Anthony Macri Grabs First Career BAPS Motor Speedway Win After Brent Marks Has Troubles

Story By: KALI LANDIS / BAPS MOTOR SPEEDWAY – YORK HAVEN, PA – Anthony Macri is known for his prowess on big tracks like Port Royal Speedway. Now, it’s time to work on the short-track program.

That’s easier said than done. The feel of the car is different. There are few similarities, and the driver needs to be up on all of the subtle differences with racing in a fishbowl.

Macri took a big step Saturday night. The Dillsburg Pa., ace took advantage of Brent Marks’ misfortune and shut his critics up with a late pass of Bill Balog to capture the 30-lap Sprint Car main event.

“I always felt if we had a good enough car and were in position, we could win,” Macri said. “It didn’t play out the first two quarters of the season, but we’ve gotten better. A win at a short track is equivalent to six wins at Port Royal, right now.

“I’m speechless. I don’t know what to attribute our success to other than everyone is working hard, and there is a strong passion to win. We are rolling right now, and we’re having fun. Anytime you are having fun and success, it just makes it easier to come forward and win races.”

Tim Wagaman started on the outside-pole and took the lead over Tyler Ross at the start. Balog settled into third but took second from Ross on the second circuit.

After Chase Dietz stopped on the backstretch to bring out the first caution on Lap 3, Matt Campbell hit the backstretch wall to bring out the red flag. Balog made a bid for the lead on the restart, but Wagaman used the top to hold the spot.

Balog continued to challenge for the lead over the next two laps. On the sixth circuit, the Wisconsin driver made it stick with a slider through the third and fourth corner. Marks, who started fifth, also got by Wagaman one lap later.

The chase was on up front, as Marks closed to within .888 seconds of the leader on Lap 10. Balog started to encounter lapped traffic on Lap 11, and Marks was within .240 seconds at the stripe.

Marks made his move on Lap 12. He ripped around the lip in Turns 1 and 2 and wrestled the top spot away at the exit of Turn 2. Within three laps, he increased his advantage to 1.203 seconds.

Things started to get interesting on Lap 19 when Marks started to have motor issues and dropped a cylinder. That allowed Balog and Macri to close and challenge for the win.

Balog was within a car-length of Marks in Turn 2 on Lap 21, with Macri lurking. Marks shot off the cushion and split the lapped car of Michael Bauer and Balog to maintain the lead going down the backstretch.

Marks kept up his momentum and opened up a 1.170-second lead on Lap 23. HE was holding steady over the next three laps, and it appeared he would have enough momentum to secure the win until his car slowed at the completion of Lap 27 after dropping a valve.

“The first half of the race, we settled into third and rode there until lapped traffic,” Macri said. “I figured lapped traffic was going to be a game changer.

“It was to a point, but I didn’t feel we were as good in traffic as the other two, so that caution was definitely a life saver.”

Balog got the jump on the double-file restart and won the battle into Turn 1. Macri stayed close with a strong push on the outside and pulled off a slide job through the third and fourth corner.

It didn’t stick. Balog ducked below Macri and held the lead by less than a car-length at the start-finish line with two laps to go.

“I felt like I had a good car, and I knew that is what I had to do to win the race,” Macri said. “It was my shot at winning.

“I pretty much made up my mind during the yellow that we were either sliding him and completing the slider, or we were going to hit the curb and flip.”

Neither happened on the first attempt, but Macri wasn’t done. He tried the same move in Turns 3 and 4 coming to the white flag and got enough push off the cushion to keep the lead coming down the frontstretch.

Macri went into protect-mode from there and was never challenged. He tip-toed through the first and second corner and went to the bottom at the other end of the track to lock up his first BAPS Motor Speedway win by .957 seconds.

Balog settled for a satisfying, but still disappointing, second-place finish. Wagaman, Kyle Reinhardt, and Billy Dietrich completed the top five.

“It feels good,” Balog said. “It stings a lot because of the way it went, but it was a win for me just because of where I’m from. That’s the way it goes sometimes, so I can’t complain too much.”

Jay Fannasy won a three-car battle that also included Russ Mitten and Frankie Herr to capture the 25-lap BAPS Super Sportsman main event.

Fannasy put on an epic charge to the front. After starting 14th on the grid, he surged past Mitten to take the lead on Lap 16.

Mitten didn’t go away. He continued to pressure Fannasy, as Herr, who started ninth, also made his way to the front and entered the mix on the 20th circuit.

The top two made contact entering Turn 3 in the last five laps, but both drivers kept going. Mitten showed his nose a couple of times in Turns 1 and 2, but Fannasy had answers on the high side of the speedway.

On the last lap, Fannasy was masterful in taking the win by a mere .220 seconds over Herr, who blew by Mitten coming out of Turn 4. Mitten settled for third, with track champion Kenny Edkin and Mike Enders completing the top five.

The Superior Homes Extreme Stock division had three main events to cap the evening. Sammy Rial, Austin Hogue, and Will Long were the winners.

In the September 29th make-up, Rial took the lead from Austin Hogue on Lap 6 and never took the win over Hunter Fulton and track champion Patrick McClane.

Hogue rebounded to claim the regularly scheduled main event. In the Promoter’s Invitational, Long Paul Sylvester, taking the lead on Lap 2 and winning the 20-Lap event.

BAPS Motor Speedway
York Haven, Pa.
Saturday, October 24, 2020
For Immediate Release

SPRINTCARUNLIMITED.COM 410 SPRINT CARS

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 39M-Anthony Macri[6]; 2. 07-Bill Balog[4]; 3. 5E-Tim Wagaman II[2]; 4. 91R-Kyle Reinhardt[10]; 5. 8-Billy Dietrich[9]; 6. 75-Tyler Ross[1]; 7. 15B-Zach Hampton[8]; 8. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[15]; 9. 4R-Doug Hammaker[14]; 10. 51-Freddie Rahmer[18]; 11. 19-Troy Wagaman Jr[12]; 12. 77-Derek Locke[11]; 13. 24-Lucas Wolfe[16]; 14. 29-Michael Bauer[20]; 15. 16A-Aaron Bollinger[21]; 16. 91-Anthony Fiore[19]; 17. 99M-Kyle Moody[22]; 18. 44-Dylan Norris[13]; 19. (DNF) 5-Brent Marks[5]; 20. (DNF) 39-Chase Dietz[3]; 21. (DNF) 5B-Justin Barger[24]; 22. (DNF) 73B-Brett Michalski[17]; 23. (DNF) 21-Matt Campbell[7]; 24. (DNF) 54A-Zachary Newlin[23].

Lap Leaders: Tim Wagaman (1-5), Bill Balog (6-11), Brent Marks (12-27), Balog (28), Anthony Macri (29-30)

410 Sprint Car Heat 1 Finish (10 Laps/Top 4 Qualify to A-Main): 1. 15B-Zach Hampton[3]; 2. 5-Brent Marks[6]; 3. 91R-Kyle Reinhardt[2]; 4. 44-Dylan Norris[7]; 5. 91-Anthony Fiore[4]; 6. 16A-Aaron Bollinger[9]; 7. 55-Dallas Schott[10]; 8. 48-Danny Dietrich[5]; 9. 1X-Chad Trout[8]; 10. 11A-Austin Bishop[1].

410 Sprint Car Heat 2 Finish (10 Laps/Top 4 Qualify to A-Main): 1. 19-Troy Wagaman Jr[1]; 2. 39M-Anthony Macri[5]; 3. 77-Derek Locke[3]; 4. 4R-Doug Hammaker[4]; 5. 73B-Brett Michalski[9]; 6. 54A-Zachary Newlin[8]; 7. 47K-Kody Lehman[7]; 8. 97-Brie Hershey[2]; 9. (DNF) 22-Bryn Gohn[6].

410 Sprint Car Heat 3 Finish (10 Laps/Top 4 Qualify to A-Main): 1. 07-Bill Balog[4]; 2. 8-Billy Dietrich[2]; 3. 39-Chase Dietz[3]; 4. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[9]; 5. 51-Freddie Rahmer[8]; 6. 99M-Kyle Moody[5]; 7. 7-Trey Hivner[10]; 8. 11P-Greg Plank[7]; 9. (DQ) 49H-Bradley Howard[1]; 10. (DQ) 37-JJ Grasso[6].

410 Sprint Car Heat 4 Finish (10 Laps/Top 4 Qualify to A-Main): 1. 5E-Tim Wagaman II[1]; 2. 21-Matt Campbell[3]; 3. 75-Tyler Ross[4]; 4. 24-Lucas Wolfe[6]; 5. 4-Dwight Leppo[2]; 6. 29-Michael Bauer[5]; 7. 5B-Justin Barger[8]; 8. 2W-Glenndon Forsythe[9]; 9. 10-Joe Kata[7].

410 Sprint Car Consolation 1 Finish (10 Laps/Top 4 Qualify to A-Main): 1. 73B-Brett Michalski[2]; 2. 91-Anthony Fiore[1]; 3. 16A-Aaron Bollinger[3]; 4. 54A-Zachary Newlin[4]; 5. 47K-Kody Lehman[6]; 6. 1X-Chad Trout[9]; 7. 11A-Austin Bishop[11]; 8. 55-Dallas Schott[5]; 9. 22-Bryn Gohn[10]; 10. (DNF) 97-Brie Hershey[7]; 11. (DNS) 48-Danny Dietrich.

410 Sprint Car Consolation 2 Finish (10 Laps/Top 4 Qualify to A-Main): 1. 51-Freddie Rahmer[1]; 2. 29-Michael Bauer[4]; 3. 99M-Kyle Moody[3]; 4. 5B-Justin Barger[6]; 5. 37-JJ Grasso[11]; 6. 7-Trey Hivner[5]; 7. 10-Joe Kata[9]; 8. 11P-Greg Plank[7]; 9. (DNF) 4-Dwight Leppo[2]; 10. (DNF) 2W-Glenndon Forsythe[8]; 11. (DNS) 49H-Bradley Howard.

BAPS SUPER SPORTSMAN

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 360-Jay Fannasy[14]; 2. 70D-Frankie Herr[9]; 3. 77-Russ Mitten[5]; 4. 75-Kenny Edkin[10]; 5. 3B-Mike Enders[4]; 6. 2M-Matt Ondek[6]; 7. 71K-Tyler Wolford[3]; 8. 35-John Edkin[7]; 9. 14-Nate Young[1]; 10. 383-Steve Fannasy[13]; 11. 8-Rich Eichelberger[11]; 12. 22-Daniel John[16]; 13. 16R-Ryan Rutz[15]; 14. 19R-Eric Rutz[18]; 15. 77W-Tom Wyckoff[19]; 16. 21R-Jamie Rickert[17]; 17. (DNF) 7-Timmie Barrick[2]; 18. (DNF) 10H-Dave Hollar[12]; 19. (DNF) 30-Scott Dellinger[8]; 20. (DNS) 8M-Chris Meleason.

Lap Leaders: Nate Young (1-5), Russ Mitten (6-15), Jay Fannasy (17-25)

Super Sportsman Heat 1 Finish (10 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 30-Scott Dellinger[9]; 2. 8-Rich Eichelberger[2]; 3. 75-Kenny Edkin[10]; 4. 7-Timmie Barrick[5]; 5. 2M-Matt Ondek[8]; 6. 3B-Mike Enders[7]; 7. 383-Steve Fannasy[6]; 8. 16R-Ryan Rutz[3]; 9. (DNF) 77W-Tom Wyckoff[1]; 10. (DNF) 8M-Chris Meleason[4].

Super Sportsman Heat 1 Finish (10 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 10H-Dave Hollar[3]; 2. 14-Nate Young[2]; 3. 71K-Tyler Wolford[5]; 4. 70D-Frankie Herr[9]; 5. 77-Russ Mitten[7]; 6. 35-John Edkin[8]; 7. 360-Jay Fannasy[6]; 8. 22-Daniel John[4]; 9. 21R-Jamie Rickert[10]; 10. 19R-Eric Rutz[1].

EXTREME STOCKS

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 52-Austin Hogue[2]; 2. 16-Patrick McClane[4]; 3. 11-Sam Rial[5]; 4. 33-Michael Goodwin[1]; 5. 7F-Hunter Fulton[7]; 6. 54-Chase Rehbein[19]; 7. 7JR-Johnny Palm[6]; 8. 25J-Nathan Romig[13]; 9. 11B-Keith Bissinger[3]; 10. 91-Will Long[11]; 11. 97X-Paul Sylvester[12]; 12. 50-Tim Berkheimer[15]; 13. 7-Jordan Fulton[17]; 14. LAZY8-John Wright[16]; 15. 98-Richard Daughtrey[14]; 16. (DNF) 25R-Roger Rhodes[18]; 17. (DNF) 97-Donnie Broderick[8]; 18. (DNF) 25-Andrew Hogue[9]; 19. (DNF) 41-Howard Williams[10].

Lap Leaders: Austin Hogue (1-7), Patrick McClane (8-14), Hogue (15), McClane (16), Hogue (17-20)

Extreme Stock Heat 1 Finish (8 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 16-Patrick McClane[6]; 2. 52-Austin Hogue[3]; 3. 11-Sam Rial[9]; 4. 7F-Hunter Fulton[5]; 5. 25-Andrew Hogue[8]; 6. 91-Will Long[7]; 7. 25J-Nathan Romig[10]; 8. 50-Tim Berkheimer[2]; 9. LAZY8-John Wright[1]; 10. 7-Jordan Fulton[4].

Extreme Stock Heat 2 Finish (8 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 11B-Keith Bissinger[2]; 2. 33-Michael Goodwin[4]; 3. 7JR-Johnny Palm[3]; 4. 97-Donnie Broderick[6]; 5. 41-Howard Williams[1]; 6. 97X-Paul Sylvester[5]; 7. 98-Richard Daughtrey[8]; 8. 25R-Roger Rhodes[9]; 9. 54-Chase Rehbein[7].

Make Up Feature (20 Laps): 1. 11-Sam Rial[4]; 2. 7F-Hunter Fulton[5]; 3. 16-Patrick McClane[6]; 4. 52-Austin Hogue[1]; 5. 91-Will Long[7]; 6. 7JR-Johnny Palm[2]; 7. 25-Andrew Hogue[9]; 8. 25J-Nathan Romig[11]; 9. 97-Donnie Broderick[3]; 10. 50-Andy Hogue[12]; 11. 41-Howard Williams[15]; 12. LAZY8-John Wright[8]; 13. 98-Richard Daughtrey[10]; 14. 97X-Paul Sylvester[16]; 15. (DNF) 54-Chase Rehbein[14]; 16. (DNF) 7-Bill Fulton[13]; 17. (DNS) 1A-Scott Arnold; 18. (DNS) 357-Ronnie Buck; 19. (DNS) 11A-Tim Arnold; 20. (DNS) 3-Kevin Dobson; 21. (DNS) 16L-Walt Lemmon.

Lap Leaders: Austin Hogue (1-5), Sam Rial (6-20)

Promoter’s Invitational Feature (20 Laps): 1. 91-Will Long; 2. 97X-Paul Sylvester; 3. LAZY8-John Wright; 4. 7-Jordan Fulton; 5. 98-Richard Daughtrey; 6. 41-Howard Williams; 7. 33G-Gordie Marshall; 8. 25R-Roger Rhodes (DNS).

Lap Leaders: Gordie Marshall (1), Will Long (2-20)