SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – Central New Yorkers kicked off Memorial Day weekend with a night of sprint car racing at Brewerton Speedway Friday night.
Empire Super Sprints (ESS), a regional sprint car league that’s been organizing races for 41 years, honored a local racing legend by naming the event after him. The Don Gillette Memorial saw drivers of sportsman, modified and modified lite sprint cars burn rubber at 100 mph around the 1/3-mile-long track for cash, glory and to honor the passion Gillette had for racing.
A Need for Speed
Shawn Donath competes on the ESS circuit. Donath’s father took him and his siblings to races when they were kids. He said he fell in love with the atmosphere in the stands, the speed of the cars and the DIY mentality.
“We kinda got the addiction to it, you know?” he said with a smile.
He turned that addiction into a career. He’s co-owner of Donath Motor Worx and the head of Donath Motor Sports. He said like a lot of the racers on the ESS circuit, he’s financed his career. A combination of personal income, prize money and perseverance has led him to another racing season.
He said mutual experiences, the highs-and-lows of pursuing a passion, have made the ESS racers a friendly group.
“If you get in a jam and something happens, multiple teams will get together to help other people keep racing throughout the night,” he said.
Donath transitioned to racing sprint cars in 2012. He said the combination of challenging races and a strong community has made sprint car racing his favorite, as well as great entertainment for fans.
“If you’re at home watching, you should definitely come out and check this out because it’s for sure one of greatest shows that you’ll see,” he said.
A Family Affair
Kelly Hebing agrees. The Phoenix, New York, native has been around racing for just about her entire life.
“I went to my first race when I was three-and-a-half weeks old and I’ll be 30 in September, so I’ve been doing it ever since,” she said.
Her dad was the person who introduced her to the sport. On Friday night, he was checking her car’s engine while she spoke with NCC News.
Her mom is also part of her team. Herbing said her mom was hesitant about her racing. She said it took a lot of negotiating, but Hebing’s mom let her start racing at 12. She started in a mini-sprint car. She graduated to a 305 engine by 16, then a 360 engine at 22.
Herbing said she was motivated by having a different racing schedule than her dad. She’s been competing against him and people she watched as a kid for years now.
Racing has also expanded her family. She has a “second family” of race fans who she met through her parents at a race when she was 12. She met her long-time boyfriend through racing. Like Donath, Hebing said the shared experiences of competitive racing bring people together.
“Most kids growing up went to football games on Friday night and stuff like that. We were in the truck and trailer headed to the races,” she said.
Honoring the Past
Friday night was more than an early-season race. The Don Gillette Memorial honored the memory of a local legend. Don Gillette was a talented racer, a peer of a young Mario Andretti, who was entering the prime of his life in 1965. He tragically died in an accident during the closing laps of a race in Trenton, New Jersey.
He was in the lead. Another racer’s car clipped Gillette’s as he tried to lap him. Gillette lost control of his car and flipped over. The crash broke his neck, killing him.
“He had the kindest, most beautiful personality and everybody thought the world of him,” said Marti Gillette-Burnley, Gillette’s younger sister.
Gillette-Burnley was about 20 years younger than Gillette. Her relationship with her older brother was more parental than peer. That said, she said it was always clear to her what she meant to him.
“He loved me to pieces,” she said.
Gillette moved home when Gillette-Burnley was a kid. He raced and worked a day job as a long-haul truck driver. She said he always had money from winning races. She said he would spoil her with things like a new bicycle for her birthday. When Gillette replaced the Cadillac he drove with a newer model, he gave his old car to Gillette-Burnley. The family owned a mechanic shop. They parked the Cadillac on the side of the shop, and it became her childhood playhouse.
She said that although their relationship was short, the memory of Gillette is always with her.
“That all hit me last night for a moment. So, I don’t know, for a good 30 seconds or so, I got really teary and couldn’t talk,” she said. “And I’m 69 years old. So, you know, he played a huge role in the very short time he was in my life.”
Despite losing her brother to a risky sport, Gillette-Burnley said her brother’s legacy is to be fearless. She’s been a gymnast, skier, and autocross racer. Her children skied competitively. Her father was a mechanic and introduced Gillette to racing. He continued to build racecars after Gillette’s death. On his night, in a place he loved, Gillette-Burnley said she felt proud.
“He was the charm of the family,” she said. “That charm that made us special.”
