12 replies to this topic

[Rich Joslin]

UNYTJRS

October 28, 2023

 

The first event of the season was held in Springville NY on the Green Mamba track of Warren and Joel Lux. I was unable to attend so I did not post a recap but I am told the action was fast and fun. Thank you to Joel and Warren for hosting the group.

 

This post catches up with the group at Larry Weaver's Watkins Glen Raceway in Moravia NY for the second race in the series.

 

Unfortunately attendance was hampered by the upcoming Halloween Havoc race the following weekend as there were only nine racers competing. A bit of a disappointment but still a fun day of racing. This recap will be split up in a couple of posts to get all the pictures in.

 

The UNYTJRS is built around IROC, Team and E-Fray races. The IROC results are used to segment the group into two groups, let's call them A and B. With the grouping determined racers then draw random cards to form tandems of  A and B drivers and assign cars for the Team race. Depending on the number of teams there is a qualifying round, followed by a "last chance" round, Semi-finals and Finals. The last race of the day is E-Fray.

 

IROC started us off on the Watkins Glen replica track and Larry provided the group with well prepared Porsche 911's on TFX chassis for the race.

 

 

The Trackmate system had us scratching our heads a bit with the lane rotation it was suggesting. We figured all would be well, because, it is a computer software system after all. Who were we, a bunch of older guys that still play with toy cars from our youth, to know better. When the fourth heat wanted to put Larry on a lane he already ran, even us old guys knew there was a problem. Restart! More issues. Restart! Another problem. Restart! Finally, Jeff Collins, one of the "youngsters" in the group, was able to get us on an unusual, but accurate rotation and we were able to press on. The racing at the top of the pack was very close. Larry, John Durbin and Dave Failing finished within one lap of each other, in that order. Larry was just sections ahead of John at the finish. The top five was filled out by Jeff and Rich Joslin. 

 

 

                       Dave Failing - 3rd                                  John Durbin - 2nd                                            Larry Weaver - 1st 

Nice try by John to slip into the top spot in the podium picture.

 

This race started at 9:30 and didn't end until almost noon so the decision was made to break for lunch before jumping into the Team race. Larry provided the group with a filling lunch of pizza, snacks and drinks. 

 

Team and E-Fray will be covered in a separate post.

[Bill from NH]

Nice race report Rich.

[Rich Joslin]

UNYTJRS

October 28, 2023

 

*Continued from previous post*

 

Through the segmentation and random card draw described in the first post, teams were established.

Larry Weaver/George Vianco

Jeff Collins/Ralph Thieleman

Warren Hurd/Larry Weaver

Dave Failing/Bob Dickinson

John Durbin/Rich Joslin

When we have an odd number of participants the Host's lap totals count for two teams. 

 

With only five teams and the unusually long IROC race, the decision was made to have the first round eliminate one team, with the remaining four teams all competing in the finals.

 

The team cars provided by Dave Failing were all pretty close performance wise making the racing very competitive. In the end it was Dave/Bob in first followed closely by Larry/George. The team of John/Rich finished in third. Jeff/Ralph would be joining the podium finishers in the finals.

 

As you might expect each team improved on their first round lap totals in the finals. At the checkered flag the podium grouping remained the same as in the first round, but with a change at the top. Larry/George were the winners this go round followed by Dave/Bob in second place and John/Rich in third.

 

 

    Bob Dickinson/Dave Failing - 2nd           Larry Weaver/George Vianco - 1st                  Rich Joslin/John Durbin 3rd

 

                      Failing/Dickinson                                                  Weaver/Vianco                                              Durbin/Joslin

 

E-Fray would conclude the event. This was a nice battle throughout. The racing was fun and competitive at the same time. It seems that Warren Hurd unleashed the beast when he loaned John a controller with brake, as John continued his strong day of racing by winning the E-Fray race. Dave was only a few sections behind in second and Jeff had a nice race, finishing in third place. Rounding out the top five were Rich and Larry.

 

 

                         Failing - 2nd                                                         Durbin - 1st                                                     Collins - 3rd

 

It was a long day but full of good racing and lots of laughs throughout. Thank you to Larry Weaver for hosting and providing an excellent lunch. 

 

The next UNYTJRS event is December 9th at Fantasy Raceways in Rochester. Stay tuned. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rich Joslin]

Nice race report Rich.

 

Thank you Bill

[Rich Joslin]

UNYTJRS

December 9th, 2023

Part one of three

 

Fantasy Raceways was the place to race for the third Upstate New York T-Jet racing series event of the season. Multiple racers logged over two hours of drive time one way, to attend, helping push the number of contestants to a very respectable seventeen.

 

front row l-r: Roger Townley, Warren Hurd, Sean Bartella, Bernie Bartella, Shane Bartella, Neil Runciman, Keith Bickham, Rich Joslin

back row l-r: George Vianco, Dave Failing, Larry Weaver, John Durbin, Jeff Collins, Marc Sevier, Ralph Thieleman, Bob Dickinson, Chris Mathewson

 

With seventeen racers running the six lane Fantasy circuit it was a long day with three classes raced, IROC, Team and SS E-Fray.

IROC starts us off with the results being used to assist with the Team pairings. George provided a set of TFX based cars for the group to use. The set was purposely assembled with slight differences in the cars as much as was possible requiring the drivers to adjust on the fly to each car as they rotated through the lanes. It made for some very interesting racing. At the finish it was Larry Weaver about a half a lap in front of Dave Failing for the win. John Durbin was close behind in third place, with Rich Joslin and George completing the top five. 

 

 

                    Dave Failing - 2nd                                 Larry Weaver - 1st                                       John Durbin - 3rd

 

Using the IROC results to separate the drivers into A and B groups we were now ready to draw cards to form teams. With an odd number of participants, Rich was designated as the home track driver which allowed him to be on two teams. After the card draw we ended up with the following teams. 

Shane Bartella - Ralph Thieleman

Marc Sevier - Roger Townley

Bob Dickinson - Neil Runciman

John Durbin - Warren Hurd

Dave Failing - Jeff Collins

Rich Joslin - Chris Mathewson

George Vianco - Keith Bickham

Larry Weaver - Sean Barletta

Rich Joslin - Bernie Barletta

 

With teammates paired up and cars randomly assigned we were ready for round one of the Team race. In this round the top two teams would punch their ticket to the finals. The TFX based team cars provided by Dave were very evenly matched making for some excellent, close racing. At the end of the first round it was Team Dave Failing/Jeff Collins and Rich Joslin/Chris Mathewson moving on. 

 

 

After a short lunch break the racing would continue with the Last Chance round to determine the last pairing to make the Team finals. Please see the next two posts for details on the end of the Team event and the SS E-Fray recap.

[Rich Joslin]

UNYTJRS

December 9, 2023

Part two of three

 

With stomach's full the racers returned for the Last Chance qualifier. In the interest of saving a little time the heats were reduced from two minutes to one and one-half minutes. The winner of this round would advance to the finals. 

 

 

When the totals were added, it was the team of Marc/Roger at the top of the list and advancing.

 

In the finals we were back to two minute heats. In first place it was Dave/Jeff with a decisive three lap margin of victory. The battle for second place was tight with Marc/Roger claiming the spot by under half a lap over Rich/Chris. The fourth place team was George Vianco/Keith Bickham followed by Bob Dickinson/Neil Runciman in fifth position. 

 

 

     Roger Townley/Marc Sevier - 2nd               Jeff Collins/Dave Failing - 1st               Chris Mathewson/Rich Joslin - 3rd

 

                        Sevier/Townley                                                  Failing/Collins                                           Joslin/Mathewson

 

As I am bumping up against file size limitations in this forum I will add a third post to recap the SS E-Fray race. My apologies for the disjointed postings

[Rich Joslin]

UNYTJRS

December 9th, 2023

Part three of three

 

SS E-Fray was the final race of the day and if practice times meant anything we were about to be treated to some very quick lap times and good racing. Dave posted the fastest lap time on four of the six lanes. Under nine seconds a lap in E-Fray is very good on this track and Dave managed sub nine second laps on five of the six lanes to propel his car to a comfortable two and a half lap win. Second place finisher Marc also posted a couple of sub nine second best laps to hold off Rich in third place by just over one lap. Larry and Chris round out the top five.

 

 

        Marc Sevier - 2nd                                          Dave Failing - 1st                                                  Rich Joslin - 3rd

 

                           Sevier                                                                        Failing                                                              Joslin

 

A big thank you to George Vianco for keeping things running as smoothly as possible and tallying all of the numbers throughout the day. 

Thank you also to Fantasy Raceways owners Bobbi and Jeff Eve for hosting a series event for the group. Jeff handled the Race Director duties quite well and the track kindly donated a few door prizes for the group. 

 

                                       Jeff Eve with prize winners Jeff Collins and Shane Bartella (prize winner Roger Townley not pictured)

 

The Upstate series takes a holiday break before resuming the action at Pattiland International Raceway on January 20.

New racers are always welcome. The only car you need is an E-Fray and there are plenty of loaners available if needed. Please consider joining us for the fun. Let's see if we can bump that number of racers from seventeen to twenty!

 

Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season. Take care all.

[Rich Joslin]

Upstate NY T-Jet 

February 3, 2024

Part 1 of 2

 

After poor weather forced a postponement of January's scheduled race the group had just the opposite weather for the rescheduled event. Fifteen competitors had no problems making the trek to Pattiland International Raceway as the roads were clear and dry. In fact the group was treated to a winter rarity in upstate NY. We saw the sun. Racing AND sunshine, what a day!

 

This post will cover the IROC and SS E-Fray races. The Team event will be recapped in the following post.

 

Our host George Vianco, provided the group with a nice set of TFX based Corvettes for the IROC race. Each car was purposely configured slightly different from the others to test the drivers ability to adjust from car to car.

 

 

This was a very competitive race. There were a lot of ties throughout the field starting at the top. George and Steve Dickinson each finished on lap sixty-one. With a slight edge in total sections, Steve was the winner. A couple of laps back was another tie for P3 and P4. Joel Lux edged out Larry Weaver in this one for third place. For fifth place there were three drivers at fifty-eight laps. With the sections tallied, it was Rich Joslin, Dave Failing and Shane Bartella in that order.

 

 

                    George Vianco - 2nd                                   Steve Dickinson - 1st                                 Joel Lux - 3rd

 

The E-Fray race was also quite close, especially near the top of the pack. Being the only driver to post twenty-four laps on yellow helped propel Dave to the win. Close behind in second place was Steve. Tied at sixty-eight laps were Marc Sevier and Rich. With the advantage in sections Rich claimed the final podium spot. Joel Lux completed the top five in this one. 

 

 

                Steve Dickinson - 2nd                                          Dave Failing - 1st                                  Rich Joslin - 3rd

 

                   Dickinson                                                              Failing                                                              Joslin

 

Please see the next post for the Team race results.

[Rich Joslin]

Upstate NY T-Jet

February 3, 2024

Part 2 of 2

 

With the IROC results used to separate the drivers into two groups we were now ready to form teams. The top seven drivers drew cards for their car assignments. The next seven did the same and pairings were made based on the cars selected. When there is an odd number of drivers, as in this case, the host gets to race on two teams with one of them being an automatic pairing with the last place finisher from the IROC event. 

 

The teams were:

George Vianco/John Durbin

Rich Joslin/Bob Dickinson

Larry Weaver/Roger Townley

Steve Dickinson/Chris Mathewson

Dave Failing/Marc Sevier

Joel Lux/Ralph Thieleman

Shane Bartella/Keith Bickham

George Vianco/Sean Bartella

 

Two teams would advance to the finals from the first qualifier. The team of Dave and Marc cruised to a comfortable three lap victory in this one. The battle for second was a good one though, with George and John just beating Larry and Roger by sections to advance.

 

 

Lunch break was next. Patti Vianco prepared a wonderful lasagna lunch with salad and a large number of home made chocolate chip cookies. The food was delicious! 

 

The last chance qualifier would determine the remaining two teams for the finals. Steve and Chris were first in this one by just over one lap. The battle for second was a good one again with George and Sean getting into the finals, edging out the team of Bob and Rich. 

 

 

The finals would be Dave/Marc, George/John, Steve/Chris and George/Sean. With both George and John running strong races they took the win by a lap and a half over the team of Dave and Marc. Finishing in third place was the team of Steve and Chris. George/Sean and Rich/Bob round out the top five.

 

 

 

               Dave Failing              Marc Sevier         George Vianco           John Durbin          Chris Mathewson    Steve Dickinson

 

                           Failing/Sevier                                           Vianco/Durbin                                        Dickinson/Mathewson

 

It was a wonderful day of racing. Thank you to those who attended. Thank you to our hosts, Patti and George who provided donuts and coffee along with the terrific lunch described previously. 

 

Stay tuned as the Upstate NY group travels to West Seneca on March 2nd for the inaugural event at Joe Saccommanno's NY Hobby.

 

 

 

 

[Rich Joslin]

Upstate NY T-Jet Racing Series

March 2^nd, 2024

part 1 of 2

 

The Upstate NY T-Jet Racing Series added a new venue for the 2024 season. The group traveled to NY Hobby Slot Car Speedway in West Seneca NY for the fourth event of the season. NYHSCS is owned and operated by Joe Saccomanno.

 

 

Joe is well known to slot car enthusiasts throughout the area. His new endeavor is providing like minded individuals a place to gather in the Buffalo area, and further their enjoyment of this great hobby.  The group holds weekly races on Wednesday evenings and Saturdays, but this is the first time NYHSCS has had the opportunity to host a UNYTJRS event. Judging by the response it was a big success.

 

Twenty-two racers showed up, including five first time Series attendees. This is the largest group we have had in quite some time.

 

 

IROC always starts us off as the results are used to help determine pairings for the Team race. Based on the results, drivers are divided into “A” and “B” groups. “A” and “B” drivers are then matched up via a random card draw. The IROC cars for this race, provided by Dave Failing, were well received, garnering a lot of positive comments as racers had their opportunity to run them.

 

 

IROC results would divide the group in two, giving us eleven “A” and eleven “B” drivers from which the teams would be formed. Did the local drivers have an edge? Looking at the IROC results, it may appear so. Seven of the top eleven finishers had some previous experience on the track including first and second place winners Joel Lux and Shane Bartella. Strong runs on white and yellow helped Dave Failing break through to take third place. Gary Pelletier and Gary Griffiths had excellent showings in their first Series race, rounding out the top five in fourth and fifth place respectively.  Chris Mariano, Rich Joslin, Steve Dickinson, Marc Sevier, Bernie Bartella and Sean Bartella were the remaining “A” group drivers.

 

 

                  Shane Bartella - 2nd                                       Joel Lux - 1st                                           Dave Failing - 3rd

 

With IROC results in hand, it was time for the card draw to determine partners for the Team race:

Joel Lux/John Durbin

Shane Bartella/Terry Phillips

Dave Failing/Neil Runciman

Gary Pelletier/Ralph Thieleman

Gary Griffiths/Keith Bickham

Chris Mariano/Joey Phillips

Rich Joslin/Larry Weaver

Steve Dickinson/Chris Mathewson

Marc Sevier/Roger Townley

Bernie Bartella/George Vianco

Sean Bartella/Bob Dickinson

 

In Team each member competes with their own matching team car. Lap totals are then added together to determine the results. The first and second place teams in the first qualifying round would punch their ticket to the finals. The remaining teams would then compete again in a last chance qualifying round that would be used to advance two additional teams to the finals.

In the first round, individual performances by Shane Bartella and Gary Griffiths stood out as they were the only two drivers to hit ninety laps. Shane’s partner Terry Phillips helped secure their team a spot in the finals with a nice run himself. The winners of the first round though, were the team of Marc Sevier and Roger Townley. Each driver had very solid runs providing them with a nice two lap gap to the second-place team. Less than a lap back in third were Gary G. and his teammate Keith Bickham.

 

*Please see the next post for part 2

 

[Rich Joslin]

Part 2 of 2

 

After a short break for lunch the remainder of the teams were ready for their last chance to make the finals. In this go round it was Joel Lux with the best total of the day in Team, ninety-two laps, and teammate John Durbin with his best Team run separating themselves from the pack by almost two laps for the win. With almost equal runs of eighty-seven laps it was the team of Chris Mariano and rising star Joey Phillips the last to make the finals.

 

Based on the totals that got them there the seeding for the finals looked like this, #1 Lux/Durbin, #2 Sevier/Townley, #3 Mariano/J. Phillips, and #4 Sh. Bartella/T. Phillips. Chris and Joey were feeling great about making the finals. Chris stated that he felt they had already won. Maybe it was that thought, relieving any pressure, that allowed them to run almost identical lap totals again. This time the difference being that they each improved on their previous totals by two laps resulting in a sweet two lap win over the team of Shane and Terry (Joey's father). The race for the final podium spot was a close one. Marc and Roger edged out Joel and John by just over one-half lap for third place.

 

 

             Shane Bartella/Terry Phillips                         Joey Phillips/Chris Mariano                       Marc Sevier/Roger Townley

 

With a short break to get the computer set up the group was ready for the SS E-Fray race. With twenty-one competing in this one the competition was sure to be fierce. Shane and Dave set impressive early totals of ninety-nine laps to give the rest of us something to shoot for. Steve Dickinson would be the first to crack one hundred laps, placing himself atop the leaderboard. Soon after Steve hit the century mark it was Rich Joslin bettering Steve’s mark by twenty-eight sections, and we had a new leader. Would it hold up? With Joel still to run, the odds of that happening were not good. Joel, with two heats of twenty-six laps, moved in front by a lap to get himself his second win of the day.

 

 

                                               Rich Joslin - 2nd                                      Joel Lux - 1st                     Steve Dickinson - 3rd

 

A big thank you to Joe for hosting the event and providing drinks and snacks. It was a long day but one full of fun and great competition. New friends were made. Hopefully new racers for future Upstate NY T-Jet Racing Series events as well.

 

The next race will be March 23^rd at Seabreeze Speedway in Rochester.

 

 

[Rich Joslin]

UNYTJRS

March 23rd, 2024

Part 1 of 2

 

It seems too soon, but Saturday was the final Upstate NY T-Jet Racing Series event of the 2023-24 season. Thirteen racers made the trip to Seabreeze Speedway to pursue their last chance at a Series podium. 

 

The group was treated to local favorite, Ridge donuts and hot coffee by our hosts Tracy and Dave Failing, to begin the long day. After a bit of catching up with friends and some practice laps the group was ready to go. 

 

Per the usual Series structure IROC was up first to determine the mix of A and B drivers. Dave provided a fine set of TFX based IROC cars for the group to race.

 

 

With the best lap total on red and blue it was Dave with a two lap margin of victory over Shane Bartella in second. Steve Dickinson claimed the final podium spot. Rich Joslin, George Vianco and John Durbin made up the rest of the A group of drivers. 

 

 

L-R: Shane Bartella-2nd, Dave Failing-1st, Steve Dickinson-3rd

 

With the drivers separated into A and B groups, cards were drawn to determine the pairings. The resulting Teams were:

Dave Failing/Sean Bartella

Shane Bartella/Bernie Bartella

Steve Dickinson/Larry Weaver

Rich Joslin/Jeff Collins

George Vianco/Chris Mathewson

John Durbin/Bob Dickinson

Dave Failing/Ralph Thieleman (With an odd number, the Host gets paired with the last place IROC finisher.)

 

The tops two teams from the first round punch their ticket right to the finals. The remaining teams then compete in a last chance qualifier to determine the final two teams to vie for the championship. 

 

The first round with the Team cars was close with the group pretty tightly bunched from top to bottom. Dave, Rich and Steve had the best individual performances this round. With strong runs from Larry and Sean it would be the teams of S. Dickinson/Weaver and Failing/Se. Bartella earning spots in the finals and a break from the action. 

 

After a short break for lunch the action resumed with the Last Chance qualifier. This time around it was Rich, Shane and Dave with the best totals. A nice run by Jeff helped the team of Joslin/Collins into the finals along with the team of Durbin/B. Dickinson. 

 

In the finals it was a dominant performance by Dave that was the difference. Dave was four laps clear of the rest of the group. He needed every one of those laps too, as he and teammate Sean barely beat the duo of Steve and Larry by just one track section. The final podium spot was filled by the Joslin/Collins team. 

 

 

L-R: Larry Weaver/Steve Dickinson-2nd, Sean Bartella/Dave Failing-1st, Jeff Collins/Rich Joslin-3rd

 

Please see the next post for the E-Fray recap.

 

 

 

 

 

[Rich Joslin]

UNYTJRS

March 23rd, 2024

Part 2 of 2

 

The final race of the 2023-24 season was E-Fray and it was a record breaker. The Seabreeze Speedway E-Fray lap record with three minute heats was 140 laps. The record was owned by Steve Dickinson. With a few heats of thirty-three laps posted and setting the early pace, Rich Joslin jumped on red and tallied a thirty-five. He proceeded to close out his circuit with thirty-fives on the remaining three lanes to tie the track record and set the bar for the drivers still to run. Dave Failing began his run a bit off of the pace with a thirty-three on red. He found another gear on white, blue and yellow though, posting thirty-six laps on each to break the track record with a 141. If anyone could top that it was the defending record holder, Steve. It looked bleak for Steve after stumbling a bit on red with thirty-one. A blistering thirty-seven on white got him back on pace and piqued everyone's interest. A thirty-six on blue kept Steve in the hunt. On yellow he couldn't pull off another thirty-seven though, and would finish on 140, tying his previous mark, just a handful of sections behind Rich in third place. Shane Bartella and Bob Dickinson finished in fourth and fifth respectively. 

 

 

L-R: Rich Joslin-2nd, Dave Failing-1st, Steve Dickinson-3rd

 

L-R: Joslin-2nd, Failing-1st, S. Dickinson-3rd

 

It was an exciting end to a great UNYTJRS season. Thank you to Joel and Warren Lux, Larry Weaver, George Vianco, Fantasy Raceways, Joe Saccomanno and Dave Failing for hosting events this season. Thank you to the new racers who joined in the fun. We look forward to more great racing and fun in the 2024-25 season. Take care all.