2021 Pa Speedweek 2 Lincoln Freddie Rahmer Danny Dietrich Battle Dan Demarco Photo
Freddie Rahmer (51) and Danny Dietrich (48) are both in early contention for the PA Speedweek championship. (Dan Demarco photo)
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NOTES: Big Shake-Up In PA Speedweek Standings

June 27, 2021

ABBOTTSTOWN, Pa. – If Pennsylvania Sprint Car Speedweek equates to a 10-round title fight, then round two Saturday night at Lincoln Speedway started to separate the contenders from those who might bow out of the ring.

To start, de facto series point leader Anthony Macri – fresh off a runner-up showing at Williams Grove Speedway on Friday – failed to qualify for the main event.

It relegated Macri from first to ninth in the points race among expected full-week drivers, 115 off the pace. That’s a near insurmountable deficit and a swift reminder of just how taxing the 10-race series really is.

Meanwhile, Brent Marks swung the odds his way with a sterling performance in the Kevin Gobrecht Memorial: setting fast time and going on to a wire-to-wire victory.

He now leads an early four-car breakaway at 288 points, with Danny Dietrich (285 points), Rico Abreu (282 points), and Freddie Rahmer (265 points) close behind.

“That’s always good,” Marks said of taking control of the series standings. “Just have to keep it up and stay consistent all week. If we do that I don’t see why we can’t contend for that championship.”

Drivers and teams sound repetitive when they emphasize consistency, but it’s paramount. Macri qualified 10th of 24 cars in his flight on Saturday, starting him fifth, the final transfer spot, in his heat. It’s a situation that could go either way, positive or detrimental.

Macri slipped up on the initial heat start, surrendering two positions off the get-go.

From there, things strung out. That’s all it took to diminish his night and, ultimately, his chances in the title race.

“It’s a hard field, especially when you have 48 cars,” Marks said. “[Macri] is a very good car and they just weren’t able to dig themselves out of a hole. It’s very hard with these races and this format. You just have to be the best you can be all night long.”

Dietrich has a pair of heat wins, a podium and a fourth-place run to start his week. Abreu, meanwhile, has a top-five in a race where he led and a runner-up finish.

Rahmer, meanwhile, has had performances of 11th-to-fourth and 15th-to-third just to remain 23 points behind Marks.

“It sucks … well it doesn’t suck, we’ve just been good enough to win,” Rahmer said. “We just have to position ourselves, you know? We will, though.”

BAPS Motor Speedway, host of round three, should see the Marks, Dietrich, Abreu, and Rahmer quartet up front. Marks won at the track on May 2, while Dietrich, Abreu, and Rahmer all know how to get around the four-tenths-mile clay oval.

– In addition to Macri, Kyle Moody and Justin Whittall were full-week drivers who failed to qualify for Saturday’s main event

– USAC National Midget Series point leader Buddy Kofoid used a last-lap charge in the B-Main to qualify for Saturday’s 30-lap feature, where he then placed 16th.

– A rear-end malfunction chasing down leader Brent Marks with two laps to go thwarted Lance Dewease’s chances to win five features over his last six races.

The Hall of Famer was credited with a 20th-place finish.

Unofficial Pennsylvania Sprint Car Speedweek points, *expected full-week drivers only*

  1. No. 19M Brent Marks 288 points
  2. No. 48 Danny Dietrich -3
  3. No. 24 Rico Abreu -6
  4. No. 51 Freddie Rahmer -23
  5. No. 5 Paul McMahan -80
  6. No. 15 Sam Hafertepe Jr. -83
  7. No. 13 Justin Peck -85
  8. No. 5W Lucas Wolfe -114
  9. No. 39M Anthony Macri -115
  10. No. 6 Ryan Smith -182
  11. No. 27 Devon Borden -195
  12. No. 24 TJ Stutts -203
  13. No. 99M Kyle Moody -237
  14. No. 67 Justin Whittall -253