SELINSGROVE, Pa. — Anthony Macri is on full blast entering the prodigious month of September.
The 22-year-old stormed to a six-second victory Saturday at Selinsgrove (Pa.) Speedway over Ryan Smith, a night he was unassailable throughout.
Macri set fast time by nearly two tenths, won his heat by 4.5 seconds and kept his August surge at great measures in the 30-lap, $5,000-to-win Jack Gunn Memorial.
In 10 races this month, the Dillsburg, Pa., driver owns four wins, seven top-twos, eight top-10s, and an extra pep in his drive having qualified for the Knoxville Nationals main event.
“I can’t believe the last couple of weeks we’ve been having,” said Macri, whose win total reached double digits on the year. “We’re all working hard. We’re dotting our i’s and crossing our t’s. I actually had to work for it there in the feature.”
Sure, Macri had to work for his 10th sprint car victory of the year. He drew the third-starting position while Pat Cannon possessed the upper hand when he lucked into the pole position.
But there was little doubt Macri wouldn’t find his way to the front once the green flag dropped.
Cannon, the 42-year-old who had returned to racing for the first time since 2016 this year, did everything he could to maintain his advantage in clean air and led the first 17 laps.
On lap nine, Macri tried taking advantage of Cannon’s slip up off turn two with a slide job in turns three and four. But it didn’t stick and Cannon separated himself. Two more empty moves in turns three and four followed and Macri had to try something different.
“It was just so far up the track and the slider was too long, and he had too much momentum,” said Macri, who shifted his focus to turns one and two.
On lap 17, Macri found some room on the bottom off turn two to get past Cannon and ultimately seize clean air.
He built a four-second lead over the next eight laps, then Cannon’s right rear tire ripped apart to drop him out of second-place and stack the field up one more time.
Macri only got stronger, mounting a straightaway lead a lap after the race’s final restart.
“Then, it was cruise control from there,” said Macri, who actually ran out of fuel crossing the finish line.
Danny Dietrich finished third, while Blane Heimbach and Jason Shultz completed the top five.
Shultz ended Lance Dewease’s run of 11 straight top fives that dated back to June 26 at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pa., when Dewease scratched for the night with fuel pump issues.
It was Dewease’s first completed feature out of the top five since June 4 when he placed sixth at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa.