AYRTON GENNETTEN GETS GOING

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SPRINTS

AYRTON GENNETTEN

THIRD GENERATION STAR GETS GOING

By Ashley Zimmerman

Photo: Mike Campbell

WHILE AYRTON GENNETTEN’S sprint car career is still very fresh in the eyes of race fans, the Gennetten name has been written in the history books of dirt track racing for two generations prior to the 22-year-old Missouri native breaking on to the scene. In 2021, Gennetten shocked race fans with his ability to quickly adapt to the challenging track that is the historical Knoxville Raceway, proving that while genetics aren’t a guarantee of talent, sprint car racing is without a doubt in the Gennetten blood. The latter portion of the race season offered Gennetten a host of challenges, along with showing fans his ability to adapt also came in the form of working with his new crew chief Chad Morgan, showcasing their chemistry as Gennetten not only started the pole with the World of Outlaws at the Devil’s Bowl, but also leading twenty three of the thirty laps against the best in the world. If the 2021 season proved anything, it’s without argument the sprint car world is destined to see more of Ayrton Gennetten in headlines and it will surely not lack in excitement. With the new season just weeks away, Dirt Empire tracked down the Knoxville Nationals Rookie of the Year for a conversation about the year in review, and what may be to come.

Dirt Empire: For many race fans, the Gennetten name is quite new to them but your family roots run very deep in the world of racing. Who in the family has raced and what did they race?

Ayrton Gennetten: My grandpa started racing, and he started off in demolition derbies, then he started racing supermodifieds at the Olympic stadium and around the Kansas City area before racing midgets and sprint cars. My dad, Steve, raced 360s and midgets through the Midwest; he raced a lot at Sedalia Speedway and Knoxville Raceway.

Photo: John Lee

DE: Coming from a racing family such as that, did you know at a young age that you wanted to become a race car driver? Was it always sprint cars for you?

AG: When I was younger, being third generation, you’re always excited to race. You watch your dad race when you’re growing up, and then you finally get to get your shot. It was always sprint cars for me. It was something my dad did, my grandpa did, there’s a lot of history in our family doing it. I wanted to be a sprint car driver my whole life, I was drawn to the big tires, loud motors, and high speeds.

DE: What part of your family history in racing do you feel inspires you the most?

AG: What inspires me the most is my dad and grandpa’s legacy. My grandpa

Photo: David Campbell

has won over 400 races, and my dad has won a lot of races and championships. He won at Knoxville and Sedalia, places that are pretty special in sprint car racing. It’s cool to say my dad’s one of those guys, so just the family history that’s been built between them that really makes me want to strive to be the best.

DE: Who would you say you go to when you’re struggling or looking for some mentorship?

AG: Typically I try to go to someone I’m close friends with, so sometimes I’ll go to Scott Bonar, or my dad. Now with the hiring of Chad Morgan, I kind of rely on him a lot too.

DE: Speaking of Scott Bonar, race fans have not only seen you race your own car, but also the #50 of Scott Bonar. How does jumping into different cars challenge you as a driver?

AG: It just allows me to work in a different manner. So, Scott and I obviously we set our stuff up different and then once I hired Chad, he also sets his cars up different from Scott. You get to learn how to drive cars differently, but you know when you have a good crew chief like Scott, my dad, or Chad, you never really have to worry about it being too different. It’s just more of you getting a different feel and learning to understand the different feel, which helps you become a better driver. Ayrton and his father Steve.

DE: How did you end up getting the opportunity to drive the #50 car? What do you feel that you’ve gotten to learn by racing in that car and for Scott?

AG: It’s actually kind of a funny story. The first time I ever met Scott would have been at the fall haul at 34 Raceway back in 2018. It was after the first night, the second night we got rained out and went over to his shop at Midland Performance. My dad, Scott, and our crew guy Steve Daniels are all really good friends, so they were all hanging out and drinking. I was giving Scott crap that night about when are you going to let me drive, and just kept going on about it. He told me that night, well you know, you can’t drive for me if you have a girlfriend. So, that week I broke up with my girlfriend and started focusing on that. Before I raced the next day, I told him, I’ll make you a deal, if I win this race, I get to drive for

Gennetten Family Photo Collection X3 DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022 45

you all next season, if I lose, you can have our motor. My dad said no, which was a good thing, because I didn’t win that night. But, I was hoping that it would just let Scott see that I really wanted to drive for him someday. It’s been fun driving for him, I’ve learned a lot, it’s easy driving for him, he does a really good job and it makes it easy to drive.

DE: Coming into the 2021 race season, what were some of the goals you had set for yourself and the team? Now that the season has come to a close, how far were you from meeting those goals and what ones were you able to achieve?

AG: My biggest goal was to try and get ten wins and win some 410 races. I also set a goal to try and win a Knoxville, Outlaws or an All Star race, just to get one of those three would have been nice. I wanted to get a win for Scott, to be able to say I’d won for Scott. It was cool to achieve my goal with Scott. As far as all my other goals, we didn’t get any of the other ones done. We ended up with nine wins, and ran second at Knoxville a few times, had two All Star podiums, and then led 23 laps at Devil’s Bowl. We were super close to meeting all of our goals. We had our first 410 win, too. But, it was really cool to get the first win for someone else in a sprint car and drive for Scott, someone who I value and is a close friend.

Racing at Devil’s Bowl, where Gennetten led 23 laps against the Outlaws before fading to fourth.

DE: Despite all of the struggles during the week of the Knoxville Nationals, you did however, leave as the Rookie of the Year. What does that mean to you? Does it mean even more having overcome all of those issues to earn it?

AG: Obviously our main goal was to be Rookie of the Year and run in a respectable spot, like run in the top ten of the B main, and potentially make the feature was kind of our goal. When everything went down the way it did, we really shouldn’t have been in the C main where we had to race that hard to get into the B main and then also race that hard to get the Rookie of the Year. We weren’t really wanting to be in that position, we were trying to just kind of have that sealed up on Saturday, but with everything that happened to us, you get to the end of

Photo: John Lee

the night and you’re kind of like, man, we did all of this and we still got something out of it. So, it felt good to be able to at least have something to show for all the hard work and all the struggles we went through. We came out with something that was still good, still gave us something that we can hold our head up high about.

DE: The 2021 race season really allowed you the opportunities to experience a lot of new racetracks from small grassroots places like East Moline Speedway to crown jewels like Eldora. What were some of the most challenging tracks and where were some places you enjoyed running at?

AG: I really enjoyed racing really at every track. It was really cool to run East Moline. I had told Scott I’m not really good on short tracks too often. I was kind of nervous going there with him, but we ended up winning there. Then I went to Eldora and I was excited, but I was also really nervous, it’s a tough place to get around. It was exciting, we ran good

there with the Outlaws and the All Stars. We kind of struggled at the start of the season, we went down south with the World of Outlaws, and we raced at the Mag, the Rev, and the Cotton Bowl, and we just kind of struggled there, but you know it’s part of it. Hopefully this year when we go down there we can come in a little bit strong and have a better run.

DE: At the end of the July, you were able to add Chad Morgan (long time crew chief for Brian Brown) to the team as your crew chief. How has Chad been able to impact your growth and abilities as a driver?

AG: Adding Chad was a big relief for my dad. It helped my dad a lot, to just be able to focus more on his work and allowed us to race more. Without Chad, we wouldn’t have been racing as much and we wouldn’t have been able to travel as much as we have at the end of the season. You know, Chad’s really smart and he knows how to set up a race car. He’s really good at giving me tips on how to drive, for someone who has never drove before, Chad does a really, really good job at explaining how stuff goes down and it’s really sped up the learning process of learning how to race with say the Outlaws and how to maneuver, or things like that. Chad has done a really good job, and he’s helped me a lot, he’s even helped me learn how to approach sponsors and be more in touch with them. He does a really good job at basically anything from helping us clean up the shop to getting us more professional.

DE: You’ve lead us right into our next question, how hard was it for you to adapt to having Chad on the team and learning to communicate with him? Was it a harder or smoother transition than you anticipated?

AG: It really wasn’t super hard to adapt to having Chad, it made it a lot easier on me. I didn’t have to do as much throughout the night at the races, before Chad, my dad and I had to make decisions and do a lot of stuff together. It allows me to be able to focus more on driving now, which is a big plus. I think it went smooth as it did because I had drove for Scott [Bonar] a few times in July, and that kind of helped me understand a little bit the transition of having to drive with Chad being our crew chief. It made it to where I was used to someone else calling the shots, and them doing what they thought was best. I just kind of stepped back and just let Chad take over the reins. It’s been really nice and easy. My communication with him isn’t always the best, I still have a lot to learn on that aspect, and it’s hopefully something I can start getting better with, it will just benefit me longer down the road.

DE: Looking back over your career thus far, what would you say have been the most rewarding moments and what have been some of the hardest?

AG: Some of the most rewarding moments have been winning my first 410 race with my dad, winning the Tulsa Shootout with my dad, getting my first win with Chad, and winning the Sedalia [MO] State Fair race after having a tough Knoxville Nationals. The hardest would be running second at Knoxville twice after leading over half the race, along with the Outlaws race at Devil’s Bowl on Halloween, where I was leading with little to no laps left to go and losing the lead.

DE: There is something that makes you very unique on social media, and that is your engagement and

Photo: John Lee

interaction with your fans, especially on platforms like Facebook and in sprint car fan groups, where you can be seen taking the time to explain to fans different racing situations, answering their questions about different set ups, or things behind the scenes; which is not something that is common with all drivers. What is your driving force or motivation behind this?

AG: You know, not a lot of fans have driven before, so it kind of helps them get an understanding of what drivers are thinking. It’s nice to be interactive with fans, not only will that allow them to know more about racing, it also helps them understand a bit of why people do things the way we do. But, it also helps both ways, it lets them know that I’m someone they can talk to if they have questions; it lets them know someone is open to having a conversation about their questions. It allows the fans to be more involved, which is really what makes dirt track racing so unique, is you get to be around the drivers. Allowing fans to be more involved only helps the sport to grow, and it lets them feel a part of it. It also gets us in some conversations, where maybe we can learn something, too.

DE: Looking toward 2022, is there anything on the schedule that you’re super hyped about or looking forward to going back to?

AG: Things I’m excited for next season, is the Kings Royal for sure, I’ve never been to that. I’m excited that Granite City is going to have a World of Outlaws race, we’ve been there twice and won there twice with MOWA, so hopefully we can have a little bit of luck on our side and have a good run at that. But, overall I’m just excited to grow as a team, and hopefully bring on some new sponsors to be able to race more and travel.

DE: What are some of your plans to be able to improve for 2022?

AG: I’ve been working out a lot more. I’m trying to get my body and mind in better shape. We’re building a few new cars, being able to be with Chad and adapt a bit more to each other in the off season is hopefully going to help us for next year.

DE: Throughout this interview, we’ve talked a lot about wins and losses, as well as your goals. But what we haven’t touched on through all of it, is what does success mean for you as a driver? It’s easy to see that through interviews with other drivers, everyone has their own version of what exactly that is for them. What equates to success for Ayrton Gennetten?

AG: I think success is hard to measure. Like you said, everyone has their own version of it. I’d like to say this year was a successful season for us, we were able to get our first 410 win, win five 410

FOURTEEN FUN FACTS ABOUT AYRTON GENNETTEN

1. Favorite thing to do with a

sprint car besides race? I really like doing the tire work, it’s just something I enjoy. 2. Least favorite thing? Fix them after I wreck. That’s when you can look at everything and see all the money you just tore up.

3. What social media app do you find yourself on the most?

Scrolling through Facebook or Tik Tok.

4. If it wasn’t racing, what would

it be? I had a backup plan in case I didn’t race; it would have been working at our family business building boat docks. But, I’d really want to do something around CNC machining; it’s just something that’s fascinated me. I think it’d be a really cool career path if I didn’t make it racing.

5. You’re very open on social media about your love for gambling, what’s your favorite?

Blackjack 6. Soda or Pop? Soda 7. Manual or automatic? 9/10 manual 8. Call or text? Depends on the person, most of the time call me.

9. Sleep in your own bed or on the

road? I like being on the road and in hotels. 10. Podcast or Playlist? Playlist.

11. Twitter account to follow?

Domini Scelzi 12. Favorite Music? 80s Rock 13. Snack? Payday or a donut stick

14. Favorite place to stop on the

road? Love’s Travel Center to get a gas station hot dog.

races, win some 360 races, being able to win for Scott was really cool. I’d say, even if I didn’t win, I still had a successful season. You can’t always judge it off of wins or top fives, you judge it off of how you ran in places you didn’t think you would run good at, or you didn’t miss a race all season, you didn’t have any DNS, your success can vary a lot off of just little things. Everyone has different goals and a different version of success, but as long as you have a strong season, that’s all that matters.