Mike Maresca is everywhere, and nothing if not consistent./

I know I’m supposed to be part of the majority and still griping about how COVID-19 kept fans out of the stands last season.

But let’s be honest — there is something to be said for being able to livestream your favorite race track while sipping a margarita and munching on a cowboy burrito from the comfort of your own sofa.

Plus I learned a lot — learned about these new young talents that have entered the sport over the past few years. It seemed like everything we rented, didn’t matter what track or big block or small block cars, Mike Maresca’s name was continually being dropped by the commentators. Who was this Maresca? Event after event, he was constantly duking it out with some of the best in the business.

“There are still certain times where (the veteran racers) are a little more consistent than me or better than me, but I feel like I’m having more and more nights where I’m putting the car up front and keeping it there — it’s pretty cool racing with those guys, you learn a lot,” said Maresca of his battles with veteran drivers like Stewart Friesen, Pat Ward and Billy Decker.

The 25-year-old Potsdam native started racing cars at 17 years old. His grandpa was an old race car shoe, but his dad was into dirt bikes and motocross racing so he did some of that also.

He ran legend cars, sportsman cars — running at Evans Mills, Mohawk International and Cornwall speedways. He also did a few stints in Ohio (2016 and 2018), relocating there for work, where he raced big blocks and late models. According to Maresca, he wasn’t as good as he needed to be, so he returned to New York.

“My work was done in Ohio so I came home and I had more time to race and at the end of the year I finally started doing better. I wasn’t questioning myself anymore; we were starting to figure it out,” Maresca said.

“We had some really good success by the end of 2019; we won the Outlaw 200 (at Fulton Speedway) and that was huge for me — it would take a lot to top that for me.”

For the 2020 race season, he raced weekly at Canam and Fonda Speedway, taking in any shows that he could work into his schedule. He was showing up everywhere.

And he was turning heads and getting a lot of attention.

“I think we had a pretty good year last year,” Maresca said. “I would have liked to win a few more but it was all good because I was consistent, finishing up front every night.”

And he won the 2020 Sunoco Modified Championship at Fonda Speedway. He secured the title despite not taking a win all season at the “Track of Champions,” so his consistency speaks for itself.

“I’ve always liked going to Fonda — it’s a tricky track but a good track,” Maresca said. “You really have to be on your toes and I think if your car works pretty good at Fonda it will at most places.”

The point title came down to the last event, with the last few laps of the modified feature finding Maresca and Friesen swapping positions back and forth. Maresca finished second, enough to take the title and become the fifth driver to take a title with no wins.

The success came with runs in Gary Simpson’s, Bill Scoons’ and the Maresca family’s automobiles.

He is off to a good start this season. He’s already got more than a handful of events in his racing stat book. He took three top-10 runs from promoter Brett Deyo’s Southern Short Track Series back in February.

Add another three top-five (one of those was a win) runs during Dirtcar’s Volusia Speedway events. And then he picked up the win in the 60-lap Doug Hoffman Memorial race at Bridgeport Speedway in March.

The future looks pretty bright for Maresca.

“I’m pretty happy and fortunate to get to do what I do,” Maresca said. “I can’t thank the people that help me enough, it’s so appreciated. I just want to keep moving forward — I understand not every day will be the best day but I hope we can keep improving and pick up a couple more big races and some championships.”

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