Montpelier Speedway
Budget-minded Marcoullier presses forward
By Bryan Ault
DirtonDirt contributing writer
Dona Marcoullier racing at Montpelier. (Jimmy Pittman/Ultimate HoA)
MONTPELIER, Ind. (May 16) — Turning circles on a shoestring budget is hard for any driver, but 42-year-old Dona Marcoullier is doing everything he can to make it work.
Chasing checkered flags when and where he feels like it, Marcoullier made the 5-hour haul Saturday from his home in Owosso, Mich., to Montpelier Motor Speedway for the Ultimate Heart of America Series stop in northern Indiana. It was a successful trip as he finished third in a $5,000-to-win feature captured by Rusty Schlenk of McClure, Ohio, who led the 40-lapper from flag-to-flag. | RaceWire
“There is no money in this sport anymore,” Marcoullier said. “It costs so much, but at least if you can recoup … Like tonight, I don’t know what third pays, but it probably pays more than what I could have won at home and you get the experience, too, and you’re around better guys. That’s how I’ve always raced my whole career. I get more of a challenge running with better cars.
“I could have won 45 minutes down the road (from his house) for $500-to win tonight, but I came three hours for 5,000 (dollars), you know?” he continued. “And I’ve always been that guy. I’ll run three nights in a row and I’ll probably take a week off, you know what I mean? I’m a guy where if my stuff’s not right, I won’t go play.”
In just his third outing of the season, Marcoullier came ready to play at Montpelier. He advanced from his sixth starting spot to post a podium finish at an oval that has become Schlenk’s adopted home track. With some morning rain juicing the surface of the Hoosier State oval, Marcoullier made the most of the night even though it didn’t necessarily fit his driving style.
“The car’s been good all year,” Marcoullier said. “It's just I struggle on these racetracks like when it’s (fast). I don’t know how to explain it, but like, I don’t take any enjoyment running on a monster racetrack like that, you know what I mean? We’ve got speed, so we’re just trying to get better. Just a top-dominant track is not my forte. I’m more of a slow, finesse guy, you know? I don’t like tearing my stuff up that hard.”
Marcoullier would certainly like to race more often across the Midwest like he did a few years ago. He’s shown he’s capable against higher competition; in 2020 he scored his first-ever DIRTcar Summer Nationals triumph at Tri-City Motor Speedway in Auburn, Mich, beating Schlenk and current national touring heavy hitters such as Ryan Gustin, Brian Shirley and Drake Troutman. He won again at Tri-City two years later in another Summer Nationals event.
In more recent years, Marcoullier, who grew up in Houghton Lake, Mich., but relocated to Owosso three years ago, has been busy starting an auto salvage business, limiting his racing efforts to “about 12 times a year.” With the business now operating successfully to give him more time on his hands, he is hoping to hit the track more often in 2026.
“This year we finally got the shop going and, you know, it’s finally running itself, and we’re trying to get back into racing more,” he said.
To keep his racing program afloat, Marcoullier sold a stacker hauler that he used for years and now opts for a smaller conventional enclosed trailer. He also sold a newer Longhorn Chassis he had over the winter so he could stick with a one-car, two-motor operation. He pilots a 2021 Longhorn Chassis and had two fresh engines from Gary, Ind.-based Rhyne Competition Engines to get the job done.
“I see the sport is changing — not in a good way, by no means,” Marcoullier said, referencing Saturday’s dozen-car starting field. “You know, $5,000-to-win, 12 cars showed up. I’m not saying there’s a way to fix it, but they got to control the spending on these motors.
“Hell, I had a friend of mine who just went and picked up a new Longhorn, brand new engine, and it’s like a six-figure car. A normal guy can’t do that. He’s going spend $120,000 on a race car and racing for two-grand to win.
“I’ve always raced the race next week, so whatever I made tonight has helped me buy tires and diesel fuel for next week,” he added. “It’s getting more and more expensive, especially to race on a more national level, but even that affects the local level, like we saw tonight. It takes two tanks (of diesel fuel) to come (to Montpelier) from where I live, it’s $400. I don’t know what they pay to start, but you’re not racing to make anything. I don’t know how to explain it.”
Marcoullier points out that while success at the national level with race teams receiving hefty financial backing is still successful, local and regional racing is fading away.
“Like, they’ll still have their big races. You’ll have your crown jewels and stuff, where they’ll get their 30, 40 cars, your World 100, Knoxville (Nationals) and stuff like that,” Marcoullier said. “But like when you’re a local Saturday night race track, for $1,000-to-win, you’re only drawing the top 11 guys or 12 guys in points, and you’re lucky. Like it’s crazy, honestly.
“Even five years ago, six years ago, tires were 160 bucks apiece,” he added. “(A barrel of racing fuel) was 500 bucks, you know, diesel fuel was $3 a gallon, a new race car was 40-grand. Life is changing, but I do want to see it survive. You also just don’t see a lot of new blood. Like, when the older guys retire, we used to have three or four guys that move up from stock cars or IMCA modifieds. That doesn’t happen. When they’re done racing, they’re done.”
Even though costs are high, Marcoullier still plans to opt for his one-week-at-a-time approach. On tap for next weekend is the Chris Tilley-run Valvoline American Late Model Iron-Man Series-sanctioned Great Lakes State tripleheader at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Mich., Butler Motor Speedway in Quincy, Mich., and Crystal Motor Speedway in Crystal, Mich.
At I-96, Marcoullier finished third in a race on May 9, and his third-place run at Montpelier was an improvement over his fifth-place run at the Northern Allstars Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned race there on April 11, an event also won by Schlenk.
“I do it when I can and I can enjoy it,” Marcoullier said. “I still enjoy it. I still love racing and I wouldn’t change it.”
