Longtime Rockford Speedway driver Jake Gille happy to be a part of track’s final season

Jake Gille has “watched a million laps, ran a million laps,” at Illinois’ Rockford Speedway. Gille, now 34, began racing at Rockford in 2005 when he was 16. He’s won two track titles (2015 and 2022) and most recently finished third in Rockford’s Late Model division. Even though Gille called this season “extremely average,” he won a race on Aug. 13, which was even more meaningful to him because the win came in Rockford's final season. Officials at Rockford, a NASCAR Home Track in Loves Park, Illinois, announced this spring it will close for racing and large spectator events at the completion of the 2023 season. The track has been hosting races for more than 70 years. Gille began watching races at Rockford when he was a kid and his dad and uncle were racing. The elder Gilles started in the sport in 1985. “I basically grew up there at the playground and stuff. I was there every Saturday,” Gille said. There was always something about racing that drew Gille in. “I guess I just love being there. The sounds, smells, speed. You’ve got to work at it. There’s numbers and science and it’s a lot of different things. It scratches a lot of itches.” Gille has raced throughout the Midwest in traveling series, and he said there’s something about Rockford that fits him as a driver. “It’s hard to be beat the feel there,” he said. “It feels extremely fast because it’s so tight and it’s got a lot of banking. It feels a lot faster than it is sometimes, but stuff happens quick, too, and you’ve always got to keep your head up. There’s not a lot of time to relax, and I kind of like that. “You have to be aggressive pretty much all the time, and that’s what I grew up watching, that’s what I’m used to doing.” Gille’s dad Tom still helps him work on the car each week, along with Jeff Turnure, Ryan Smith, Mike Magnussen and Greg Walling. His wife Amber is also there “every week, helping us out with stuff,” Gille said. This year he’s also been able to bring his three kids into the pits on race days, which has made races a little more special. “That’s been nice having them around,” he said of his kids. “It’s nice because me and my friends who are all parked next to us, we all have our kids with us and they’re all out in the front of the trucks playing, so it’s kind of a nice family vibe down there where we park.” Gille’s children haven’t started racing yet, but with his youngest daughter getting ready to turn 8, he knows they’re probably going to start asking soon. [caption id="attachment_411219" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] (Photo: Rockford Speedway)[/caption] Gille will continue racing next season in the Big 8 traveling late model series, and probably full time at Madison International Speedway in Wisconsin. Gille will race one final time at Rockford on Oct. 28, the Last Lap Season Classic Finale, a day that will include Late Models, Figure 8, RoadRunners, Midgets, Vintage and Spectacular Drags. National Short Track weekend, the championship night at Rockford, was emotional, but Gille said the real emotions will come when everyone lines up for one final green flag. "(National) Short Track (Weekend), because it’s the end the year, it’s special," he said. "A lot of those guys that came there, it’s the last time they’ll ever race there. But this one is going to be a little bit harder on me because it’s the last time. It’s going to be weird. “It’s where I got started. That place is home. It’s where I spent every weekend in the summer for 35 years. ... There’s a lot of familiar faces you grew up with that you’re racing against now. We always watched our dads there, and we’re racing each other now. It’s a particular feel that you don’t necessarily get at a lot of places.” [caption id="attachment_411220" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] (Photo: Hotshot Photography/Rockford Speedway)[/caption] If he doesn’t get a win at the end of the month, Gille said he’s just happy he was able to get one victory in his final season. He’s done everything he hoped to do at his home track, and he’s happy to go out on a high note. “It’s always what I wanted to do. I’m glad we got to do it as long as we did, honestly,” he said. “I’m just glad we got one. We were able to put our names on that. There were a lot of different cars there this year all trying to run the last couple nights, and a lot of really good cars running for points, too. It was pretty competitive all summer so I’m glad we got one. “Obviously it would mean a lot, but then again I’ve kind of accomplished all the things I wanted to there, so another one would kind of just be a bonus. I do hope it’s somebody from around here that gets the last one. I hope that happens. It would mean a lot to me. "If I could walk off a winner, that would be cool, but I really just want to be a part of it and enjoy it.”