In the late summer, Gary paid a visit to Olson Custom Designs, a new machine shop about a mile from his current base of employment. They offered an attractive four-day workweek, thus leaving weekends free for racing. He felt as if he had been treated like family at Andretti Autosport but the offer at hand was too enticing. He was itching to get back to action. Gary had always enjoyed success in midgets, and has cracked the Saturday night finale at the Chili Bowl three times. Therefore, he competes in select dates for Brian Dunlap, who happens to be the Director of Broadcasting at DirtVision.
The pair raced at the BC39 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but when the final checkered flag had dropped on the two-day affair there were no races on his schedule until the Chili Bowl Nationals. All he could do was let it be known he was available. Then right on cue his phone rang again, and soon Taylor was hustling Jamie Miller‘s car to a third-place run at Atomic Speedway in September. Yes, the journey continues.
Thinking about his old friend, Mark Matejka says he admires Taylor “as a person and as a racer. I think he is a little underrated sometimes. His work ethic is so strong. He puts everything he has into racing and really everything he does. He‘s a talented driver, but he also works so hard at being the best he can.” When Taylor reflects on his career, he offers this assessment. “I am proud of what I have done,” he says. “I have done what I have done by finding rides, building relationships, and racing well enough to keep doing it. The fact is, I‘m 40 and have a friend network that still recommends me. I‘m proud of that and the fact that I‘m still relevant.”