2025 season summary

For 2025, JFG Motorsports continued their efforts from last season and remained in the Pro Late Model division. Many upgrades and developments were made in the off-season, including the assembly of another Pro Late Model. The team will have a relatively similar schedule from last year, but with some extra races added in. The focus would be following the full Race Of Champions and Lancaster Motorplex Late Model schedules.

May:

-5/11: Lancaster Motorplex - Pro Late Model: 3rd
The first race for JFG Motorsports was at the familiar Lancaster Motorplex. Despite a strong finish last race with the Pro Late Model, major changes were made to the car, including an engine change the night prior. The team hoped to test these changes before the first race, however, all scheduled practices were canceled due to inclement weather each weekend. Upon arriving at the track, the team got behind the 8 ball and missed the first practice. Gusty would make second practice, but immediately didn't like the handling of the car. Despite the ill-handling car, Gusty finished 5th in the heat and a surprising 3rd place finish.

June:

-6/6: Spencer Speedway - Pro Late Model: 4th -6/7: Lancaster Motorplex - Pro Late Model: 4th -6/21: Holland Speedway - Pro Late Model: 4th -6/28: Evans Mills Raceway Park - Pro Late Model: 3rd
June would be the busiest month of racing for JFG Motorsports, including back-to-back races. The month began with ROC's first race of the season at Gusty's home track, Spencer Speedway. With a different set-up, the car had decent speed, qualifying 5th and finishing 2nd in the heat. In the feature, Gusty would settle into second, then jump to the lead on a restart. However, Gusty made contact with the wall, damaging his right front suspension. He would relinquish the lead and limp the car to the end of the race, finishing 4th. The team had to repair the car at the track since the next race was the following day. At Lancaster, Gusty would finally win his heat race, which was his first heat win in a Late Model. However, it did not go Gusty's way for the feature. He did not have the speed he had in the heat and finished 4th again. Oddly enough, the streak of 4th places continued where Gusty got his first Late Model feature win and the second ROC Late Model race of the season, Holland Motorplex. He scored 3rd in both qualifying and the heat. In addition to this month, JFG Motorsports raced their first Late Model chassis they acquired, different to the chassis that the team has been regularly running. Gusty finished 4th in the heat and 3rd in the feature without any practice in the car at EMRP.

July:

-7/5: Lake Erie Speedway - Pro Late Model: 5th -7/12: Lancaster Motorplex - Pro Late Model: 2nd -7/19: Lancaster Motorplex - Pro Late Model: 2nd
Following the long month of June, JFG Motorsports headed to Lake Erie Speedway for the third race in the ROC Late Model series. Gusty found success last year at the track and looked to improve upon it. At the event, Gusty was able to qualify 4th and finished 2nd in his heat. In the feature, Jacob fought hard to keep his car within the leaders, but faded back to 5th place at the end of the race. Determined to get the most out of the car, the team once again completely changed the set-up on the car. At the next event at Lancaster, Gusty only needed one practice to realize that the car was significantly better. He won his heat race and finished 2nd in the feature after starting mid pack and running the whole race with no cautions. The car felt very good to gusty and was close to what he was looking for. With a good baseline, the team made some more adjustments for the next Lancaster race. Gusty finished 3rd in his heat and drew pole to start the feature race. He would jump to the lead in the feature and looked to pull away from the pack. However, Gusty began to fight with the handling with the car and was unable to hold onto the lead with 2 laps remaining. Despite the 2nd place finish, this was a positive outlook for the team in the future.

August:

-8/23: Holland Speedway - Pro Late Model: 5th -8/30: Evans Mills Raceway Park - Pro Late Model: DNF
After a month of no racing, JFG Motorsports headed to Holland Speedway for the Rick Wylie Memorial race and the fifth ROC Late Model race. The team got some practice in a couple of days prior to the race. Gusty felt comfortable in the car but only managed to qualify 6th. However, he would score his first Race of Champions heat win in the Late Model division. In the feature, Jacob would start 4th and took it easy for the start of the race. Unfortunately, Gusty would get caught up in a wreck with 6 laps remaining. The team repaired the car enough to get it back on the track and Gusty limped the car to finish 5th. The second race of the month was the last race at EMRP for the Pro Late Model division. Even though the car was faster than the previous race, Gusty would only finish 4th in the heat. In the feature, Gusty got caught up in another crash ironically similar to the previous race. This time, however, Gusty was unable to continue and was his only "did not finish" of the season.

September:

-9/14: Lake Erie Speedway - Pro Late Model: 6th -9/28: Lancaster Motorplex - Pro Late Model: 4th
After fixing the damage from the last race, JFG Motorsports headed to the sixth and final ROC Late Model race of the season at Lake Erie Speedway. Gusty shook the car down for the first practice and thought the car was pretty good with older tires. New tires were bolted up but Gusty suspected something wrong with the car once he went out for time trials. On the last lap of the session, the right front tire went flat on the last corner, but Gusty kept it off the wall. After the tire change and other adjustments, Gusty went out for the heat, where the car was still not handling well and finished 4th. The team checked the car over for any problems, but there were no apparent issues. For the feature, Gusty rode it out and could not find any speed, where he finished 6th. After the race, the team discovered at their shop that the tire pressure gauge they were using was not calibrated correctly, reading constantly 12psi higher than other gauges. With the faulty tire gauge corrected and the correct tire pressures, JFG Motorsports took the car over to Lancaster Motorplex for the US Open season finale. Practice was held two days prior, where Jacob noticed a stumble when coming out of the turns on the last session. With a gameplan in mind, the team tried many different changes to correct the issue, however the issue persisted throughout the weekend. Gusty powered through the problems and would score 2nd place in the heat. In the feature, Gusty would move up to second early in the race. Similar to the previous races at Lancaster this year, the car would become super loose towards the end of the race and the feature race went green to checkers. Gusty lost a couple of spots and ended up finishing 4th in the US Open.

October:

-10/5: Wyoming County International Speedway - Sportsman Modified: DNQ -10/18: Shangri-La II Speedway - Pro Late Model: 2nd
Once again, Ricky Knapp tapped Gusty in to drive one of his modifieds, this time at "The BullRing". Gusty has turned thousands of laps at this track and was very confident about this opportunity. Unfortunately, it did not go particularly well. Gusty really struggled to get a handle for the car and did not qualify quick enough to make it into the show. This was the first time Gusty was not in the main feature event since his days of racing sport compacts at a national level. Luckily, there was still one more race left. That race was at a track that sat dormant for 10 years before the start of the season, Shangri-La II Speedway. As a result, the track was very bumpy since the racing surface is concrete and the seasonal temperature changes effect the concrete. Still trying to get a feel for the track, Gusty ended up 4th in the heat. With a little bit of luck, Gusty was able to close out the season with a 2nd place finish in the feature.
Summary:All in all, this has been a very "trying" season for Gusty and JFG Motorsports. For the first time since 2012, Gusty did not win a feature race; a testament to how competitive Late Model racing can be. Through all the various sizes of struggles and battles, however, it just makes us stronger and more experienced. While one may call it "sophomore blues", it just goes to show that not every year can be the best year.
Jacob struggled to get the feel that he wanted all year in the primary car. Throughout the year, he made multiple major suspension changes to the car in effort to get the most out of the car. In the midst of the season, Gusty found a good baseline with the help of Dean Clattenburg. With his help, Gusty was still able to score a couple of heat wins and strong showings. Even without a win, we feel that our racing program has improved operationally and performance-based. As a result, Gusty finished 5th overall in Race Of Champion's Late Model points after missing one race.
The second car served the purpose as a back up car, as well as the car we raced at Evans Mills Raceway Park. This car was just for fun and ran a conventional shock and spring package with a basic Lefthander set-up. After the last Evans Mills race of the season, the team sold the car. While this car saw limited track time with Gusty behind the wheel, it was the first late model chassis the team purchased and the symbol of new beginnings for JFG Motorsports.
We thank Ricky Knapp Jr. and his family for allowing Gusty to race one of his cars for the second year in a row. While our one showing did not go the way any of us expected, we are thankful for these opportunities and hope to redeem ourselves.
As of this write up, we plan to adventure out to some major out-of-state races and some in New York. While we have not finalized what races we will compete in at this time, we plan to race a similar number of races for 2026. Gusty will continue to race the same chassis we have been running for the past 2 seasons with some suspension and performance upgrades.
We would like to thank all of our sponsors and supporters for helping out our small team. This is still a dream come true to Gusty and his dad and can not thank everyone enough who keeps our team running and operating. We are grateful to receive the help we get from them.
We are excited to put the 2025 season in the past and start the new 2026 season!