RPW Column: Hard Work & Determination Key To Ryan Bartlett’s Success Friday At Can-Am

Column By: CAN-AM SPEEDWAY – LAFARGEVILLE, NY – The beginning of the racing season held such promise for Ryan Bartlett at Can-Am Speedway.

His brother, Tyler, had purchased the track a few years back, there was a return to racing in New York State after a long hiatus due to the state’s reaction to COVID-19, and the number 39 Troyer Chassis looked fast in the first week of racing, a few months back.

After doing well in the heat races that first week, Bartlett rolled out onto the track for the feature and disaster struck. He blew his engine.

A great deal of work ensued, and the following week, Bartlett was back on the track. Once again, he looked good in heat races, and once again, his engine gave out.

Throughout much of the 2021 season Bartlett seemed snake bit. If he didn’t have bad luck, he had no luck at all.

Last week, things changed. Bartlett did well enough to land second place in the feature race in the Whitesboro Plow Shop DIRTcar 358 Modified class. He tangled with Jordan McCreadie for a bit only to have McCreadie edge him out for the victory.

Then this last weekend Bartlett found his groove.

“We finally got the bugs worked out with this car,” Bartlett said Friday night.

Indeed the bugs were worked out, squashed on the floor, swept up neatly and disposed of in the dumpster. It appeared that the Bartlett team summoned up the best exterminators to work out said bugs, to carry an analogy too far.

At the start of the feature, it looked like the odds were stacked against Bartlett. After qualifying races, Bartlett was set to start in the fourth row in position seven. Right next door to him in eighth position was Billy Dunn, a regular winner at Can-Am. One row behind them was Tim Fuller, another frequent visitor to victory lane.

When the green flag waved over the track, Bartlett got an amazing jump on the field. He leaped from seventh to second in the first two turns, with Billy Dunn right on his heels following him to the front.

Only a lap or so ticked off the count before a caution brought the field back together for a restart. Once again Bartlett took advantage and passed up the leader, Dylan Zacharias, for ownership of first place.

It wasn’t the first time this season that Bartlett was in first place. When you go back to those early blown-engine races, Bartlett was in the lead for a short period of time. Would history repeat or had Bartlett finally thrown off the cloak of despair?

As each lap rolled by and Bartlett extended his lead over the rest of the field. It looked like he was going to cruise to the victory. The track was developing a treacherous turn three section of potholes which were throwing off many drivers’ ability to pass through turns three and four. That was good for Bartlett to keep the competitors in the rearview mirror. But it became a challenge as Bartlett came up on lapped traffic with only a few laps remaining.

As he weaved through the lapped traffic, there were several close calls as drivers struggled to keep control through the moguls and still move out of the way without being in or causing a wreck. Bartlett practically touched bumpers with one lapped vehicle as it quickly crossed from low to high on the front stretch. It was a twitch-reaction that kept Bartlett from ending the night with a crumpled car.

In the end, as the checkered flag flew over the track, Bartlett had indeed vanquished the dragons that had ruined his racing season early on, as he crossed the finish line in first place and took his orange and black small block car to victory lane for the first time this year and the first time in several seasons.

When reflecting on the track conditions, he said, “Tonight the track really fit my style, I guess.”

The victory was doubly sweet as the night was sponsored by his brother Tyler’s company, DP Bartlett and Sons Plumbing, Heating, and Air Conditioning. In victory lane, as the family gathered to both congratulate Ryan and get their victory lane picture taken, the company van proudly broadcast the Bartlett name.

“This is a family racing team,” Ryan said in victory lane. “Tyler, my uncle, my father; we all put a lot of work into this. It’s nice to see it finally pay off.”

As far as how he was able to take home victory this week, Bartlett said, “The key was to get to the front as quickly as possible. On restarts you have to make your moves then. When everybody gets up and going it’s really difficult to pass.”

Whether it was track conditions, in-race opportunities or more durable equipment, one thing is certain, Ryan Bartlett never gave up after early season heartbreak and he left it all on the track Friday night.

With the support and dedication of the entire Bartlett family, he was able to achieve victory and his persistence finally paid off in an exceptional way.

With a victory stacked on top of a second place finish, Bartlett has resurrected his season and now looks to continue his success through the rest of the season at Can-Am Speedway.