PORT ROYAL, Pa. — If scoring a first Tuscarora 50 title was not enough, Anthony Macri secured his place in the Port Royal Speedway and Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 history books.
Macri charged from 19th starting position in 41 laps to claim his eighth All Star victory of the season and a prize worth $60,000.
Macri utilized a lap-41 restart to power his way to the front, squeezing by now five-time Port Royal Speedway track champion Logan Wagner at the top of turn four. Macri was forced to start 19th after not transferring through his respective heat race.
Contact with the outside retaining wall, occurring while battling for the lead with Brian Brown, would cause significant damage forcing the crew to make heavy repairs.
Luckily, the team was an automatic starter in Saturday’s finale as a result of their Thursday night preliminary win.
“Man, I don’t know what to say…I’m pretty speechless right now,” Macri said. “What happened in the heat there with Brian Brown was just a racing deal. These guys busted their asses to get this car ready for the feature. I was actually crying and acting like a little girl in the lounge thinking that I threw the whole night away. These guys never gave up on me, and I figured I wouldn’t give up on them in the feature. I kinda lit a fire under my butt and just tried to pass as many cars as I could.”
Although aggressively making progress through the field, Macri really made his presence known after a lap-30 restart, passing Gerard McIntyre for fourth on lap 32, then scooting by the “Brent Marks for third on lap 36.
Just two circuits later, the 2022 Weikert Memorial and Keith Kauffman Classic champion was second, passing Danny Dietrich with a familiar run off of corner number four. Caution flags would appear again on lap 41 ultimately setting up Macri’s aforementioned winning move around Logan Wagner.
Macri ended the 50-lapper unchallenged, leading Marks, who nailed down the runner-up spot on lap 41, Dietrich, Justin Whittall and Wagner.
Sye Lynch would go on to win the evening’s Non-Qualifiers Race, not only earning a $2,000 payday for his efforts, but also solidifying his spot in the 2023 Tuscarora 50.
The finish:
Feature (50 Laps): 1. 39M-Anthony Macri [19]; 2. 19M-Brent Marks [5]; 3. 48-Danny Dietrich [2]; 4. 67-Justin Whittall [7]; 5. 1-Logan Wagner [8]; 6. 69K-Lance Dewease [20]; 7. 21-Brian Brown [9]; 8. 33M-Gerard McIntyre [12]; 9. 49X-Cale Thomas [1]; 10. 17B-Bill Balog [3]; 11. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [22]; 12. 13-Justin Peck [15]; 13. 24-Rico Abreu [6]; 14. 55W-Mike Wagner [26]; 15. 12-Blane Heimbach [17]; 16. 18-Gio Scelzi [4]; 17. 99M-Kyle Moody [25]; 18. 3-Ayrton Gennetten [18]; 19. 9-Kasey Kahne [16]; 20. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [23]; 21. 17-Tyler Reeser [13]; 22. 39-Chase Dietz [11]; 23. 8-Freddie Rahmer [24]; 24. 5-Dylan Cisney [21]; 25. 26-Zeb Wise [14]; 26. 11-Cory Eliason [10]