Dylan Gosbee Interview - Hunting first SLMS championship, next weekend!
Photo Courtesy of: Mike Francis
September 21st, 2023
While the ECI Pro Stock Tour series has seen #99 Craig Slaunwhite being a pillar of consistency in recent years: on the SLMS side, that's been all #16 Dylan Gosbee. Though the schedule is shorter, with 6 races including the upcoming finale, September 30th (Petty International Raceway, New Brunswick), Gosbee has faced no less than 22 cars per race, including many heavy hitters capable of winning night in, and night out.
Despite the fierce competition, Gosbee has managed to carve out a distinct edge. Like steps up a ladder, his finishes were: 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st. That was followed up by a 9th, his worst finish of the season so far, but still a respectable top-10 finish. At a crucial juncture, he controls his own destiny going into the finale, with a 27 point gap over #40 Robbie MacEwan. Following MacEwan are #1 Ryan Messer, #83 Cory Hall, and the #01 of Troy Burke. Only MacEwan shares Gosbee's top-10 in every race metric, and no one else shares his 4 top-5s, with Messer & #03 Steve Halpin being the 2 with 3 top-5s. Hall leads the charge for wins, with 2. Messer, and #29 Greg Proude claim the other two victories.
What this series lacks in history, it offers in the establishment of it. The time is now, and the opportunity is here, for one of these drivers to cement their names into the books as the first champion of the SLMS series.
What do you think it means to Maritime Late Model racing to have this new SLM Tour come together?
I think it’s a testament to how many people are dedicated to the sport and want to continue to see it grow in The Maritimes for years to come. I don’t think racing has been this popular since the 80s-90s, on any given weekend you can watch various forms of racing on TV from F1 to NASCAR to the SRX series
and everything in between but there seems to be the largest increase in attention on series’ like we have here (Late Model and Super LM Racing), there has been a lot big names getting involved in LM and SLM racing throughout the US and I wouldn’t be surprised so see some of them move from streaming services to TV in the years to come.
In my opinion competition in anything is great, it tends to bring out the best in everyone. The two series’ have a similar rules package which allows guys to essentially run which ever races suit their schedules and allows the marquee events like your IWK (250 @ Riverside International Speedway, Antigonish, NS), MSM (Mike Stevens Memorial @ Petty International Raceway, New Brunswick), and (Speedway 660 in NB) 250 to draw from both, and adds a little extra excitement to them when the different groups get together for the big races.
[There are some TV channels already airing, especially in the USA, re-airing ASA races, etc. on racing networks like MAV TV, but hopefully there will be more of a basic cable, national/international broadcast soon! And a more mainstream, non-racing specific streaming service doing some coverage, too]
Towards the later half of the 2010s, you really picked up the consistency in the Pro Stock Tour, and it seems that has certainly been the case in the SLM Tour. Is there anything in particular you attribute to the success you're finding now?
Experience! Our first season on the MPST (Maritime Pro Stock Tour, now ECIPST) was a gruelling one haha, we went from winning the LM championship and 8 features at Oysterbed Speedway (Prince Edward Island) the year prior to struggling to find a lead lap finish. I didn’t come up through the other touring series’ in the Maritimes like MLOL (Maritime League of Legends Touring Series), it seems like those guys can hit the ground running pretty quick with having some experience at all the tracks and having to adjust to different scenarios or conditions where I found my self more as a “one trick pony” with a steep learning curve to catch up on in that area and spending any free time I had dedicated to learning the different chassis dynamics and knowing why/how different suspension changes affected the cars
performance the way the do.
I have to ask. When I first saw your new car, it immediately stood out as a Donnie Wilson car, I think there was even a Wilson Motorsports decal still on it. With that 6... perhaps a former Chandler Smith car?
Correct, the chassis we have been running the last two years is a Rowdy/Hamke that was running out of Wilsons’ shop for Chandler Smith in 2018-2019, I believe.
Are there any people you look up to in the racing world? Why?
There’s lots, but a few that come to mind would be Kent Livingston, Tom Scully, and Dave Gorvett. If it weren’t for Kent we wouldn’t be sitting here having this conversation, from sitting in the stands as a kid on the edge of my seat watching him come from the back to the front at then Raceway Park (Now Oysterbed Speedway, PEI) in dominating fashion every week. It was impressive and got me hooked wanting to some day be that guy. To then being part of his team crewing for him, to today driving the iconic #16! if it weren’t for his mentoring, experience, and knowledge, we wouldn’t be here.
Tom Scully and Dave Gorvett have accomplished what every driver/team aspire to in their racing carriers, from big wins in the US to a MPST championship.
Would you say you learn more from a stronger finish, or a weaker finish? Or it's always different?
We are always learning, but when things are going good you tend to not notice things as much as you do compared to the “what went wrong”/the bad runs.
Are there any particular races that stand out to you as particularly memorable from your career behind the wheel? What made them special?
My most memorable race was winning the CAT 200 at East Bound Speedway in NFLD that most of the guys that helped me get where I am today were able to be part of. It’s also one of the more fun tracks I’ve had the chance to race, with its very unique elevation changes, high banking on two turns , and no banking on the other two; making it a fun/challenging place to race.
Are there any particular challenges you've had to face and overcome over the years, in a racing context?
There’s no particular challenges I can put my finger on that I would have faced over anyone else. But if I were to pick a few challenging aspects in general, I’d have to say the human element and finding a healthy balance of time management between racing, family, and work.
Racing at this level requires a lot of people to make it happen, and with a lot of people comes a lot of different personalities that have to gel together to be successful. It don’t matter if you have the best car, the best crew, the best driver, the best spotter, etc., etc., all it takes is for one person to be having an off day, that turns everyone’s day into an off day.
Obviously the prospect of potentially being crowned the inaugural season SLM series champion looms ahead, but do you have any other particular goals, specific races you'd like to win, etc?
Winning the Inaugural SLMS championship would be pretty cool if we can make that happen but we’re not counting our chickens ‘till they hatch, so to say, there’s still a 150 lap race to go, and that’s looking like it will have a 30+ car field that will have lots of ups and downs.
Besides that, and the same old 250’s everyone wants to win around here, it would be cool to run the Kalamazoo Klash or something like that. We tested a car there once, and I’ve wanted to go back ever
since.
[A marquee Short Track event at Kalamazoo Speedway Inc, Michigan, best known for it’s Outlaw Body Super Late Models]
Feel free to shout out any sponsors, people who've helped you over the years, etc.
We have some of the best local business that support us – Clam Diggers Restaurant, Shine Depot, Piccott Care, Cornwall Self Storage and Powered Up Electrical
Short track racing brings so many neat stories that can help you feel invested in a driver. Especially for a sport trying to attract new fans, it’s nice to hear a victory lane interview with whatever driver wins, or whoever takes the podium after every feature, but it’s nice to get a little idea about where someone came from, what brought them to where they are today, what their goals are, etc.
It is clear that Gosbee has a lot of respect for those who he looked up to as a kid, and ultimately ended up working with, and in a way, he carries on their racing legacy. September 30th, at Petty International Raceway, New Brunswick, we get to see Gosbee take on a field about 30-deep with cars all trying their best to cross that line first. There’s no saving left, there’s no conservative, points racing, if Gosbee is running strong, everyone in that field will be gunning for the win.
Let’s see if he can make history with the opening chapter of what will surely be a prosperous future for SLMS.
