Nick Root watched his dad, Kevin, reach DIRTcar Sportsman Series Victory Lane for years. But on Saturday at Land of Legends Raceway, it was his turn.
The Geneva, NY driver outdueled Matt Guerreri to score his first career DIRTcar Sportsman Series win.
“The car felt good,” Root said. “We didn’t get going for a while, but on the restart, we got [Guererri], and we made a lot of good choices after that. We got the car under our seats, and I feel like we pulled away a little bit.
“This is our first Series win, so it’s really exciting.”
Race two of the DIRTcar Sportsman Series Central Region kicked off with Justin Leichti wrestling the lead away from Guerreri on Lap 1. Leichti held the top spot for the first three laps before the race’s first caution came out for Mike Taylor.
When the race resumed, Leichti drove away from Guererri again. But this time, Guererri started to gain momentum.
After a few laps, Guererri pulled even with Leichti as they battled down the backstretch. When they made their way around to complete Lap 7, Guererri’s No. 12 nosed ahead of Leichti, taking the lead.
Root used the same move to get by Leichti two laps later, moving into second on Lap 9.
A caution for Justin Henderson would slow the field for the second time, putting Guererri and Root on the front row of the restart. When the green came out, Guererri pulled away again on the inside, and Mike Fowler moved to third behind Root.
Guererri held the lead until a Lap 16 caution for Dave Conant, and Taylor slowed the field again. But this time, the restart had a different result.
Root had momentum when the green flag came back out, staying even with Guererri as the two battled into Turn 1. When they reached the backstretch, Root pulled ahead of Guererri, using his momentum to take the lead on Lap 16.
From there, two more cautions couldn’t slow down Root’s No. 30, as he held on to earn Saturday’s DIRTcar Sportsman Series Central Region victory—one worth $1,000.
Despite leading the race’s second half, Root said he wasn’t sure what decision to make on restarts.
“I didn’t really know whether to go top or bottom,” Root said. “I got around [Guerreri], and I just chose the top after that. I got a good run into [Turn 1], and I could just drive it so much deeper. It really helped us.”
Guererri settled for second after leading nine laps. The Waterloo, NY driver said Root had the better car.
“I didn’t need those yellow flags,” Guererri said. “We were really good once we got going, but it felt like it took the car five or six laps to get rolling. I was just too free on restarts, and he got the jump and was rolling good.
“If I’m going to get beat by anyone in this field, I’d like to see Nicholas win. He’s a good buddy of mine, and I like to see him run good. Congratulations to those guys. They work hard at it, and we’ll take second.”
Fowler finished third, earning his first DIRTcar Sportsman Series podium of 2024. The Fulton, NY driver said he needed to throw away his entire Land of Legends notebook after Timed Hot Laps.
“This is our first time here this year,” Fowler said. “We threw a bunch of stuff at it, and it worked well in the Heat Race. It put us in a position to at least contend for a podium spot. So, I’m happy with the outcome. Third place to two track regulars, I’ll take it.”
Frank Guererri finished fourth, and Land of Legends points leader Zach Sobotka rounded out the top five.
UP NEXT: The DIRTcar Sportsman Series Central Region continues its 2024 season on Saturday, July 27 at Fulton Speedway in Fulton, NY.
DIRTcar Sportsman Series Central Region Feature (30 Laps): 1. 30-Nicholas Root[3]; 2. 12G-Matt Guererri[1]; 3. 410-Mike Fowler[7]; 4. 113-Frank Guererri[10]; 5. 38-Zach Sobotka[5]; 6. 20X-Kevin Ridley[4]; 7. 0F-Tony Finch II[9]; 8. 64-Tyler Corcoran[11]; 9. 4-Emmett Waldron[19]; 10. 32C-Kasey Coffey[14]; 11. 21-James Henry[15]; 12. 68-Dave DiPietro II[28]; 13. 21J-Justin Liechti[2]; 14. 72-Hunter Hollenbeck[27]; 15. 711-Nick Ventura[12]; 16. 10G-Austin Germinio[8]; 17. 7S-Torrey Stoughtenger[23]; 18. 7T-Tyler Guzzardi[20]; 19. 00-Sam Hoxie[29]; 20. 31K-Kennedy Payne[17]; 21. 35-Nick Cooper[16]; 22. 9-Tim Baker[21]; 23. 34-Behr Grover[26]; 24. 23B-Tim Borden[30]; 25. 1F-AJ Lloyd[18]; 26. 7-Paul Guererri[6]; 27. 5-Kyle Devendorf[22]; 28. 44-Dave Conant[24]; 29. 2T-Mike Taylor[25]; 30. 18H-Justin Henderson[13]
POST-RACE TECH: Cams were checked on the top three drivers. All three drivers passed.
