DRM Q&A: Bob and Jake Gilbertson

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By Mike Perry

Bob Gilbertson drives in the Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro Funny Car class in eMax Drag Racing Series competition. His 12 year-old son, Jake, has quite a bit less horsepower behind him, but he still is among the top drivers in his class. Jake Gilbertson drives in the 65cc class in motocross, racing his motorcycle all over the east coast. DRM recently caught up with both Bob and Jake to get some insight into this unique racing pair.

Bob Gilbertson

DRM: You drive a Funny Car at 320 mph at times. You also watch your son race. Which makes you more nervous?

Bob Gilbertson: Definitely watching my son race. There is no question about that. The problem I have when watching my son race is he has up to 44 other kids next to him. A lot of times he’ll crash and it’s not his fault. He’ll get into lapped traffic or be out there with a lot of other kids right with him…it’s brutal. Me going 300 is nothing. I probably have 800 runs in a car like that, it’s like closing the office door and going to work.

DRM: When Jake was young did you give him different options of what to do and he just gravitated towards motocross?

BG: It’s kind of a funny story. It all dawned on me when Jake was about six years old and I went to a gathering at his school. The curtain opened up and there was this grand piano sitting there. Jake marched out, sat down at the piano and played a little song on it. He got up, bowed to the crowd and the whole place was cheering. I had no idea he even knew how to play the piano. He had been taking lessons and went to all his sister’s dance competitions with his mother. They wanted him to be a piano player and a dancer, and right there I figured out what I was going to get him for Christmas. I put a small little 50cc mini-bike under the tree that year. He sat on that thing Christmas morning and had a big smile on his face. It wasn’t long after that he didn’t want to take piano lessons anymore, he just wanted to ride his dirt bike. It was his choice which way he wanted to go. Junior dragsters, things like that, he had options. But he just fell in love with that dirt bike.

DRM: What has racing taught your son?

BG: Racing teaches you how to lose. You are going to lose 50-percent of the time in the first couple of years you go out there. After that, it is up to you if you want to win. Jake took it upon himself to train every day and I didn’t have to push him. Plus, he gets straight A’s and B’s in school. I don’t have to fuss at him at all.

DRM: When you watch him out on the track, are you ever in awe of what he can do out there?

BG: Sometimes I’m amazed at the fluke things that can happen out there. You can be out there in first place, running wide open, and all the sudden the bike will shut off. It’s almost like drag racing because you never know. We had one moto where somebody forgot to turn his gas on. We’ve had other motos where he laps the field, gets on the podium and thanks Trick Tank, Autolite and all his other sponsors just like a professional. But when I see him flying through the air, that’s when I get nervous. I don’t like those big air tricks with kids next to him.

DRM: With motocross, school and everything else, Jake must be pretty good at managing his time. For how young he is, how impressive is that?

BG: It’s very impressive. That kid is pretty sharp. I got an email from him at three in the morning the other day. I come to my office and check my emails, and there was one from Jake at 3 o’clock. He told me he was up doing his homework and wanted to drop me an email to say hello. This was at 10 in the morning and he was in school. He gets up early to do his homework and get it out of the way so he has time to go out after school and practice. Maybe that’s why he only weighs 70 pounds, because he doesn’t sleep.

DRM: Every parent wants his or her child to do better than him or herself. You have done pretty well for yourself; does Jake have a lot to live up to?

BG: Actually I have three children. Robbie is the oldest and he’s doing pretty well at my tank company, my daughter goes to Clemson and wants to have her own business and Jake is wide open for which way he wants to go. He has college options, whatever he wants, so he has a lot of thinking to do about what he wants to do. But, heck, when we were 12, what did we all want to do? If you get racing in you, it’s in you and there is no way of shaking it off. Jake loves racing. He set the school record for running the mile and he’s the smallest kid in the class.

DRM: Do you ever see a lot of yourself in him?

BG: Actually, I do. I used to be a little skinny guy back in the day. My mom made a scrapbook when I was little, you know how parents are…The Wall of Gaylord and all that stuff. There was a letter I wrote in 1961 to John F. Kennedy. I wrote to him because I wanted to buy two small space suits because me and this scientist friend wanted to go to the moon. We had a hot water heater and figured out how to make gunpowder and were going to go to the moon. We got a letter back from somebody telling us they were $3,600 each back in those days, and they suggested we looked around for something used. But I had dreams when I was in third grade, I wanted to go to the moon.

DRM: Is that something you could see Jake doing?

BG: Absolutely, I’m just glad he doesn’t know how to make gunpowder.

Jake Gilbertson

DRM: What is your favorite part about riding a motorcycle?

Jake Gilbertson: Hitting the jumps and the big air.

DRM: How did you get started riding?

JG: My dad bought me a bike when I was six and I started trail riding. Then he bought me a race bike and I started practicing more. Then I started racing and it has all kind of built from there.

DRM: Is it easy for you out there on the track?

JG: You have to put a lot of effort into it. There is a lot of practice every day. I probably put in two hours of practice every day. We have a practice track at our house and I just ride that.

DRM: When you watch your dad race, when you see him out there in the Funny Car, how does that make you feel?

JG: I want to do that when I’m older. I want to ride bikes, too. I want to do both.

DRM: Who is your favorite person to race against?

JG: Lucas Helms. He’s my teammate and rides in my class, but there are other people I’d rather beat. I always want to beat Trenton McMichael and I do beat him. It’s a lot of fun beating him.

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