Jamie Falconi Prepared for NEMA Lite Debut at Star
Jamie Falconi of Southborough, MA will make his Northeastern Midget Association (NEMA) Lite debut Saturday night at Star Speedway. Falconi is a member of a well-known racing family that dates back to the 1940s. His grandfather John Falconi Sr. was a New England Auto Racing hall of fame car owner and promoter at Brookline, Thompson, West Peabody and Westboro. His father Rick fielded cars for the likes of Fred Borden, Joe Cast and Reino Tulonen to many wins and track championships at Brookline and Westboro. Jamie grew up around racing at Westboro Speedway, where his father worked as a handicapper, Uncle Jim worked as a flagman, Uncle John drove and his Uncle Pete was the announcer. While Westboro closed in 1985, the Falconi family has remained in racing through today fielding the #10 Late Model at Thompson Speedway for Jamie’s cousin John. Jamie works on the team as a tire changer and the team statistician. Pete Falconi has been the voice of NEMA since 2003.
“What attracted me most to the NEMA Lite division is the fact that it’s a low cost starter division, and most likely precedes the NEMA Midgets, which in my eyes is a premier racing division,” said Falconi. “They really do a good job at keeping the costs down too, and with the starters and low maintenance required, you can go racing basically without a huge crew.”
Falconi tried the First Turn Midget Driving School at Seekonk on April 28th. “It was one of the most exciting things I have ever done in my life!” said Falconi. “The cars are race ready, and provided mostly by the school and the graces of some drivers in the NEMA Midget and Lite series. The Lites are unbelievably fast. They turn on a dime, the wing makes them solid through the turns, and driving at Seekonk was a real thrill. Bob Seymour gave me some really good driving instructions, and the 4-time champ Cabral poked fun at me a little, which encouraged me to go a faster on some of the later runs. All in all, I would say it was a great time and would recommend the school to anyone wishing to sharpen their skills or get the experience of a lifetime!”
Falconi will pilot the #4 Stellar Racing Boston Hawk-Focus for Paul Scally at Star and Seekonk June 2nd. “The deal between myself and Paul came about when I asked Bob Seymour about renting a ride; he claimed to have some options in mind for me. Scally’s driver from last year moved up, away, and got his own ride, leaving him driverless and the car open for the season. While he has interest from other drivers, I have made a commitment to run the first two shows of the season to start. From there we are going to feel it out, I would like to attend at least half the shows this year but further arrangements need to be made.”
“My ultimate goal I think like any driver would be to become a professional in this field, said Falconi. “However, I believe with all the young talent these days, my age (41), and the late stage of the game for me, at this point I think I will concentrate on what we have in front of us, and settle for some fun, excitement, and maybe ultimately a trip to victory lane or two.”
“The sponsorship money for me to race is coming primarily from my own business, Stellar Apparel, which caters to the motorsports community with blank and custom racing apparel like T-shirts, Pit Crew Shirts, Hero Cards and more,” said Falconi. “So please check us out online, I am sure we can help your team with apparel, while at the same time you will be helping to support our racing efforts.“
Note: Falconi’s business, Stellar Apparel, has been a supporter of our web site for many years.
Sources: Nicholas Teto/YankeeRacer.com