Last Saturday, Aleia Geisler won the modified feature at Five Mile Point Speedway in Kirkwood, New York. She dedicated the win to her late father, Ray. Ray passed away unexpectedly in a two-car crash during Thanksgiving weekend at age 54.
“When my dad passed, the least thing I could think about was racing,” Geisler, 27, of Emmaus, Pennsylvania, said. “Racing was my dad’s and I’s passion. People rallied around me, and told me my dad would be proud if I kept on racing.”
At the start of the season, Geisler told her story on Facebook.
“There were a lot of people in my corner who wanted me to succeed,” said Geisler. “I found strength and determination within myself that I never knew existed — I used that strength to continue racing. I told myself that I could do this.”
Geisler works as a nanny for three children to support her racing program. She takes care of her modified at her parents’ home.
“I learned everything I could from my dad in that garage,” Geisler said. “I cry when I am in the garage alone, still grieving over my dad. He taught me, but I never had to do what he taught me by myself. I’ve learned how important the little things are by nut- and bolt-checking my car after every race. I love grooving, siping, and grinding tires — it’s my thing.”
Aleia Geisler made the two-hour-plus trek to Five Mile Point Speedway for every race this season. However, what’s even more impressive was the amount of growth Geisler experienced this year. This past weekend’s victory resulted from that. It was her third modified win of her career, and her first without her father in victory lane.
“If anyone would have told me back in November that this is who I would be today, I wouldn’t have believed them,” said Geisler. “This is who I aspired to be when I started racing as a little girl — winning modified features — but hoping my dad would forever be by my side.”
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.
