As a former pavement racer, Austyn Gossel has adapted well to dirt. But his rookie season with the American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) National Tour last year left him with much to be desired, and he’s coming back in search of fulfillment.
Gossel, 24, of Windsor, CO, is set to take on a second full-time ASCS season this year behind the wheel of the BG Automotive, Shark Racing Engines-powered Maxim Chassis No. 16G. After multiple seasons mixing regional asphalt Sprint Car racing in with laps on dirt, Gossel has focused more of his efforts on his dirt program over the past several years.
In 2024, he took the biggest step in his commitment to his dirt career, joining the ASCS National Tour full-time roster. Now, only three months removed from the completion of his first season on the road, Gossel has taken time to assess his performance and the hardships of being a rookie on a yearlong national tour.
“I feel like I just left a lot on the table,” Gossel said. “There’s a lot of races that I knew I could have done better, but I just got put in bad situations, and not making a lot of shows.”
In addition to the efforts spent trying to develop his skills in the seat, Gossel dealt with numerous equipment failures throughout the season, further hindering his results and progress as a driver. In 26 Feature starts, he compiled only six top-10 finishes, but did record a best finish of eighth place, twice — June 11 at Texarkana Speedway and Aug. 17 at Lincoln County Speedway.
“Our engine deal started out fine — we were running OK — but as the year went on, we just kept losing more and more engines,” Gossel said. “We had to make a decision on what to do, so we ended up with a Shark that we got from Danny Wood, and I could instantly tell the difference. It was night and day.”
However, his greatest accomplishment of the season came in October at Riverside International Speedway’s marquee World Short Track Challenge event. In a talent-filled field of 57 cars, Gossel raced his way into Saturday’s main event via Smith Titanium Last Chance Showdown and finished 16th. Not only did it show his potential in big events, but it also highlighted his strong suit in the different tracks on the Tour schedule.
“Making the World Short Track Challenge, I had the Shark (engine) in there, and it was a huge difference,” Gossel said. “I wasn’t even expecting to make the show with (almost) 60 cars there, but I succeed more on a little bullring like that. It lets me be a little more aggressive. That’s kind of my driving style — I like shorter tracks, I like bullrings.”
Performances like those are part of what keeps Gossel driven to compete and improve his skills. But he knows as easy as his confidence rises after one great result, a few subpar results can just as easily knock it back down.
“It definitely lifts up your confidence, and that’s a big thing for me,” Gossel said, reflecting on Riverside last year. “When we started at Volusia at the beginning of the year, I just felt like I was lacking a lot with car handling and speed. Granted, that place is extremely fast, and dirty air is huge there. Just leaving there, my confidence was at the worst it’s been.”
Gossel struggled in the season-opening races at Volusia Speedway Park three weeks ago, falling short of a transfer spot into each of the three main events. However, the following week, he installed a 410 engine in the car and stayed to compete with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and took away several positives from the experience.
“The power difference from going so fast to coming back to a 360 kind of slows down a little bit,” Gossel said. “That kinda helps out with the driving a little bit, going so fast to backing it back down to going so slow. It really helps me out as a driver, I would say.”
Another help for Gossel on the road is the experience and tutelage from his father, Bryan Gossel. A longtime racer of Sprint Cars on both asphalt and dirt, Bryan introduced Austyn to Sprint Cars early, giving him a spot on his pit crew in his teenage years, which helped spark his urge to get in the seat for himself.
Now, having raced together as father and son for several seasons, Austyn said he still enjoys having his dad as a competitor and cherishes the unique experience.
“It’s cool; we’ve done it for so long now that when we’re out there, he’s just kind of another competitor, but he’s one that I definitely have to look out for more than anyone else,” he said. “Racing with him is definitely way more stressful than racing with anybody else. That kinda puts lax on me a little bit because I can’t be so aggressive racing with him.”
Gossel continues his sophomore campaign on the ASCS National Tour in the next event — Saturday, April 12 at Salina Highbanks Speedway in Salina, OK. Tickets for the event will be on sale at the gate on race day.
If you can’t be there in person, stream every lap live with a subscription to DIRTVision.
