By BRETT CARROLL
Staff Writer
Plant and garden farmers Peter Gasko Sr. and Peter Gasko Jr. share a name, a business, and now, a drag race victory.
From April 28-30, Peter Gasko Jr., 19, competed in the National Hot Rod Association Four Wide Nationals in Charlotte, N.C., as part of the 2017 SAM Tech NHRA Factory Stock Showdown season.
He won the SAM Tech Factory Stock Showdown drag race with his COPO Camaro after a fast jump, clocking 0.008 off the gun at the start of the race to defeat David Barton.
As an underdog in the race, he thanked his family for helping him secure his car and for their support.
Gasko Jr. said he has been a fan of cars and racing ever since he was a youngster.
When he was 14, his dad let him enter a raffle from General Motors to receive a COPO Camaro.
“GM actually makes the COPO car every year to give away,” Gasko Sr. said. “They only make about 70 each year though, so you have to enter a raffle to get one. Thousands of people enter the raffle each year, so the chances are not that great.”
After several years of entering the raffle, Gasko Jr. finally won a car when he was 17.
Two years later, he was in the Factory Stock Showdown, winning the biggest race of his life.
“I never thought it would turn into this,” Gasko Sr. said. “When we got the car, I thought we would just have some fun with it, but never could I have imagined him winning like this.”
The Gaskos own Gasko’s Family Farm and Greenhouses in Monroe Township.
The business has been passed down for generations, with Gasko Jr. being the fifth generation to man and work the farm. Despite his success on the track, Gasko Jr. still strives to carry on the family business.
“The farm is still the most important thing,” Gasko Jr. said. “Racing is just something fun I do on the side.”
When he is not racing or working on the farm, he is a full time student at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., majoring in agricultural science.
“It always leads back to the farm,” Gasko Sr. joked. “But it is good that he is learning things in school. We can always evolve with the technologies and methods of the future.”
Gasko Jr. has two sisters who play sports.
Gasko Sr. said he never really got into sports, but when he saw his son win the race, everything changed.
“It was probably the coolest thing that ever happened to me,” Gasko Sr. said. “I was surprised at how emotional I was. I never was into sports, but even I had to know this was a special moment, so yeah, the emotions all started to come out.”
Gasko Sr. wants his son to do what makes him happy and to enjoy the moment of his accomplishments.
“As a father, there is nothing more than wanting your kids to be happy,” he said. “I just tell him to enjoy this moment and to have fun with it. That’s the most important thing.”
