GIBSONTON, Fla. – Gary Winger was ready to transform into Angry Dad mode when he watched his son, Ashton, make a mistake that allowed Kyle Bronson to take the lead on the ninth circuit of Tuesday’s 30-lap Wieland Winternationals feature at night in East Bay. Raceway Park.
All the older Winger, and hey, the younger Winger too, might be thinking at this point that a possible first race win in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series had slipped out of Ashton’s grasp.
“I usually stay pretty low-key,” said Gary Winger, a shock guru who operates GW Performance while serving as his son’s crew chief. “But whenever you watch you can see things happening, and I saw that he was trying to conserve, I guess is the best way to put it, and the more he did, the tighter he got. So the lap that happened, I saw him go down there (in the first lap) and he missed the bottom and I was like, ‘Golly!’
“You never know what can happen, but Bronson has done a lap or two here (as a local who grew up racing at the track), so it probably won’t hurt.”
February 6-11 · Resumes today at 22:10 UTC
2023 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at East Bay Raceway Park
But just as the race seemed to slip away from Ashton, it suddenly swung back into his favor. Before Bronson could officially lead a lap, Ashton charged to the outside of turns three and four and again lapped around Bronson to maintain command as lap 10 was scored. The quick recovery went impress Gary and it turned out to be the key move that led Ashton to a $5,000 win.
“You just go out there and whatever happens,” Gary said of his son’s bid to overturn his mistake. “Fortunately, it wasn’t so dirty that it got up there and lost all grip. It was early enough after a restart that (the top lane) was still a little full and he got stuck.”
Gary paused, then added, “I’m proud of him.”
Coming from a demanding veteran runner who is known to be critical of his son’s performance and approach in the event of a delay, Gary’s words were especially telling. For Gary to offer such praise to Ashton, the 23-year-old from Hampton, Ga., must have done something right.
RELATED: Complete Results – Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at East Bay
Indeed, it was a race worthy of a father’s love by Winger, an excitable and fickle young driver who has shown plenty of talent in recent seasons, but has also made jumps through various rides and he has been embroiled in some controversies thanks to his way on the track. aggressiveness The winger’s ability to regain the lead from Bronson, who eventually retired on lap 24 while running third with a broken rear end, without incident and then calmly stay in front for the rest of the distance was show that he could be putting it all together while settling down. in team driving presented by Florida racer and businessman Jeff Mathews.
There was nothing in Winger’s flag-to-flag victory. He won it with a hard drive in response to his lap nine slip.
“I think, honestly, I tried to guard too much,” Winger said when asked about leaving the interior line open for Bronson to struggle. “I was putting the corner entry trying to keep someone from coming at me all the way to the middle of (turn) one, and when I did, I adjusted and I was probably able to give him a lot of air on the nose and he was able to come down next to me. I barely missed the bottom and ended up in the middle.”
VIDEO: Watch highlights from Tuesday’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series race in the East Bay.
Winger did not hesitate to mount an immediate rally at the other end of the court. What did he say to himself as he placed his rocket chassis on turn three?
“Eff it. Just do it,” he said with a smile and a laugh. “Whatever happens, happens.”
However, it was far from a banzai blast through turns three and four. Winger noted that “when your race car is really good you can do things like that.”
“I felt my car was good enough to do everything I needed to do, so I was confident in what I did,” he said. “But you never know. You win some of it, you lose most of it, but it worked – it gave me space and I really appreciate it.”
Winger experienced a few more threats, including a highside ride by Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., after a lap 21 restart and a chase by Hudson O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., in the closing laps. He stayed glued to the bottom, his engine screaming, to fend off two challengers en route to beating O’Neal by 1.833 seconds.
“I definitely heard Sheppard on me a couple of times, and I thought if I could get through all three (turns) well and not have to go over one, I could make a good time,” Winger said. ‘S—, I was spinning 9,000 rpm out there with the rest of them. It worked and that’s why we were able to win tonight.”
A previous national winner in World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series and XR Super Series competition, Winger’s previous best finish in Lucas Oil Series competition was a second during last year’s Winternationals in East Bay. That his big win at the Lucas Oil circuit came in the East Bay was fitting since the Mathews shop, where Winger has worked since entering the ride last October, is 15 minutes away in Seffner, Fla., and Winger has personal connections with the area. .
“We’ve always loved coming here,” Gary Winger said. “There’s a guy down here (in Tampa), Johnny Doan Plumbing, who’s literally been helping Ashton since he ran bandits. He’s a friend of the family, and if he’s not Ashton’s longest running backer, he’s very close, and he’s one of the guys who was instrumental in getting this deal done (with Mathews). He’s good friends with Jeff and Gene (Farmer) from Angry Elephant Tattoo (a Mathews team sponsor) .
Not even four months into his pairing with Mathews, Winger couldn’t imagine himself anywhere else.
“I feel like everybody’s for everybody,” Winger said. “Most of these teams around, a lot of them have really good guys and a lot of them are very well funded, and some guys work well together and some guys don’t. I’ve had to jump around a bit and see what suits me, and I said it in my previous interview: I don’t forget anyone who helped me, even if I ended up on not-so-good terms. with them or not
“Jeff has been an amazing car owner for me, but Billy Franklin was a good owner for me (in 2020) and GR Smith helped me a lot (through the first half of 2022) and Augie (Burttram) from Big Frog (Motorsports). ) helped me a lot (at the end of last year). I won’t forget Danny Hatcher and them either. I’ll never forget everyone who got me here. And like I said, if we didn’t necessarily end on the best terms, I don’t hold any hard feelings, because at the end of the day, all the guys stuck their necks out and helped me when they didn’t have to. I’m grateful for that, and I’m just grateful now for be in a situation where it feels like home, and if this is my last trip, I’ll be very grateful for that, and if something crazy happens and it’s not like I might have to go sell insurance or something like this.
“With everybody here — Jeff, my dad, Gene, Jimmy, my mom, my cousin (the team’s tire guy) — this is like our family deal,” he added, “but Jeff ends us of letting go and it’s taken us whatever it is. we feel we needed.”
Wger’s brief stint with Mathews already includes his second career Speedweeks win (he earned his first win last year in a WoO event at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., driving for Smith) and a $20,000 XRSS win last December at All-Tech Raceway in Ellisville, Fla. But both Winger and his father believe they’ve only begun to scratch the surface of what’s possible.
“It’s weird,” Gary Winger said. “We’ve been doing this nationally for several years and we’ve had some good opportunities, some that weren’t so good. And in the grand scheme of things, you’re just looking at three years and we’ve been through a lot, but the one thing that I really feel good about this deal is that these are the right people. I think we have the right people in place on the property side to make it look like it’s going to go well.
“I don’t even know if we’re ready yet. We don’t have things on the truck yet; we’re putting together trucks and trailers and waiting to get engine parts. The most perfect thing about it all has been the rocket (chassis) part. Mark (Richards) was pretty instrumental in putting this deal together and Rocket has been great – we’ve had our cars, that hasn’t been a problem.
“A lot of things come together in a hurry, and I’m telling you man, if you’re not with the right people, that’s a recipe for disaster,” he continued. “I think the group we have now is where we need to be. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but it sure feels good.”
Ashton can’t speak in a higher tone about Mathews, who was unable to attend Tuesday’s victory lane celebration due to work commitments.
“Jeff has been really, really good for me because he runs,” Winger said. “I’ve had car owners that have raced before, but Jeff has been the first one to really give me constructive criticism in a way that I understand. He’s got a few more miles around the sun than me and I can’t stress enough how grateful that I am
In Winger’s mind, winning a $5,000 Winternationals feature in the East Bay is an omen.
“I’m pretty bad about going too high or too low, but now I’m getting a little bigger and no matter how good or bad we run, I just try to stay even,” said Winger, who has recorded three bests. -five finishes in his four Speedweeks starts this year (failed to qualify in three events). “One of the guys I love is that Brandon Overton — you can’t tell when that guy’s having a bad day, so I’m doing my best to be that way.
“For me, I’ve never been afraid of being thrown to the wolves and getting my nuts kicked, so to speak. I’ve always tried to learn from it because I know at the end of the day if I want to be as good as I want to be, as fast, as young as I am, I’m going to have to learn and achieve. outdone by these guys some.
“In terms of confidence, I know I have fast race cars. I feel like I’ve been fast in everything I’ve been in,” he added. “It’s just a feeling of being at home, and if we win or finish 15th I know my guys have got my back. And I think if we get to 15th, it won’t be long because I’ve got a bunch of hard-working guys around me and I’ve got Jeff who’s going to do whatever it takes to help me accomplish what we’re trying to do. .”
