Marcuccilli Battles Past Davis For DIRTcar Sportsman Win At Outlaw

Story By: CLAYTON JOHNS / DIRTCAR – DUNDEE, NY – Dave Marcuccilli used the track position a lap 27 restart afforded him and won a side-by-side battle with Ronnie Davis III to claim a victory in the DIRTcar Sportsman Series Central Region Feature at Outlaw Speedway on Tuesday night.

Marcucciili’s victory completed a perfect night with a fast time in qualifying and a heat race win. He also became the third different winner in three Sportsman Series Central Region races this season.

The race started with Tyler Thompson and Davis on the front row while Marcuccilli and Nick Guerrerri were in row two. Davis grabbed the early lead while Marcuccilli and Guerrerri engaged in a hard-fought battle.

“I think he was on the outside of me and I didn’t see him there, so I kind of crowded him up a little bit,” Marcuccilli said. “He dove down into one and made a little contact. It is what it is. You get down in there and it gets a little rough. It’s no big deal.”

Davis took the early lead while Marcuccilli raced into second. The race was slowed for the second time on lap nine when Kyle Inman slowed on the front stretch. Davis and Marcuccilli raced side-by-side until lap 11 when Davis maintained the lead and Guererri joined the battle up front.

At the halfway mark, Davis led a four-car breakway with Marcuccilli, Gurerri and the Tom Collins Jr. driven No.713. The leaders worked the bottom groove in turns one and two and the high line in the higher-banked turns three and four.

On lap 22 of the 30-lap Feature, Marcuccilli reduced Davis’ lead to 0.2 seconds, but the lead was erased completely a lap later when Guererri suffered mechanical issues and spun on the front stretch.

The ensuing restart was the final one of the night. Davis held the top lane with Marcucilli on the bottom in a side-by-side battle. The two drivers raced that way until Marcucilli nosed ahead and cleared Davis on lap 27. Collins took advantage of the open space on the bottom as did Rocky Warner and created a three-wide battle for the lead. Collins took the runner-up spot, but had no time to track down Marcuccilli who won his fifth straight start at Outlaw.

“I was catching him and I was on him and faster than him, but then we had that one caution,” Marcuccilli said of Davis in Victory Lane. “After that, I was so loose. It took me forever to get back to him and when we started battling the caution came out. The caution helped. Things might have got a little dicey there in lapped traffic. To be able to battle that out with Ronnie and some great cars here is pretty awesome.”

The DIRTcar Sportsman Series Central Region resumes action on Wednesday, June 28 at Can-Am Motorsports Park. For additional event information, visit www.racecanam.com.

The Eastern Region, which completed its first race on May 28 at Devil’s Bowl (VT) Speedway where Chad Edwards went to Victory Lane, will continue with it’s action on July 15 at Lebanon-Valley Speedway.

The Western Region kicks off on July 25 at Ohsweken Speedway alongside the World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series in the Six Nations Showdown. The Northern Region will host its first race on August 11 at Quebec’s Autodrome Granby.

The six-race combined region schedule begins on September 30 at Fulton Speedway. For the full schedule of DIRTcar Sportsman Series events, visit www.dirtcarump.com/schedules.

DIRTcar Sportsman Series Central Region Statistical Report; Outlaw Speedway, Dundee, NY; June 20, 2017

Feature (30 Laps) – 1. M1-Dave Marcuccilli [3]; 2. 713-Tom Collins Jr. [7]; 3. 32r-Ron Davis III [2]; 4. 1J-Rocky Warner [6]; 5. 15-Todd Root [10]; 6. 82-Will Shields [8]; 7. 9x-Tyler Trump [9]; 8. 38-Zach Sabotka [11]; 9. 98T-Tyler Thompson [1]; 10. 60-Jackson Gill [13]; 11. 01-Doug Smith [14]; 12. 52-Jessica Power [18]; 13. 3-Jacob Dgien [16]; 14. 21x-Eric Williams [15]; 15. T1-Charlie Tibbits [20]; 16. 1R-Ricky Thompson [22]; 17. 25g-Nick Guererri [4]; 18. 20k-Kyle Inman [12]; 19.
96b-Luke Carleton [19]; 20. 113-Frank Guererri Jr. [17]; 21. 34-Kevin Root [5]; 22. 10-Karl Comfort [DNS].

For full results, please visit the race story by clicking here.

CENTRAL REGION SEASON WINNERS

1 – Todd Root (Fulton Speedway on April 28)
1 – Rocky Warner (Utica-Rome Speedway on April 30)
1 – Dave Marcuccelli (Outlaw Speedway on June 20)