Media Contact: Megan Dupuy – woodhullracewaypr@gmail.com
Photo Credit: Gleason Team 24 photo
(Woodhull, NY) - This season Woodhull Raceway has seen many new rookies across all divisions. This week's driver found himself behind the wheel of a car that had seen Woodhull Raceway many times before.
Dylon Gleason, 19, pilots the No. 24 Mini Stock on a weekly basis at Woodhull Raceway. The only race experience he had prior to this was one season of go-karts. Although a rookie, Gleason has had a great start. He's only seen one finish out of the top five, which was a 6th place finish. He's celebrated multiple heat wins, but is still searching for that first feature win.
“Incredible,” said Gleason when asked how he thought his race season has been thus far.
What do you feel that you need to improve on?
“I need to race a little smarter,” Gleason said.
For Gleason, he’s out there racing and having fun. He’s looking for a win and will do whatever it takes to get it. Overall for the season he’d like to finish top five in points and get a feature win. Currently Gleason sits second in points, just 24 points shy of first place.
As far as continuing Gleason’s racing career and moving up he said, “we’ll have to wait and see what happens this year.”
What is one tip you'd give to other rookies to help them get around Woodhull?
"Slower is faster." Gleason said. Something that is heard quite often around short tracks, but not always explained thoroughly. This all comes down to slowing the car down and racing the corners with precision to click off the best lap times. As opposed to going all out and scrubbing off speed in the corners.
Every driver has his or her favorite lane on the racetrack. Although Gleason will drive the lane that is best on the track at that particular time, he likes the outside.
“It was the high side for a couple weeks, but last week I was fast on the bottom. It all depends on where the bite is I guess.”
Why do you like the high side so much?
“It’s just full throttle,” Gleason responded.
Gleason is a second-generation driver so when he was choosing his number he was tempted to go with his dads 24hrs. Gleason’s dad, Jason, raced back in 2012 at Woodhull Raceway. However Gleason decided to change it and go with his favorite number not far from his dads, No. 24.
“We were gonna do 24hrs cause it was my dads number and it was for the business but then I decided I didn’t want ‘hrs.’ 24 is my favorite number anyway.”
The car itself used to be Gleason’s dad’s. However, it was then sold to NAPA Crate Sportsman driver Jeff Daugherty to start out his racing career. Now it is back in the Gleason family to let another young driver start his racing career.
“It was actually Richie Sharpsteen’s and Dylan Cecce’s. It was the car they won all their races with,” Gleason expanded about his cars past.
When the car turned to Gleason’s ownership about four years ago they stripped it all down and put everything brand new on it. One thing is for sure, this car may be old but it still runs fast.
Gleason is a driver in the making who is just looking to get a feature win. When he does get his first feature win, it will be one to remember. With multiple top five finishes and heat wins, his chances are good.
Stay tuned all season long for more of Megan Dupuy’s driver profiles, as she travels the pit area at Woodhull Raceway to help tell the stories of the drivers that put on a show each week. Megan is finishing her sophomore year at Mansfield University, where she is studying to pursue a career in public relations. She has returned to Woodhull Raceway for her second season as Media Intern- an experience she hopes to make useful in a future career in motorsports media and marketing.