Former NFL Quarterback Looks To Make Impact On Dirt Track Racing

A former NFL quarterback is taking what he learned in professional sports and is using it to help drivers in dirt track racing.

He's launched a business at the Tulsa Shootout event going on at the fairgrounds this week.

Racing on the dirt track takes a lot of skill, years of practice, and a mental focus that isn't easy to come by.

"Not only do you have to have the reaction time of a fighter pilot to be a very high-level racecar driver, but your mindset has to be so strong," said Dennis Gile.

As a former quarterback, Gile knows how demanding sports can be.

"Playing professional football at the highest level, being on the greatest team maybe ever assembled with Tom Brady, I think racing is harder by ten times than playing in the NFL," said Gile.

He says players in the NFL and other professional sports get the highest quality training to make them the best, but he saw that dirt track racing was lacking a program to teach young drivers how to thrive in the sport.

"With football and all these things and baseball and basketball, you see the sports growing; you see how much this really and truly helps the kids get better physically, mentally, emotionally," he said.

That's why Gile created Racecraft, a program for racers to learn from pros, get advice on diet and exercise, and even learn how to stay focused on the track.

"We're going to give you a sports psychologist, mental performance training on Thursdays, we're going to give you public speaking courses on Thursdays, we're gonna give you social media, branding, marketing advertising classes on Thursdays," he said.

Gile's own son Elijah has been using the training to improve his skills. 

"Here I'm pretty nervous, but I've been going to mental performance coaches, and they've been training my mind and telling me how to calm myself down," Elijah said.

With a win already under his belt here at the Shootout, he hopes the program can help other drivers like him succeed.