Josh Gilman (83G), aka “Happy Gilman,” had plenty to be happy about during the season finale at Stuart International Speedway in Iowa. Sure, he claimed his eighth modified championship that night. However, that’s just the icing on the cake. Gilman and his wife of seven years, Ali, made a big announcement.
“After years of waiting, we’re expecting our first child,” Gilman told the local racing community. “Ali is six months pregnant. We are very excited. Don’t ask the baby’s gender — we don’t know and we don’t want to know. A baby’s birth is one of the last true surprises in life.”
Gilman started his racing career in the two-person Cruiser class 22 years ago. He controlled the steering while an assortment of friends took turns controlling the gas pedal.
“I made it through a half season [in the Cruiser class] before I wanted to drive a real race car,” Gilman, 43, of Earlham, Iowa, said. “Since then, I’ve put more laps down at Stuart International Speedway than all other tracks I have raced on combined.”
Gilman’s track record attests to his experience at Stuart International Speedway. He now owns eight track titles (2005, ’06, ’10, ’12, ’13, ’14, ’19, ’21).
“It was a strange year,” said Gilman. “We won this year’s track championship at Stuart International Speedway without winning a feature [there]. Sometimes, that’s how things work out.”
With Stuart International Speedway shuttered for the season, Gilman plans to travel to other tracks. He’ll visit Iowa’s Boone Speedway on Saturday, where he earned a feature win earlier this year. And, as always, his wife, Ali, will be by his side.
“Ali has only missed two races I’ve been in during all the years we have been together,” Gilman said. “We’re planning on racing as long as possible — most likely through the IMCA [Speedway Motors] Super Nationals [at Boone Speedway in September].”
After that, the Gilmans intend to focus on their new addition to the family.
“We’ll take it one step at a time,” said Josh Gilman.
Those steps, of course, will be baby steps.
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
