've run a bunch of
different tracks. What are the tracks that you seem to like the best and enjoy the most? and, you know, maybe tell us about a memorable race, whether it was a win or just performance. You know, give us a story about a race that you you you just that really stands out in your mind.
Jackson Gill (14:37)
Definitely the first thing that you said that sparked my mind was just putting dirt on Bristol and being able to run down there at Bristol and Another big another big show that we were able to run and be on a big platform. It was my second ever big block race and So it was a lot to learn and a whole lot of No expectations again, but just along for the ride and we had a blast down there with a lot of good people and
Tom Baker (14:53)
wow.
Jackson Gill (15:07)
just going that fast too was really crazy and the high banking and getting used to all that and being relatively new to a big block. was a big track. So we were. It was a big track and there's big banking. So it almost made the big block feel like less of a car. It was like, you're, just going so fast where arrow is like a big deal. I never had to deal with arrow before and that was a huge.
Tom Baker (15:33)
wow, yeah that's crazy.
Jackson Gill (15:35)
It was a huge thing. we did was we had the spoiler flip back and there's like a little wicker on the back of the spoiler. And to tighten up your entry just a little bit you can either flip that spoiler around so the wickers face in the opposite direction or raise it and that'll tighten up your entry. So we just wanted to do a little bit of adjustment on the on the nothing crazy the car felt good just wanted a little bit of tightness on entry.
Tom Baker (15:43)
Okay.
Jackson Gill (16:03)
and it ended up picking up the front wheels off the car halfway down the straightaway and I couldn't even drive the car. I had to pull in. I had to pull in and I couldn't finish the heat race there just because I couldn't steer. It was a hazard. You're going so fast and I was just out of control. So I pulled in and I didn't like doing it but I also liked saving the car and not wrecking everybody either. But we ended up making, it was a two week, two day show.
Tom Baker (16:06)
wow.
Wow!
Jackson Gill (16:32)
through the weekend and we ran, we made the show the second night and ran with guys like Matt Williamson and stuff. But granted, Matt Williamson wasn't happy at the end of the night. I talked to him. He wasn't pleased with his performance, but I was great just to be there. You know, I was in the, I was on cloud nine, just being able to race with Matt Williamson and, and, just that early introduction to racing with top guys like Matt was.
Tom Baker (16:53)
Sure.
Jackson Gill (16:59)
was really huge for me early in the season. And we went to Albany, Saratoga just to shake down the big block before we went down to Bristol, just so I could feel the real power of the big block and get used to it and shake it down before we took it all the way down to Bristol. Like out of all places, like this is a huge race for us and it's my second big block race ever. And yeah, Albany, Saratoga was...
One of those times, my first time ever being in a big block and it would put your head right into the seat and I wasn't ready for it. I couldn't even keep my head up towards it. It was a hundred lap race. The opening night at Albany, Saratoga. It's my only time that I've ever been there. I really want to go back just because of this experience that I had of the big block power. I somehow drew second outside pole at Albany, Saratoga in my first race ever. So.
Tom Baker (17:31)
Wow.
wow, in your first race.
Jackson Gill (17:51)
I think we ended up battling with Mark Johnson for the lead for about six to seven laps side by side racing. It was really awesome just to feel that power of the big black, but it was a hundred lap race throughout the feature. And I'll tell you, my neck was so far buried into that seat. I couldn't keep it out. I couldn't keep it out. And I'd get on the brakes and then my head would dump after just using all your neck muscle that you could. But as I've,
Tom Baker (18:10)
you
Jackson Gill (18:20)
raced it and gotten used to it all that stuff seems to go away and you're used to that power and you know looking for something new too I'd really like to get that feeling back of being like out of my comfort zone and into something new but we're still racing the big block and we're having a lot of fun with it we definitely haven't reached the success that we've wanted to yet to the point where you know we're kind of bored of it we're still really new to this game so I'm really looking forward to this year and
and running against a high class again and being able to have the opportunity.
Tom Baker (18:55)
Before we get to your plans for this year, when you're not racing, what do you do? Are you in college? Are you working? What is Jackson Gill? Who is Jackson Gill when he's off the racetrack?
Jackson Gill (19:07)
I'm a worker. Without my hands, I'd be nothing. So I went to tech school and high school and went through an apprenticeship with electrical wiring. I joined the electrical union up in this area and been working with a good contractor. They're really cool about letting me off for racing, so I stay loyal to them. If I ask to leave for racing, it's no questions. He says good luck.
Tom Baker (19:14)
Okay.
Good for you.
Jackson Gill (19:37)
even sponsors a car a little bit and so it's a really good environment and I'm thankful that they let me chase this dream that I have. If I ever had the opportunity to just race and do it for a living, obviously anybody would take that dream up. And I'd live in a camper if I could just be financially stable and race for a living and travel the country. That's definitely one of the dreams I've had ever since I was a kid.
Tom Baker (19:39)
Nice.
Jackson Gill (20:03)
You also gotta be realistic and just take what you can get and work hard towards those things. I still live with my dad, but I have a rental property too, so I'm kinda trying to get a little bit of like a cash flow while I could maybe be racing. I could also be renting houses out or something like that, but that's obviously far down the road, just kinda trying to get a foundation.
with that just in case maybe something like that would ever happen. right now I'm just working hard and staying up in New York and just thankful that my family allows me to be able to race because without my family and my sponsors that I have and my friends, I'd really be nothing, you know. So like my dad and all of them, my grandpa.
Tom Baker (20:45)
We'll get to the-
Jackson Gill (20:52)
and my uncle. It's all family really that drives the race team and they're the ones that they love it just as much as I do. So going to the track and stuff, it's a great feeling just to be able to have those people on your side.
Tom Baker (21:08)
Okay, so you started down the road. was gonna say we'll get to that in a moment. But since you started down the road of thank yous, get your sponsors in there. Let's talk about who helps you make it all happen. Then we'll talk about what's going on for this year.
Jackson Gill (21:21)
Yeah, definitely. A lot of it's my dad. He's the one that keeps this thing going. He's the manager behind everything and keeps it going. Drives the truck all the time to the track and takes all the sacrifice of going to the track. Every time we're racing, my dad's right alongside with me. And without him, I'd really be nothing. So he's definitely the driving factor. we have...
a lot of good relationships with the racing community too, like Troyer dirt cars. We've stayed loyal to Troyer dirt cars all this time. I really think they have a great product that they're putting out now. You see a lot of Bicknells out there and I don't think Troyer gets the light that they really deserve because they're definitely winning cars and they could be out front just as much as the Bicknells are and they put a good piece out there and
and they're really fast and all the manufacturing that they have behind it is top notch stuff. And Morrison Racing Engines does a lot for us too. Without Morrison Racing Engines, I'd still be racing crate cars. They help us out a lot with just building the engines and just because all these teams, they build around the pistons and they have a fleet of
engines and it makes it really expensive but Morrison he kind of develops a tailored package and makes it possible for us to race these high class events like running the big blocks. We all know that big blocks are really hard to find around this area now and just building engines so without him we'd still be racing probably 358 or crate engines so being able to run the big block is
Tom Baker (22:48)
Okay.
Jackson Gill (23:09)
It's a blessing. It's been a dream of mine since I was a kid. So I'm really thankful for all that he does. And Dapper Dog Grooming is my dad. He's our main sponsor. And he's my dad's best friend. So pretty much a second dad to me too. So my main sponsor is, you know, we have a good relationship with Ben and he's the type of guy that doesn't want to see the recognition, but he does a lot for us too. And so.
I can't leave Victory Lane without thanking him because without him we'd really be struggling. So around race season he always seems to help. And we have, it's all local people too that help us and it's all family friends that are in the area. Like Max Boatrentals is my cousin's husband. So it's all family and friends around here and I'm really thankful for my area and where I grew up in.
you know the community that I have behind me and being in Alex Bay we have a lot of local businesses that help.
Tom Baker (24:05)
What are your plans for 2025? Where can fans find Jackson Racing this year?
Jackson Gill (24:11)
Last year we ran at Cornwall Speedway up in Canada and we had a lot of fun up there. We got second in the points. Going into the season, I had high expectations. I wanted to go and get a championship and we just fell short. I had a couple mechanical failures and a couple nights where I could have been better with the setup and driving and just had it slip away. So that's going into the season. I really want to start looking into
Maybe in contention, definitely want to be in contention, but hopefully win the championship up there at Cornwall. It's a chip on my shoulder just from last year coming so close and missing it out. had a lot of good races up there too, like the first race of the season up there. We weren't running so good. I never qualified good. Seems like it's my Achilles heel and we had to come in through the concy and a 55 lap.
55 lap race there at Cornwall, which goes by quick and ended up snagging the win on that one and racing against good guys like Matt Williamson. And so that was a really good boost going into my season before. So going into 2025, definitely hopefully a championship up there at Cornwall and going to take a step back from, from Brewerton where we ran last year. Just
Tom Baker (25:15)
Nice, yeah for sure.
Jackson Gill (25:30)
Just finances really and chasing the super dirt car series is what we're going to hopefully plan on our big block career. Just hit and miss shows. Don't really know what races we're going to run yet. Just the ones that really make sense that are close like Brewerton and Fulton and Weed Sport and probably Canada, a couple of times. And we won't be at like Lebanon Valley and specialty shows like that, but we'll hit what's close. Can't am.
They run a big block show here early in the year at April 12th and April 11th. They'll do the small block show there at Can-Am, so we'll be up at Can-Am quite a bit. But I'm really looking forward to running up into Canada though at Cornwall. We might go up to Granby and Drummond a little bit this year too, so it'll be cool to search some new tracks and get a new crowd.
Tom Baker (26:02)
Okay.
Jackson Gill (26:22)
I really like running up in Canada. The environment up there is really cool. It's different, you know, being American and being able to represent your country up in another country and, you know, while also respecting another country and, and meeting new people, it's really cool and gives it gives racing a really cool perspective, you know, just to share a similarity with different people and chasing that same goal of winning races. And it's, it's really,
a good opportunity that we can go over there and race.
Tom Baker (26:53)
Okay, so final question will get you out of here on this, is where can fans follow you on social media website? All of that.
Jackson Gill (27:03)
On Facebook we have a account Jackson Gill racing. I'm really bad at at that kind of thing My name is Jack Gill on on Facebook and I'm I mainly use that to you know push out sponsors and a lot of local Advertisement is what we do and you know a lot of good help through there But yeah, I plan to get better on that and getting better on the t-shirt sales and all that stuff we do do t-shirts every year just because it's
it's cool just not to make money off of it but just to have that a fan wearing your t-shirt at the track you know that that's probably one of the coolest things that us drivers get to do is sell t-shirts and i do have a website called shopjaxsongill.com where we do sell t-shirts and stuff so it makes it a little bit easier for fans just just you know at the track some people have a merch trailer and stuff like that but you know maybe someday if
Tom Baker (27:42)
Yeah.
Jackson Gill (27:58)
you know things get bigger or something maybe a merch trailer would be cool but at the moment we just got a website and stuff and my dad does graphic design so all my cars get done through my dad and it's cool just to be able to you know have all sides of the race car like we all do it in house and without the family and the friends none of it would be possible so I'm really in a blessed spot.
Tom Baker (28:17)
Yeah.
Well, it's great to talk to you, Jackson, and congratulations on the success that you've had. The Gill family, one of our favorite families from the North Country, been around a long time and given a lot to the sport in various ways. course, Lee Gill, who is a part of your family as well, is now the owner of Evans Mills Raceway and has just done such an amazing job of really upgrading and
evolving that track forward and you know, love seeing all of that. So I'm excited to see what 2025 brings you and who knows, maybe we'll see you back down here at Charlotte in the fall running with the big block at the World Final.
Jackson Gill (29:10)
Yeah, definitely. Hopefully we can make it down there and meet up with you sometime.
Tom Baker (29:15)
That is Jackson Gill and we hope that you have enjoyed this special edition of Inside Groove Spotlight, a video spotlight show. We're going to do more of these throughout the year as we kind of start transitioning more of our steering wheel nation brand work in general over to video. Of course, the Tom Baker show is a television show. It's on every Monday night at 8 p.m. in all time zones on Power
PowerTubeTV. Just go to their website. Watch PowerTubeTV.com or you can find them on the Roku app. Just look up PowerTubeTV. We're on PowerTubeTV.com.
podcast channel where we belong. And we enjoy that you'll get all kinds of stuff from NASCAR to short tracks and across the racing divide. We try to bring a big variety there. And of course, inside groove, the audio podcast is a short track show that covers short track racing, Northeast and beyond. We're expanding it this year a little bit. It's been a super modified bass show for a while, but we're going to have
A lot of different short track content. We're not going to lessen the super modified stuff. We're just going to add some other things and we'll do more of this as well. So for more great content, steeringwheelnation.com is our brand website at steering wheel nation on Facebook and Instagram. Make sure you give us a like on both of those pages and we look forward to bringing you content throughout the year. Everything from go carts, legends cars on up to NASCAR Indy car and more.
Thanks for joining us.
