Marcuccilli Enjoys The Spoils Of Victory Lane Saturday Night At Fulton Speedway

Story By: DAVE MEDLER / FULTON SPEEDWAY – FULTON, NY – Everyone knew Dave Marcuccilli was a talented race car driver with all the Sportsman wins and championships accumulated over the years. Over the winter he made the decision to move up to the DIRTcar 358 Modified division and call the Fulton Speedway his Saturday night home for the first time in his career.

Many wondered how long it would take him to adjust to the more powerful Modified. Saturday night those questions were answered as he dominated the Tracey Road Equipment DIRTcar Modified 35-lap feature after taking the lead on lap 5 in the caution free race.

Other winners on Syracuse Haulers night were Mike Button, Joe Sobotka, Alan Fink (DOT Foods DIRTcar Sportsman) Kevan Cook (Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux RUSH Late Models) Richard Murtaugh won two E&V Energy Novice Sportsman mains.

Bill Shantel and Joe Shields would lead the 27-car field down to the green and the 35-lap Modified feature would see Shantel lead the opening lap before Nick Krause drove into the top-spot one lap later.

Dave Marcuccilli would go to the high side of the speedway to blast into the lead with Ron Davis III moving into second.

On lap 10 five former Sportsman racers who moved into the Modifieds in the last couple years occupied the top-five positions with Marcuccilli, Davis, Todd Root, Krause and Glenn showing on the scoring tower.

By lap 20 Marcuccilli held a comfortable lead as he was able to put lapped cars between himself and second place Davis. Root, Forward and Krause were still racing in the top-five.

With 10 laps remaining, Marcuccilli had his car working wherever he put it, putting cars down a lap with an almost two-second lead over Davis. Root, Forward and Tim Sears Jr. battled it out looking for top five finishes.

Over the final caution free laps there was no denying Marcuccilli his first Fulton Speedway Modified win. Ron Davis III could keep Marcuccilli in sight and would settle for second. Todd Root, Glenn Forward and Tim Sears Jr. would finish third through fifth.

Once again, the Sportsman showed up in big numbers with 53 cars in the pits setting up a pair of 25-lap features plus a May 25thholdover feature. By the end of the night 13 features had been run in 2019 with 12 different winners.

In the first 25-lap Sportsman feature Jim Spano would take advantage of his starting position and would bolt out to the early lead and have Tom Juno on his bumper by lap 5 while behind the top-two Joe Sobotka, Mike Button and Jackson Gill raced two and three-wide in the top-five.

After moving into second Sobotka would hound Spano and on lap 11 would go to the top of the speedway and drive around Spano exiting turn four to be scored the new leader.

With 10 laps to go Sobotka was slowly putting distance between himself and the continuing four-car battle behind him between Spano, Gill, Button and Juno.

The first caution of the race came at lap 16 to give the field one last shot at Sobotka and the win.

When green came back out and the rest of the distance to the checkers, Joe Sobotka drove a flawless race picking up his first win since June 16, 1987 when he raced weekly in the Modified division. Jim Spano, Mike Button, Jackson Gill and Zach Sobotka finished second through fifth.

In the second 25 lap Sportsman feature Torrey Stoughtenger and Jimmy Moyer raced lap after lap side-by-side with neither driver gaining much of an advantage.

With 10 laps showing on the lap counter Stoughtenger would have the biggest lead of the race of just a few car lengths with Moyer, Kyle Perry, Alan Fink and Mike Richmond still in contention for the win.

With 5 laps to go Stoughtenger still led but now had to deal with Moyer and Fink who was getting quicker as the final laps clicked off.

On lap 21 Fink moved into second and started putting pressure on Stoughtenger and would make the winning pass on the final lap for his first win of 2019 at the speedway.

A holdover May 25 second Sportsman feature was completed on Saturday.

Jeff Prentice would lead the opening 3 laps before Torrey Stoughtenger took the top spot in a three-wide pass for the lead at the flag stand.

Stoughtenger will still lead at lap 10 by a slim couple car advantage over Tyler Murray while Tom Juno, Mike Button and Jeff Prentice showed in the top-five.

With 10 laps remaining Stoughtenger was driving the race of his early career as he still showed the way out front with Button, Murray and Juno still in contention for the win.

Over the final laps it was Stoughtenger (youth) vs Button (racing veteran). The pair slugged it out swapping the lead back and forth within inches of each other and never touching. On the final lap experience won out with Button making the winning pass for the narrow win over Stoughtenger. Chis Mackey, Tom Juno and Brandon Ford finished third through fifth.

In the 20-lap Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux RUSH Late Model feature Max Hill and Kevan Cook would lead the opening couple laps with two and three-wide racing behind the two in early fights for position.

With 5 laps complete, Cook held a slim few car length lead over Chris Fleming. Behind the top-two you could have thrown a blanket over Hill, Harry Halliday, Chad Homan and Bret Belden racing for third through sixth.

At the halfway point Cook and Fleming were in a two-car breakaway battle for the lead with Halliday, Homan and Dale Caswell showing on the scoring tower in the top-five.

When the flagger showed 5 laps remaining, Cook had Fleming all over his deck lid as Fleming was waiting for any mistake by the leader as Homan was slowly reeling in the top-two.

Kevan Cook was able to put a few car lengths between himself and Fleming at the end to pick up the win. Chris Fleming finished second with Chad Homan, Harry Halliday and Dale Caswell rounding out the top-five.

There was a pair of 15-lap E&V Energy Novice Sportsman features run. Richard Murtaugh won the June 1 holdover and the June 8 regularly scheduled features.

This Saturday, June 15 being Father’s Day weekend, bring dad out to a huge night of racing.

On the race card will be a pair of 35-lap Tracey Road Equipment DIRTcar Modified features plus the Pit Stop Convenience Stores $1,000-to-win Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux RUSH Late Model Showdown. The Late Models will have an open draw coming through the pit gate. DOT Foods DIRTcar Sportsman and E&V Energy Novice Sportsman will also be in action.

Adult grandstand admission is $15 with everyone 18 years old and younger admitted to the grandstands for free. Pit admission is $27 Participant $30 Non-Participant. Grandstands will open at 5:00 pm with racing starting at 6:45 pm.

Any questions you might have and for marketing opportunities please contact Cory Reed at (315) 593-6531 or cory@fultonspeedway.com For all the latest news visit www.fultonspeedway.com and like the speedway Facebook & Twitter pages.

Syracuse Haulers June 8 Results

(Tracey Road Equipment Modifieds 35 Laps) – DAVE MARCUCCILLI, Ron Davis III, Todd Root, Glenn Forward, Tim Sears Jr., Larry Wight, Tom Sears Jr., Nick Krause, Rob Bellinger, Billy Whittaker, Jeremy Dygert, Tyler Trump, Pat Ward, Jeff McGinnis, Billy Shantel, Jeff Sykes, DJ Forbes, AJ Kingsley, Chris Hulsizer, Joe Shields, Randy Shantel, Jason Occhino, Lucas Heintz, Jim Walsh, Ben Bushaw, Dale Planck, DNS Colin Dubois.

(Syracuse Haulers June 8 Bonus $200) – Dave Marcuccilli

(Larkin Mowing Hard Charger $50) – Larry Wight

(DOT Foods DIRTcar Sportsman #1 – 25 Laps) – JOE SOBOTKA, Jim Spano, Mike Button, Jackson Gill, Zach Sobotka, Mike Phelps, Tom Juno, Chris Mackey, Amy Holland, Brandon Ford, Tyler Corcoran, Mike Fowler, Bob Henry Jr., Charlie Tibbitts, Rocky Grosso, JJ Courcy, Rick Miller, Josh Amodio, Gavin Eisele, Colby Herzog, Rachel Zacharias, George Dyer, Henry Desormeau, Mark Effner, Michelle Courcy, Jeff Prentice.

(Syracuse Haulers June 8 Bonus $100) – Joe Sobotka

(DOT Foods DIRTcar Sportsman #2 – 25 Laps) – ALAN FINK, Torrey Stoughtenger, Jimmy Moyer, Kyle Perry, Mike Richmond, Dylan Zacharias, Gordy Button, Corey Barker, Steve Marshall, Wade Chrisman, Jake Davis, Willy Decker Jr. Robert Gage, Dave Moyer, Addison Bowman, AJ Miller, Jessica Power, Casey Williams, Brett Draper, Bill Sauve, Kearra Backus, Brandon Carvey, Joe Kline, Derek Webb, Austin Germinio, Ryan Gustin, Tyler Murray.

(Syracuse Haulers June 8 Bonus $100) – Alan Fink

(DOT Food DIRTcar Sportsman May 25 Holdover #2 – 25 Laps) – MIKE BUTTON, Torrey Stoughtenger, Chris Mackey, Tom Juno, Brandon Ford, Tyler Murray, Alan Fink, Wade Chrisman, Tyler Corcoran, Amy Holland, AJ Miller, Jessica Power, Derek Webb, Austin Germinio, Jeff Prentice, Chris Bonoffski, Kyle Perry, Joe Kline, Kearra Backus, DNS – Tim Abate.

(Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux RUSH Late Models 20 laps) – KEVAN COOK, Chris Fleming, Chad Homan, Harry Halliday, Dale Caswell, Jason Parkhurst, Bret Belden, Max Hill, Matt Kitts, Mike Kazmierczak.

(Syracuse Haulers June 8 Bonus $100) – Kevan Cook.

(E&V Energy Novice Sportsman 15 Laps) – RICHARD MURTAUGH, Cody Manitta, Payton Talbot, Ryan Dolbear,Pat Nolan, Joe Scrimale, Scott Kline, Bobby Heintz, Andrew Stadelmann, Mikey Wight, Riley Rogala, DNS. Larry Taylor.
(Syracuse Haulers June 8 Bonus $50) – Richard Murtaugh

(E&V Energy Novice Sportsman June 1 Holdover 15 Laps) – RICHARD MURTAUGH, Payton Talbot, Ryan Dolbear, Scott Kline, Pat Nolan, Larry Taylor, Cody Manitta, Riley Rogala, Mikey Wight, DNS – Dana Camanga, Bradon Chretien.

(One-on-One Spectator) – Chris Rombough.