By: Megan Dupuy; Joe Kaminski Jr. photo
Last season was phenomenal for the number 7 machine. Driver, Dylan Cecce, brought home the points championship at Woodhull Raceway and won seven races. This season is looking no different. Cecce has already started out winning five of the last nine races and is currently the Joe Willcox Performance Automatics Street Stocks points leader.
Cecce started his racing career at Woodhull Raceway when he was 12 years old. He started out in the Woodhull Warrior division which is still a regular division at the track now. From there he moved up into the mini stock division. Later he moved into the street stocks and continues to stay in that class.
The Daugherty Auto Sales and Service Woodhull Warrior division has seen many different racers. Recently, AJay Potrzebowski Jr, Jordan Bacon, and Cole Youse raced in that class previously and now race in the NAPA Crate Sportsman division. Noah Talada, also a graduate of the warrior class, has moved up to the street stock division as well. Cecce mentioned how much the warrior class helped him.
“It definitely helped as far as race craft and getting behind the wheel of a car. The four cylinder is much different from a street stock as to how they drive. But just learning how to drive has been a big help.”
It’s no question that Cecce is competing in a fast car. In 2015, he started racing street stocks at Woodhull and claimed his first points championship. The following year he missed out on the championship but won a number of races. 2017 he regained the crown and walked away with the points championship.
Currently he is leading the 2018 points chase, but Brett Marlatt and Tracy Dunn are only 32 and 45 points away. Cecce was asked how he thinks the rest of the season is going to turn out now that he’s won over half the races thus far?
“Every race I’m not going to win obviously, with starting in the back and handicap makes it a lot tougher to pass all the fast guys. We have a good car but there is still other very good cars.”
Given the fact Cecce has won a number of races, past and present, some people are not a fan of his No. 7 machine. Some have even made it clear how they feel when the car has been in victory lane. For Cecce it doesn’t change a thing. Everyone has their favorite driver and that’s just what Cecce thinks of it.
“It doesn’t bother me (when people scream and boo). When you win a lot people start to hate you. If they don’t like me, they don’t like me,” Cecce said.
Cecce was asked whether he liked starting up front or toward back better?
“Starting up front is easier but sometimes it’s tough, you start up front and you don’t really know necessarily what the fastest groove is. If you can start around 5th or 6th that’s probably the best place to start in my opinion.”
Recently, Cecce and his wife Koryn have announced they will be having another boy making their son, Carson, a big brother. Cecce still plans on continuing to race at least in the street stock division. Given what he’s dealt on and off the track, he doesn’t plan on letting anything get to him. Cecce is keeping his eye on the 2018 points championship and what could be his third championship in four years and second-straight.