PORT ROYAL, Pa. – After returning to 410 sprint car victory lane Saturday night at Port Royal Speedway, Anthony Macri hopped off his No. 39M machine and wiped his face in relief.
Through the swipe of his hand, a big smile appeared. It marked his first win in a 410 in Central Pennsylvania since May 1, off the heels of a dissatisfying Pennsylvania Speedweek effort, and it came on a night where Macri and crew had to change a motor after engine heat.
Macri scored a 2.179-second victory over Lucas Wolfe to claim his sixth sprint car victory of the year.
“That was bad ass,” Macri said over the loudspeaker. “We had to work for that one, but it makes it more enjoyable.”
That was just the start of Macri’s eventful evening. Midway through the night, while resting in his trailer during an intermission, Macri got the news that he had become an uncle when her sister, Sarah Schlusser, gave birth to a baby girl.
“It’s a whirlwind of emotions,” “Macri said. “That’s pretty cool to get a win the same night as [my sister having a baby].”
Macri started his victory pursuit going ninth to third in his heat, the catalyst in his drive to victory since the result put him in the redraw. Instead of starting outside the top 12, he started sixth.
“That was huge,” Macri said. “Then … I wanted to win badly. I was going to do whatever it took to win.”
By lap four, Macri made his way to third, behind only Steve Buckwalter and Wolfe. A caution for Justin Whittall on lap nine bunched things back up, where Wolfe moved past Buckwalter for the lead on the ensuing restart.
Macri followed Wolfe’s lead, and the two were able to shake free from the rest of the pack for the remaining 15 laps. For the second race in a row at Port Royal, Wolfe, trying to reestablish himself in the Jim and Laura Allebach No. 5W, looked fast and spent time out front.
But once Macri moved just one spot out of the lead, it was only a matter of time he’d run down Wolfe. When he did, Macri needed just one move – a big slide job polished off out of turn four — to race into clean air and race to a much-needed victory.
Macri is just a week removed from finishing ninth in the PA Speedweek standings after starting the week as the de facto points leader. Over that 10-race stretch, Macri flipped out of the lead at Port Royal when he couldn’t get slowed in time trying to avoid a wrecked lapped car.
He didn’t have any such issues on Saturday, passing 12 cars en route to his 11th sprint car victory at Port Royal since June 14 of last year.
“I think everyone was kind of starting to doubt us there for a little while because we weren’t getting the job done,” Macri said. “The performance we had during [Pennsylvania] Speedweek definitely didn’t do anything for us. It’s a huge confidence booster for me, and I’m sure it has to be the same for the rest of the crew. It’s pretty badass.”
Three-time reigning Port Royal track champion Logan Wagner raced to third from eighth. Dylan Cisney and Jeff Halligan rounded out the top five.
Kody Lehman, Buckwalter, Trenton Sheaffer, AJ Flick, and Tyler Walton completed the top 10.
Brian Smith, a former All Star Circuit of Champions regular and Ohio native making his first appearance at Port Royal since 1998, finished 22nd.
Jared Esh, who got transported to a local hospital after debris struck him in the head during his heat race, received stitches in his nose and was released from the hospital later in the night.
The finish:
Anthony Macri, Lucas Wolfe, Logan Wagner, Dylan Cisney, Jeff Halligan, Kody Lehman, Steve Buckwalter, Trenton Sheaffer, A.J. Flick, Tyler Walton, T.J. Stutts, Mike Wagner, Gerard McIntyre, Tyler Reeser, Dan Shetler, Curt Stroup, Connor Leoffler, Tyler Bear, Justin Whittal, Dustin Baney, Drew Ritchey, Brian Smith, Austin Bishop.