Meet the Driver: Garrett Gleason

For this entry we sit down with the one and only Garrett (Affectionately referred to as G$) Gleason.

Q: So Garrett, when and how did TNR get started and what sparked your interest in bringing TNR back to life after all these years on hiatus?

A: I’m going to answer that to the best of my ability, but it’s been about 15 years since I began this online racing venture and I’m getting old and forgetful.

My first experiences doing any sort of online racing was in offline leagues for the NASCAR Thunder games on the PS2. I originally saw a post and joined a league run by someone named Justin and joined a team run by Reuben James. I was intrigued by all the cool paint schemes guys used to have as their pictures on the forums, and I remember my first car being a King of the Hill/Red Bull scheme. We used to run these races on our own and submit our in game times to the administrators to determine who won each week. I had some great times working on setups with the likes of Pablo Pacheco, Curt Croeze, Jordan Paskel, and a few of these guys who are currently racing with us. Something ended up happening with Justin and this great guy Minty Nguyen took over for a while and passed the reigns over to me after a brief time.

After I was the administrator, I started to learn about NR2003 and how cool it would be if we could all race online together instead of doing offline stuff each week. I remember saving up like $100 and buying the game. We were all young back then and not everyone had $100, so I figured out through my friend Nick (because I wasn’t tech savvy at the time) how to duplicate the copy and mail it out to others in the league. Once I got everyone a copy who wanted one, TNR was born for real.

There have been a lot of people who have reached out to me over the years wanting me to bring TNR back, and I would want to make it happen and something would always get in the way. Sometimes it was just me being stupid in life, while other times I was dealing with mental illness and just couldn’t commit myself to doing it right. I love and respect all these guys, and I want to have the best league possible for all of us to enjoy. Things finally have lined up in my life with all the extra time we all have from the coronavirus to make it happen. I’m honored to be able to race with these guys again on a weekly basis.

Q: Wow. It seems like you have more experience in running leagues than necessary. Tell us: Once the idea came to bring TNR back to life, how hard was it reaching out to all of the guys that used to run in this league? How you were able to recruit some of our newer drivers?

A: A lot of experience, yes. Considering I was about 15 when this all started, I certainly needed to be more mature than you’d expect someone at that point in their life. I certainly can’t say I’ve been perfect over the years as I’ve made my mistakes and learned from them, but these guys have made my life easy because they are all great guys.

In regards to reaching out to the guys, it couldn’t have been easier. Literally after everyone asked me, “Are you serious?”, they all got in the Discord and we got to work. Only a few people I reached out to weren’t able to race right now. I think I reached out to Mike “Floppy” Tellier first on Twitter and he was immediately in. Then I got on Facebook and rounded up the troops. Everyone has been so supportive, and the turnout Monday night proved that we had a great group then and we still have a great group now.

As far as some of the newer guys go, I have to thank my friend Tony for inviting a few of his friends from his NEPA Cornhole league and Chris Darling for reaching out to some of the alumni that he still raced with. Having guys like Brent Sweet and Brandon Ward back for the second go around was all his doing and it makes our level of competition much better.

There are certain people that I needed to have along for this journey, and I can honestly say we almost got all of them back. I wanted Chris Darling and Dave Harvey to administrate with me like the old days, and we almost didn’t get to DH in time but he made it and I’m thrilled. Floppy is painting some sick rides, Wags is running the website, Peter is faster than holy hell as usual, and we are all a family again like we were back then.

There are a few guys I’m hopeful to get on track with someday including Jake Williams, Curt Croeze, Stevie Miller, Brett Black, Eric Dawalga, Hank Lee, Johnny Williams, and, hell, as many of the originals as humanly possible. If there’s a way to do it, I’ll do whatever I have to do to help them get back on track with us.

Q: Racing always seems to bring people together more like a family rather than “friends.” It seems like getting this going went pretty fast. Everyone has lent a helping hand at getting things in order, and I’m sure you have been nonstop with making sure this league runs smooth. With that being said, you’re also driving, too. Any goals you have for yourself driving? And do you think with the extra weight of being league commissioner that will hold back your results a little bit?

A: We have a lot of tremendous competitors at Total Nonstop Racing. There are a lot of guys who didn’t take ten years off like I did and it would be naive to think I could race up front with them right away. I’m here to learn from them and get better each and every week. I was never the fastest driver on track back in our NR2003 days but I was consistent for the most part, and that’s what I’m shooting for again. I want to run smooth races, gain the trust of my fellow drivers, and over time work my way to the front of the pack little by little. I’ve never had a problem racing and administrating because I have surrounded myself with great people over the years who take the pressure off me and allow me to focus on driving. This is a great league and it pretty much runs itself. This was never my league; it was always OUR league.

Q: Well, I think we’re all glad to be a part of it. Now, back to Garrett, the driver. Our first race was just a few days ago at Charlotte. I believe there was a 14-car field. Tell us your thoughts on your performance. What went wrong and what did you learn from it for next week at The Rock?

A: The #7 Speed Energy team just didn’t have the right driver in the car last week. They deserved better. I got in a little accident early on, recovered, but then I beat the right side in during the long green run and lost a few laps fixing the damage. I’ve never been good at Charlotte and I’ve never been good at Rockingham, but I’m hoping to at least stay on the lead lap this week and finish in the top 10 and earn some points.

Q: Well, let’s hope this week goes better. Last question for you: With just the first race in the books and a 14-car field, how much do you believe the field can grow and what are you encouraging other drivers to do to help grow our league?

A: Great question and something I had hoped you would ask me. I am thrilled with the turnout from Monday night’s race at Charlotte. I want this league to continue to have clean, competitive races and grow incrementally. As I mentioned before, I’d like to get the rest of our alumni back into the fold somehow. If we continue to have the level of competition that we have, I’m sure our drivers will spread the word to their other friends and we will continue to grow. Right now all I ask is for everyone to follow us on Facebook, read the articles, and get ready for some racing Monday night at Rockingham. Let’s give these next seven weeks hell and see what the future has in store for season 2