a main FEATURE
MODIFIED
MIKE MARESCA SNIPES A WIN IN THE SUNSHINE STATE By Adam Cornell
MIKE MARESCA TRAVELLED thirteen hundred miles from his home in Potsdam, New York to compete at the DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway in Florida back in February. His quest was to score an elusive victory in the Super DIRTcar Series. “In 2017 we did the whole [Super DIRTcar] tour,” Maresca said. “Then only three or four races in 2018, and just a few in 2019. I just didn’t feel like we were competitive.” As Maresca honed his craft, some of 44
the advice he was given didn’t seem to work for him. “I’d heard and believed it, that you race with the best to be the best,” Maresca said. “That didn’t work for me. I had to learn how to race. I had to learn how to run up front. Once I felt like I could be competitive I decided to go for it again. This was really the first year I felt good about my chances.” Maresca has always approached racing from a different vantage point than many of his competitors.
DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE | APRIL/MAY 2021
“I started off racing dirt bikes,” Maresca explained. “Maybe that has an effect on how I race now. I don’t know. On a bike, it’s just you out there. No protection. So, you kind of have to be fearless. In a car, you’ve got the cage, the belts, everything. It’s a little different. But then again, if you make a small mistake on a bike, you can recover. Get back up and keep riding. In a car, if you make a small mistake, you can tear it up. It gets expensive quick.” During the last year, in the lead up to
