Pennsylvania sprint car ace Anthony Macri has more than 100 races on his schedule this year.
But with rainouts considered, which sabotage a race every once in a while, he expects the final number to be somewhere around 80 at the end of the season.
“No time for vacation,” he joked.
The hot Florida sunshine and palm trees hanging over the pit area at East Bay Raceway Park might make it feel like it’s a vacation, but Macri has a job to do.
The 17-hour trek south from Dillsburg, Pa., to Speedweeks has already paid some dividends, mainly when Macri wheeled the No. 39m to a second-place finish during Saturday’s World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series at Volusia Speedway Park.
Now, he’s among the 56-driver field at the season-opening “Battle at the Bay” for High Limit Racing.
“I can’t remember if I’ve been here the last four or five years, but I’ve been coming here ever since we started coming to Florida. This is the second year with Joe (Mooney, crew chief) and I being here,” Macri said.
Prior to Monday’s rainout, the “Concrete Kid” flashed speed by setting the pace during the second flight of qualifying and also locked into the A main with a third-place finish in his heat race.
He shared that the team had trouble adjusting to the way their sprint car tires reacted at Volusia, as Hoosier didn’t introduce the D12A left-rear and D15A right-rear until March last year — meaning this is the first time the field is running the tires at the Florida tracks.
However, Mooney has been able to get Macri more comfortable in the seat since then.
Once they get back to more familiar territory, there’s little doubt that the driver-crew chief duo will be able to fine-tune their setup, as they have a surplus of opportunities ahead.
Approximately 60 of Macri’s 102-scheduled races are High Limit or World of Outlaws events, then he’ll contest the remaining events at Pennsylvania tracks.
“It’s like a month at home, and then a month on the road,” Macri explained.
His mention of the lengthy schedule in store for Macri Motorsports brought up another a question for the 24-year-old, who took a brief hiatus from racing last season to get away from the mental grind.
“I took a good amount of time off this winter and just refreshed my head,” Macri said. “I think we got the right people in the right spots now that I don’t have to spend as much time in the shop and I can get away when I need to.”
Aside from figuring out the team logistics to ensure he can stay mentally fresh throughout the season, it’s safe to say that his genuine excitement to be a sprint car driver is back.
“I did not sleep for probably a week straight because I get like that every year, the beginning of the season. For some reason, I think I forgot how to drive,” Macri said, cracking a smile.