Dave Marcuccilli Earns Third Sportsman Classic Victory!
WEEDSPORT, NY (July 4, 2018) – Weedsport Speedway’s 5th annual Industrial Tire of CNY Sportsman Classic powered by Stirling Lubricants once again provided its share of fireworks on this Independence Day holiday with Dave Marcuccilli earning his second consecutive and third overall Sportsman Classic trophy.
Marcuccilli started the 75-lap Central Region DIRTcar Sportsman Series special from 8th position by virtue of the re-draw after winning his qualifying heat race, and stole the top spot from dominant early leader Connor Cleveland in lapped traffic on lap 66 after touching the outside wall in turn four on two separate occasions trying to find racing room.
Marcuccilli was never challenged over the course of the final 9-laps, picking up his 10th DIRTcar Sportsman win of the season and second of the year at Weedsport, worth a hefty $2,500.
“I couldn’t get off of turn four for nothing early on, but we just drove it a little different and it came around,” said Marcuccilli, on top of Weedsport Speedway’s Victory Hill. “Traffic definitely helped me out, but I just can’t believe I didn’t knock the right rear off of it hitting the wall in turn four. To be able to win this race three times is great, I don’t even know what to say.”
Starting from the pole position, Cleveland led the first 65-laps of the Classic in impressive fashion but would fall short at the finish.
“It’s tough when you’re in the lead in lapped traffic because you aren’t really sure of the best line to be in,” said Cleveland. “We just spent too much time with that lapped car and Dave got us. If we would have had a caution before we got to traffic, I think we would have been ok.”
Matt Guererri has been fast all year long and Weedsport and was able to put together a podium finish against a stout field of racers.
“We were pretty good, just not as good as Connor and Dave,” said Guererri. “We were just too free from the center, off. This is like the Daytona 500 for us around here, there are a lot of great drivers at this race.”
Zach Sobotka and Jackson Gill filled the top five positions in the Classic with Matt Janczuk, Kevin Root, Nick Krause, Brent Senek and Brandon Ford in the top ten.
After starting from outside of row four, Marcuccilli drove to the third position in the main event by lap 10 giving chase to early race leaders Cleveland and Guererri.
Cleveland, Guererri and Marcuccilli were the class of the field through the entire event, with Marcuccilli eventually getting the best of Guererri for the second position on lap 38.
From that point on it was all Cleveland and Marcuccilli out front as the duo sliced through lapped traffic through the remainder of the 75-lap distance.
A late yellow flag on lap 48 for a slowing Ben Wheeler bunched the field up one last time with Cleveland leading Marcuccilli, Guererri, Gill, Sobotka, Ford, Root, Janczuk, Krause, and DJ Forbes.
The caution would do little for the rest of the field as Cleveland and Marcuccilli continued their two car battle out front.
For 65-laps Cleveland made all the right moves in his No. 09 machine. However, on lap 66 Marcuccilli was able to use a pack of lappers to his advantage, diving through the middle of Cleveland and a lapped machine to take the point on the back stretch with only 9-laps to go.
From there, Marcuccilli would pull away to celebrate his wedding anniversary on top of Victory Hill.
A total of 63 DIRTcar Sportsman were in the pit area on Tuesday evening with Kane Bristol winning the D-Main, Bob Henry Jr. claiming victory in the C-Main and Tyler Thompson taking the checkered flag in the B-Main.
Heat races were won by Cleveland, Krause, Will Shields, Guererri, Wheeler, Marcuccilli, Forbes, and Sobotka.
John Waters was the victor in the first ever RUSH Dirt Late Model Series event on Tuesday at Weedsport over local racer Jason Parkhurst.
Waters, the 2016 RUSH champion, took the lead from Charlie Sandercock on lap 25 of the 30-lap affair and was able to hold off Parkhurst, Sandercock, Kevan Cook and Brian Knowles for the $2,000 victory.
The win was Waters first of the 2018 RUSH Dirt Late Model Series season.
For more information visit online at www.rushlatemodels.com.
The 20-lap NY6A Microsprint main event was won by Darryl Ruggles, who took the top spot from early leader Jim Young on lap 12.
Ruggles win was his second of the season at Weedsport as he topped Young, Danny Knoll, Ivan Forney and Eric Wise in the front five.
Weedsport Speedway returns to action on July 28-29 for Hall of Fame Weekend featuring the Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modified Hall of Fame 100 on July 28 and the Craftsman World of Outlaws Sprint Cars on July 29. The DIRTcar Sportsman will be in action on both nights.
For tickets and more information visit online at www.weedsportspeedway.com.
Sportsman Classic Champions:
2014 – James Michael Friesen
2015 – Dave Marcuccilli
2016 – Ronnie Davis III
2017 – Dave Marcuccilli
2018 – Dave Marcuccilli
Sportsman Classic Top Five Finishers (2014-2018):
Dave Marcuccilli: 5
Steve Gray: 2
Rocky Warner: 2
James Michael Friesen
Eric Giguere
Todd Town
Mike Maresca
Ronnie Davis III
Cody McPherson
Kyle Inman
Kevin Root
Corey Barker
Kevin Ridley
Glenn Forward
Connor Cleveland
Matt Guererri
Zach Sobotka
Jackson Gill
Industrial Tire of CNY Sportsman Classic Powered by Stirling Lubricants
Weedsport Speedway – Weedsport, NY
Tuesday, July 3
DIRTcar Sportsman Series
Sportsman Classic (75-laps): 1. M1 – Dave Marcuccilli, 2. 09 – Connor Cleveland, 3. 12G – Matt Guererri, 4. 38 – Zach Sobotka, 5. 60 – Jackson Gill, 6. 33X – Matt Janczuk, 7. 34 – Kevin Root, 8. 24K – Nick Krause, 9. 111 – Brett Senek, 10. 18 – Brandon Ford, 11. 82 – Will Shields, 12. 27B – Robert Bublak Jr., 13. 20K – Kyle Inman, 14. 3J – DJ Forbes, 15. 3M – Michael Stanton Jr., 16. 5 – Amy Holland, 17. 117 – CJ Castelletti, 18. 98T – Tyler Thompson, 19. 621 – Brian Hudson, 20. 42 – Jonathan Reid, 21. 87 – Rocco Leone, 22. 68 – Dave DiPietro, 23. 24R – Garrett Rushlow, 24. 21X – Eric Williams, 25. 11 – Dan Ferguson, 26. 99 – Ben Wheeler, 27. 04 – Zack Sam, 28. 72 – James Michael Friesen, 29. 52 – Jessica Power, 30. 1T – Charlie Tibbits, 31. 1 – Andrew Smith, 32. 86 – Matt Steffenhagen, 33. 29G – Steve Gray
Heat #1: 1. 09 – Connor Cleveland, 2. 18 – Brandon Ford, 3. 20K – Kyle Inman, 4. 21X – Eric Williams, 5. 3M – Michael Stanton Jr., 6. 21H – Bob Henry Jr., 7. 56 – Garrison Krentz, 8. 31 – Kane Bristol
Heat #2: 1. 24K – Nick Krause, 2. 52 – Jessica Power, 3. 11 – Dan Ferguson, 4. 42 – Jonathan Reid, 5. 5 – Amy Holland, 6. 24 – Dustin Jordan, 7. 1J – James Spano, 8. 22C – Adam Chaddock
Heat #3: 1. 82 – Will Shields, 2. 60 – Jackson Gill, 3. 111 – Brett Senek, 4. 717 – Jimmy Zacharias, 5. 1M – Tyler Murray, 6. 67 – Greg Doust, 7. 31C – Corey Barker, 8. 1L – Jeff Lawrence
Heat #4: 1. 12G – Matt Guererri, 2. 1 – Andrew Smith, 3. 72 – James Michael Friesen, 4. 68 – Dave DiPietro, 5. 82B – Tyler Lamb, 6. 1T – Charlie Tibbits, 7. 94J – Sarah Johnson, 8. 132 – Brandon Michaud
Heat #5: 1. 99 – Ben Wheeler, 2. 24R – Garrett Rushlow, 3. 621 – Brian Hudson, 4. 98T – Tyler Thompson, 5. 20 – David Schilling, 6. 20X – Kevin Ridley, 7. 87 – Rocco Leone, 8. 87D – Mike Denning
Heat #6: 1. M1 – Dave Marcuccilli, 2. 27B – Robert Bublak Jr., 3. 117 – CJ Castelletti, 4. 67G – Eric Giguere, 5. 86 – Matt Steffenhagen, 6. 6 – Ryan Ferri, 7. 13 – Ted Star, 8. 74 – Kelly Smith
Heat #7: 1. 3J – DJ Forbes, 2. 04 – Zack Sam, 3. 33X – Matt Janczuk, 4. 33J – Robbie Johnston, 5. 64 – Tyler Corcoran, 6. 88H – Chris Hulsizer, 7. 87S – John Strickler, 8. 11S – Tim Abate
Heat #8: 1. 38 – Zach Sobotka, 2. 34 – Kevin Root, 3. 29G – Steve Gray, 4. 11T – Jeff Taylor, 5. 93C – Mike Buchanan, 6. 75 – AJ Coscustodi, 7. 25 – Tom Juno, 8. 81R – Eric Martin
B-Main: 1. 98T – Tyler Thompson, 2. 21X – Eric Williams, 3. 68 – Dave DiPietro, 4. 3M – Michael Stanton Jr., 5. 42 – Jonathan Reid, 6. 5 – Amy Holland, 7. 717 – Jimmy Zacharias, 8. 1M – Tyler Murray, 9. 86 – Matt Steffenhagen, 10. 24 – Dustin Jordan, 11. 33J – Robbie Johnston, 12. 82B – Tyler Lamb, 13. 11T – Jeff Taylor, 14. 93C – Mike Buchanan, 15. 21H – Bob Henry Jr., 16. 67G – Eric Giguere, 17. 67 – Greg Doust, 18. 20X – Kevin Ridley, 19. 20 – David Schilling, 20. 64 – Tyler Corcoran
C-Main: 1. 21H – Bob Henry Jr., 2. 67 – Greg Doust, 3. 20X – Kevin Ridley, 4. 24 – Dustin Jordan, 5. 31C – Corey Barker, 6. 1T – Charlie Tibbits, 7. 88H – Chris Hulsizer, 8. 56 – Garrison Krentz, 9. 6 – Ryan Ferri, 10. 31 – Kane Bristol, 11. 87 – Rocco Leone, 12. 94J – Sarah Johnson, 13. 1L – Jeff Lawrence, 14. 87S – John Strickler, 15. 87D – Mike Denning, 16. 132 – Brandon Michaud, 17. 13 – Ted Star, 18. 75 – AJ Coscustodi, 19. 25 – Tom Juno, 20. 1J – James Spano
D-Main: 1. 31 – Kane Bristol, 2. 132 – Brandon Michaud, 3. 87D – Mike Denning, 4. 1L – Jeff Lawrence, 5. 74 – Kelly Smith, 6. 81R – Eric Martin, 7. 22C – Adam Chaddock
RUSH Dirt Late Model Series
Feature (30-laps): 1. 11L – John Waters, 2. 38 – Jason Parkhurst, 3. 57 – Charlie Sandercock, 4. 3X – Kevan Cook, 5. 7 – Brian Knowles, 6. 19R – Dale Caswell, 7. 91 – Chad Homan, 8. 66 – Adam Ferri, 9. 3J – Jeremy Wonderling, 10. 81 – Bret Belden, 11. 29J – Jason Genco, 12. Z1 – Brady Wonderling, 13. 20 – Wayne Robertson, 14. 10 – Chris Flemming, 15. 93J – Jimmy Johnson, 16. 12G – Beamer Guzzardi, 17. 1 – TJ Downs, 18. 13 – JJ Mazur, 19. 93 – Cory Lawler, 20. 93P – Sean Beardsley, 21. 21 – Kyle Murray, 22. 136 – David Pangrazio, 23. 85 – Jon Rivers, 24. 2 – AJ Kingsley
Heat #1: 1. 91 – Chad Homan, 2. 11L – John Waters, 3. 81 – Bret Beldon, 4. Z1 – Brady Wonderling, 5. 93 – Cory Lawler, 6. 12G – Beamer Guzzardi, 7. 136 – David Pangrazio, 8. 160 – Max Hill, 9. 4 – Jason Knowles, 10. 64 – Alan Chapman
Heat #2: 1. 57 – Charlie Sandercock, 2. 3X – Kevan Cook, 3. 10 – Chris Flemming, 4. 38 – Jason Parkhurst, 5. 66 – Adam Ferri, 6. 13 – JJ Mazur, 7. 20 – Wayne Robertson, 8. 85 – Jon Rivers, 9. M1 – Tim Murphy
Heat #3: 1. 19R – Dale Caswell, 2. 93P – Sean Beardsley, 3. 7 – Brian Knowles, 4. 2 – AJ Kingsley, 5. 3J – Jeremy Wonderling, 6. 1 – TJ Downs, 7. 29J – Jason Genco, 8. 21 – Kyle Murray, 9. 93J – Jimmy Johnson
B-Main: 1. 20 – Wayne Robertson, 2. 136 – David Pangrazio, 3. 93J – Jimmy Johnson, 4. 29J – Jason Genco, 5. 21 – Kyle Murray, 6. 85 – Jon Rivers, 7. 64 – Alan Chapman, 8. M1 – Tim Murphy
Dash: 1. 3X – Kevan Cook, 2. 91 – Chad Homan, 3. 93P – Sean Beardsley, 4. 57 – Charlie Sandercock, 5. 19R – Dale Caswell, 6. 11L – John Waters
NY6A Microsprints
Feature (20-laps): 1. 29 – Darryl Ruggles, 2. 8 – Jim Young, 3. 17 – Danny Knoll, 4. 7F – Ivan Forney, 5. 41W – Eric Wise, 6. 15 – Nate Hendrix, 7. 007 – Gary Kratzer, 8. 7 – Jordan Noody, 9. 29X – Tori Kaplan, 10. 74 – Michael Kaiser, 11. 66 – Lisa Kratzer, 12. 15C – Cheyenne Ling, 13. 18 – Ray Sand Jr., 14. 16 – Nick Groff, 15. 13J – Joe Trenca, 16. 62 – DJ Shuman, 17. 17K – Scott Kruetter, 18. 26 – Ricky Pritchard, 19. 99 – Ron Strong, 20. 16J – Drew Pascuzzi
Heat #1: 1. 8 – Jim Young, 2. 17 – Danny Knoll, 3. 13J – Joe Trenca, 4. 41W – Eric Wise, 5. 62 – DJ Shuman, 6. 7F – Ivan Forney, 7. 74 – Michael Kaiser
Heat #2: 1. 7 – Jordan Noody, 2. 007 – Gary Kratzer, 3. 29X – Tori Kaplin, 4. 16 – Nick Groff, 5. 66 – Lisa Kratzer, 6. 99 – Ron Strong, 7. 16J – Drew Pashiczi
Heat #3: 1. 29 – Darryl Ruggles, 2. 17K – Scott Kruetter, 3. 18 – Ray Sand Jr., 4. 15 – Nate Hendrix, 5. 15C – Cheyenne Ling, 6. 26 – Ricky Pritchard, 7. 16J – Drew Pascuzzi
About Weedsport Speedway: Purchased in 2013 by Al Heinke, Weedsport Speedway has returned to a real racers track, providing a complete venue for racers, their families and friends, and for the fans looking for motorsports entertainment. Officially opened for the first time on July 24, 1955 – the Weedsport Speedway 3/8 mile dirt oval has produced a legendary list of drivers and champions including Will Cagle, Danny Johnson, Bob McCreadie, Alan Johnson, Jack Johnson, and Dave Lape to name a few. Today the facility welcomes the best of the best in dirt short track racing from the Craftsman World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series to the Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds along with the DIRTcar 358-Modifieds, Sportsman, Pro Stocks, and more. While racing entertainment is the focal point, Weedsport Speedway has gone the extra mile in welcoming Weedsport Productions, which brings the facility full circle with a dedicated digital entertainment team for web, television, and on site screen usage.