RPW Exclusive: Jackson Gill Looking to Thrill During Ambitious 26′ Campaign

Column By: DYLAN TERRY / RPW – WATERTOWN, NY – Throughout the past few seasons, it is very evident that we’ve seen somewhat of a “youth movement” in the world of Northeast Modifieds. Many younger drivers such as Alex Yankowski, Alex Payne, and Logan Watt have all turned heads at some point or another.

Many NE Modified fans have started to take notice of these names, and they have become very popular drivers amongst members of the modified community. Somewhat lost in the shuffle however, there was also another young gun that quietly started to make waves down the stretch last season. Meet Jackson Gill everybody.

The past few seasons have seen the #60 machine running more of a pick and choose type schedule in the states, while also running on a weekly basis north of the border at the Cornwall Motor Speedway located in Cornwall, ON on Sunday nights.

In 2024, Gill was the winningest driver in the 358 modified division at the facility, claiming 4 victories. He also was able to post 5 Top Fives, and 8 Top Ten finishes in 12 starts. In the final standings, he unfortunately fell just short of capturing the track’s 358 Modified championship to fellow driver Carey Terrance by a mere total of 29 points.

In 2025 he again had very similar numbers at the quarter mile. While he was unable to claim a victory this past year, the Plessis, NY native showed consistency yet again. He had 5 Top Five finishes to go along with 9 Top Ten finishes in 11 starts. He ironically again finished exactly 29 points behind track champion Corey Wheeler in the season-long standings, however he made one less feature start than Wheeler did.

Despite the team’s success at Cornwall, the team traveled to many different tracks throughout the rest of 2025, having made their modified debuts at Airborne Park Speedway, Autodrome Drummond, Autodrome Granby, Brockville Ontario Speedway, Glen Ridge Motorsports Park, and the Fonda Speedway.

2026 presents somewhat of a new chapter for Gill as his career continues to blossom.

On Friday evenings, he will be making a homecoming at the Can-Am Speedway, piloting the #60 family-owned 358 Modified on a weekly basis. Under the hood will be the up and coming CT 525 engine, which is part of a partnership effort between Gill and Brian and Becky Donath of Donath Motorworx.

Jackson has a very realistic chance to be a title contender in the Whitesboro Plow Shop DIRTcar 358 Modified division, having shown speed on every occasion that the team ran at their hometown track in 2025.

Gill has hundreds of laps of experience around the facility throughout his days in the Sportsman division combined with the last few seasons he has made appearances there in a modified.

During his four starts in a modified at Can-Am in 2025, the #60 was found near the front of the pack on nearly every occasion.

He opened the year taking the checkered flag during the track’s 358 season opener in April, holding off veterans Billy Dunn, Tim Fuller and Lance Willix in a dominant showing.

During July’s PABST Shootout at Can-Am with the DIRTcar 358 Series, Gill was able to score an 8th place finish, moving forward six positions from his original starting position of 14th.

When the Short Track Super Series came to town on August 4th, Jackson put on another impressive performance, this time in his big block. He rolled off the feature from the 11th position and was again able to advance forward four positions during the 51-lap feature to finish in 7th.

His last appearance of 2025 at the La Fargeville, NY oval came on September 5th, as the Super DIRTcar Series hosted the RD Hutchinson Memorial.

Gill’s #60 was lightning quick out of the box that evening, as he qualified 2nd fastest in his group. This placed him on the pole of his heat race, which he went on to win.

He redrew the 4th starting position in the feature and had moved his way up to 3rd early on in the 67-lap event. The car ultimately began to fade a bit as the feature continued on.

After mixing it up with veterans Matt Sheppard, Larry Wight, and reigning champion Mat Williamson throughout the majority of the closing laps, Gill ultimately settled for a 10th place finish.

This was his second career Top 10 finish with the “Beasts of the Northeast” and was still a very respectable showing against the best in the business.

A return to the Can-Am Speedway on a weekly basis seems only fitting for the #60 team and will be very convenient for the team, as the track is located only 20 or so minutes from their race shop.

On Saturday evenings, Jackson and the team will be logging a few more miles to their new weekly destination. Gill will be at the Fonda Speedway, piloting a Brett Deyo #06 Troyer Dirt Car entry. The pairing also plans to participate in select Short Track Super Series events throughout the year.

In two starts at the legendary Fonda Speedway in 2025, Gill had a pair of 6th place finishes. One of these results came during 358 modified competition, while the other Top-10 finish came during a Short Track Super Series event back on September 27th.

Ironically, Gill started 10th in both the 358 and STSS feature, gaining 4 positions throughout both events to wind up with the 6th place result on both nights.

“We had a lot of fun when we went to Fonda. The place is super fast and brings a great crowd too. It’s going to be an exciting year for us to be able to run Fonda weekly and get to meet the fans and hopefully bring some new faces in.” said Gill.

Outside of weekly competition, Gill will make scattered 358 appearances on Sundays at the Cornwall Motor Speedway once again, but his primary focus will be competing on a full-time basis with the STSS North Region. For those races, he will be behind the wheel of the family owned #60 big block. The team kicks off the 2026 Season at the Port Royal Speedway during the STSS Opening Weekend on March 13-14. Gill also will be making some select STSS appearances throughout the season in the Deyo owned #06 as well.

The family team also is planning on potentially running the entire Super DIRTcar Series schedule in the #60 car, providing that they are having decent results and enough funding.

“We plan on at least running the first four shows of the Super DIRTcar Series schedule and we will take it from there. If we are doing good, we may continue on tour, if we are struggling, we may not go to all of the races.” said Gill.

One week in particular that they do have circled on the Super DIRTcar Series schedule is a return to the Oswego Speedway for the running of the 54th Annual Super DIRT Week.

The team showed success during SDW 53 last fall, qualifying both for the big block and 358 modified main events.

During the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 with the Super DIRTcar Series, Gill turned many heads across the industry. He rolled off the feature from 17th and remained there through the first 50 or so laps. Around Lap 55, he began to climb his way forward. Gill eventually maneuvered all the way up to the 3rd position by Lap 160 of the feature, using the extreme high side of the track.

He passed numerous big names in the process, as he was able to drive by favorites such as Alex Yankowski, Matt Sheppard, and others. It seemed as if only he and fellow competitor Larry Wight were the only drivers throughout the field able to charge through the field using the top side of the racing surface, which was mainly bottom dominate for the majority of the feature.

Unfortunately for Jackson and the team, some mechanical problems arose while running in 5th on Lap 182, which sidelined the #60 for the remainder of the feature. This resulted in a 27th place result, but many of those in attendance took note of Gill’s performance that evening.

He was able to hold his own against the best drivers, on the biggest stage of the season at “The Steel Palace”.

It was an exciting way to cap off the 2025 season, even if the final result didn’t necessarily demonstrate what the team had accomplished that night.

Jackson and the team hope that the success and momentum the team demonstrated throughout the entirety of 2025 carries into the start of the 2026 season.

Without a doubt, the upcoming season will be one of the team’s busiest and most strenuous seasons to date. It will be a tall task, but the team is up for the challenge and is eager to get the season underway after a long, cold, and snowy offseason across Northern New York.

Be sure to keep an eye out for the #60 and #06 cars to make some noise not only in 2026, but also in the future.

Jackson would like to thank all of his sponsors and partners for their support: Betz, Rossi, Bellinger and Stewart Family Funeral Homes, Troyer Dirt Cars, BDR Speed, Madsen Overhead Doors, Dig Race Products, Four Star Motorsports, Winter’s Performance Products, Bob Hilbert Sportswear, Beherent’s Performance Wearhouse, The Exotic Brand, ATL Fuel Cells, SRI Performance, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Swagger Factory Apparel, Online Performance Parts, Sunoco Race Fuels, FloRacing, Strange Oval, Swift Springs, Snapshots Photo Booth, Macs Boat Rentals, Garlock’s ACE Hardware, Thousand Islands Bait Store, Gillees NAPA, Dapper Dog Grooming, Mercer General Contracting, New Century Electric, Gill Propeller, Gill Creative Industries, Morrison Performance, Donath Motorworx, Wegner Automotive, Ken Tibbles Roofing, and Focal Point Custom Framing.