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[Rich Joslin]

Upstate NY T-Jet racing series

January 11, 2025

Part one

 

Fantasy Raceways was the scene for the latest UNYTJRS event. Eighteen racers showed up to compete for the IROC, Team, and TFX titles. 

 

Front L-R: Bernie Bartella, Warren Hurd, Sean Bartella, Shane Bartella, Steve Dickinson, Ralph Thieleman, Marc Sevier

Back L-R: Dave Failing, Bob Dickinson, Jeff Collins, George Vianco, Roger Townley, Larry Weaver, Chris Mathewson, Gary Griffiths, Joe Saccomanno, John Durbin

 

Changes were made to the format for this season. Gone are the '55 Chevy Team cars. In their place racers use their own E-Fray car to compete with in each round. Team pairings are still based on the IROC race results and the luck of a card draw. In past seasons the final race was E-Fray. This season the final race is stock TFX. 

 

IROC started us off. The cars were provided by Dave Failing. They are a nod to the previously mentioned '55 Chevys formerly used in the Team race.

 

 

As you would expect in an IROC race the lap totals were pretty close, except for that guy in first place. Dave posted sixty-nine laps for a comfortable three lap margin of victory. Behind Dave the racing tightened up considerably. Roger Townley, Steve Dickinson and Larry Weaver all finished with sixty-six laps. It would be Roger and Steve joining Dave on the podium by mere sections. The rest of the field enjoyed some close racing as well, as everyone jockeyed for their best position heading into the Team pairings. 

 

 

L-R: Roger Townley - 2nd, Dave Failing - 1st, Steve Dickinson - 3rd

 

Using the IROC results the group was split in half. The top half, or "A" drivers would be paired a driver from the bottom half, or "B" drivers, if you will. A card draw was used to make the pairings. This process resulted in the following Teams:

Dave Failing - John Durbin

Roger Townley - Marc Sevier

Steve Dickinson - Ralph Thieleman

Bob Dickinson - Shane Bartella

Jeff Collins - Gary Griffiths

Rich Joslin - Sean Bartella

Larry Weaver - Bernie Bartella

Chris Mathewson - Warren Hurd

George Vianco - Joe Saccomanno

 

The top two Teams in round one would advance to the Finals. Drivers cycled through all six lanes and teammates lap totals were combined to get the results. The first round would see the Failing/Durbin duo and the Collins/Griffiths team advance. 

 

 

After a short break for lunch the group was ready for round two of the Team race. 

As I have run out of room for more pictures the remaining racing will be recapped in a separate posting. 

 

 

[Rich Joslin]

Upstate NY T-Jet racing series

January 11, 2025

Part two

 

Please see the previous post to get caught up on the action that got us to this point.

 

Two more teams would advance from this round to the finals. Shane pulled away from the field in round two, helping to secure a spot in the finals for the Dickinson/Bartella team. Marc and Roger finished in the top four making their advancement to the finals a math free calculation. `

 

 

Now we were set for the four Team finals:

Failing - Durbin

Collins - Griffiths

Dickinson - Bartella

Townley - Sevier

 

The finals provided a good battle for the title. Shane had another good run and Bob improved his total from the previous rounds by three laps but it would not be quite good enough to keep the Failing/Durbin pairing from the top step of the podium. Dave and John both bested their previous round totals to win by one lap. The final podium position was claimed by Townley/Sevier as they put a few laps between themselves and the Collins/Griffiths team. 

 

 

L-R: Roger Townley/Marc Sevier - 3rd, Dave Failing/John Durbin - 1st, Shane Bartella/Bob Dickinson - 2nd

 

L-R: Bartella/Dickinson - 2nd, Failing/Durbin - 1st, Sevier/Townley - 3rd

 

The next post will cover the conclusion of the days racing. 

[Rich Joslin]

Upstate NY T-Jet racing series

January 11, 2025

Part three

 

The final race of the day was stock TFX. Once again it was the Dave show. Strong heats on green and yellow propelled Dave to the top of the pack and another three lap victory. Bob had a strong showing that saw him take second place, just one lap in front of his son Steve, in third.

 

 

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

 

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

 

It was a long, but fun, day of racing. Congratulations to Dave on a sweep of the three races. Thank you to our host Jeff Eve. Thank you to Dave and Rich for providing donuts. Thank you to the racers, especially those who traveled considerable distances to join us. 

 

Stay tuned for the results from our next event on February 1.