Anthony Macri Take Port Royal Speedway Sprint Car Feature Win Saturday

Story By: JUSTIN SNYDER / PORT ROYAL SPEEDWAY – PORT ROYAL, PA – Anthony Macri charged forward from the sixth starting spot and held off a hard charging Brent Marks to earn his second victory of the season at Port Royal Speedway.

“I knew it was between me, Brent and Lance and whoever got out front was probably going to win it,” said Macri. “We didn’t have the best car and I really had to adjust me driving to keep the pace up.”

Michael Walter and Jeff Miller led the field to the green flag of the 25-lap Weikert’s Livestock 410 Sprint Car event and it was Walter getting out to the early lead as he slipped around Miller exiting turn two to lead the first circuit.

Meanwhile, Macri was on the move early as he went form sixth to third on the opening lap. One lap later Macri made everyone in attendance rise to their feet as he cut through the middle of Walter and Miller exiting turn two with a daring move to take the lead.

“I knew those guys were going to wear each other trying to get the lead as everyone wants to win when you start up there,” he said. “It was a bit aggressive, but I had to get there and start building a lead as I knew those other guys would be back there.”

Marks, who started fourth, moved into third on the following lap and after a multi-lap battle with Miller he took over the runner-up spot on lap five.

Two laps later, Macri was in heavy lapped traffic and on the same circuit eight starter Lance Dewease moved into a podium spot past Miller. Macri was cruising through the lappers with ease and held nearly a 3.5 second advantage over Marks when the red flag came out for a crash involving Miller in turn two.

Miller rode the outside guardrail all the way to the exit of the turn and put a small hole in the fence before flipping wildly and briefly catching fire. He was able to escape with no injuries, but the break allowed Marks the opportunity to close in and make his move.

Using the extreme high side, Macri jumped out to the lead when the field returned to green, while Dewease poked his nose under Marks for the runner-up spot. Marks rocketed back by on the outside and began to plot his move for the lead. Meanwhile, series points leader Logan Wagner was up form seventh to fourth and closing fast.

With seven laps remaining, Macri was again in heavy lapped traffic and this time Marks was within striking distance. With five laps to go Marks was all over the leader’s tail-tank and with three laps to go he was set to pull a slider entering turn one for the lead when he had to get off the gas to avoid a lapper, which allowed Macri the momentum to pull away.

That was all Macri needed to cruise home for the win and he took the checkered flag by an advantage of 1.2 over Marks. Dewease, Wagner and Ryan Smith filled out the top-five. Dylan Cisney, Jeff Halligan, Mike Wagner, Walter and Gerard McIntyre rounded out the top-ten. Halligan earned the night’s $300 hard charger courtesy of Valley Supply and LandPro Equipment of Mifflintown by advancing 13 positions. He also scored the random draw J &S Fabrication Warrior Award worth $1000 with the finishing number of 7.

“I was struggling really bad and I was worrying myself as I could hear back there,” said Macri of Marks. “Going down the frontstretch I seen Brent show his nose and I knew I had to make something happen. I split those two cars getting into one and two and after that I drove as hard as I could without blazing the tires off it.”

For Marks, he knew his best chance was late in the race and felt his car got better after the red flag.

“Once we got into lapped traffic I was starting to run him down and I could see him getting closer and closer,” said Marks. “We got that red flag and I made a few adjustments and it helped me out a little. I was trying to use that lapped car as a pinch for him, but and he cleared that and it just didn’t work out for me. All in all it was a good run for us.”

410 Sprint Car Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Anthony Macri; 2. Brent Marks; 3. Lance Dewease; 4. Logan Wagner; 5. Ryan Smith; 6. Dylan Cisney; 7. Jeff Halligan; 8. Mike Wagner; 9. Mike Walter II; 10. Gerard McIntyre Jr.; 11. Jared Esh; 12. A.J. Flick; 13. Justin Whittall; 14. Kerry Madsen; 15. Tyler Bear; 16. Trenton Sheaffer; 17. Curt Stroup; 18. Tyler Reeser; 19. Kody Lehman; 20. Jeff Miller.

Super Late Models

Rick Eckert capitalized on a front row starting position to earn his 11th career Port Royal Speedway River Valley Builders Super Late Model feature win. The win came after the series participated in dual heats earlier in the night with earned passing points.

” I don’t think we had the best car, but we definitely had the best starting spot,” said Eckert. “We’ve been working hard here all year and we keep getting better and hopefully this is the first of many wins this year.”

Dan Stone and Eckert led the field to the field to the green flag and Eckert jumped out to early lead. Fourth starter Gary Stuhler moved into the runner-up position and set his eyes on the lead. Eckert found himself buried in lapped traffic with 13 laps to go and one lap later Stuhler was all over his rear-end for the lead.

With 10 laps to go, the top-five were all under a blanket and entering turn three Stuhler was primed to take the lead when Stone and fourth-place runner Colton Flinner got collected and brought out the caution.

Third-place starter Ross Robinson moved into the runner-up position on the restart and 15th starter Dylan Yoder moved into the third spot the following lap.

A pair of cautions halted action over the next several laps with the final one occurring with five-to-go. Over the final five circuits, Robinson was all over Eckert for the point. Robinson stayed glued to the bottom, while Eckert drove his car hard into the turn and drifted towards the top to gain the momentum.

Robinson was better in turn’s one and two while Eckert was stronger at the other end of the track. The two battled side by side for the final laps, but Eckert was able to hold on to take the win byb.565 seconds at the checkered flag.

Robinson, Yoder, Tyler Bare and Stuhler rounded out the top-five while Jeff Rine, Marvin Winters, Austin Berry, Jason Covert and Hayes Mattern completed the top-ten. Yoder earned the $300 hard charger courtesy of George’s Used Cars and LandPro by advancing 12 positions.

“If he was going to keep running that thing so hard on the bottom, I was going to run it just as hard on the top,” said Eckert. “That was really the only thing I could do. I just kept going higher and harder and I guess I was doing my best Macri impression banging the board. I’m thankful to finally get that monkey off my back and get a win.”

For Robinson, it was another runner-up position in search of his first victory at the Speedway.

“I want to win at this place so badly and we’re so dang close that I can taste it,” he said. “I felt like we were better entering the turn’s, but he just kept getting stronger off the top exiting and that was the name of the game.”

Super Late Model Results- 1. Rick Eckert 2. Ross Robinson 3. Dylan Yoder 4. Tyler Bare 5. Gary Stuhler 6. Jeff Rine 7. Marvin Winters 8. Austin Berry 9. Jason Covert 10. Hayes Mattern 11. Gene Knaub 12. Jim Bernheisel 13. Mike Lupfer 14. Dave Brouse Jr. 15. Kirk Baker 16. Tim Wilson 17. Nathan Long 18. Dillan Stake 19. Colton Flinner 20. Kyle Knapp 21. Andy Huas 22. Dan Stone 23. Jim Yoder 24. Nick Dickson

PA Sprint Series 305 Sprint Cars

Dave was the man to beat during a three car battle with Ken Duke Jr. and Kenny Heffer and he earned his second career Penns Valley Meat Market PA Sprint Series 305 Sprint Car victory at Port Royal Speedway Saturday night.

Grube and Duke shared the front row and it was Grube getting the early jump on the field using the high line of the Spedway. Duke was all over the leader in the early goings of the race, but the caution flew with 12 laps to go for a slowing Kassidy Kreitz.

Third-place starter Kenny Heffer lasted around the top of Duke on the restart and he set his sights on Grube for the lead. With nine to go Heffner made contact with the outside guardrail in turn four trying to get around Grube and opened the door again for Duke.

The three swapped positions multiple time over the next five laps and with four to go it appeared Heffner was destined to take the point when he and Grube made contact on the backstretch. Heffner saved the car and fell to third, while Duke capitalized to gain on first.

Grube would hold on for the final remaining laps to score the victory by an advantage of .970 seconds over Duke, Heffner, Devin Adams and Justin Mills. Garrett Bard earned the hard charger award by finishing in sixth from 17th followed by Drew Young, Erin Statler, Austin Reed and Dakota Schweikart.

“We were kind of set up to run the top and I ended up getting into the 97 car there which was unfortunate,” said Grube. “I was just trying to hold my line as good as I could and it happened. This team has been so fast lately and we needed this win. I’m so happy for my guys.”

305 Sprint Car Feature Finish, 20 Laps: 1. Dave Grube; 2. Ken Duke Jr.; 3. Kenny Heffner; 4. Devin Adams; 5. Justin Mills; 6. Garrett Bard; 7. Drew Young; 8. Erin Statler; 9. Austin Reed; 10. Dakota Schweikart; 11. Roger Irvine; 12. Jared Zionkowski; 13. Dale Schweikart; 14. Robert Garvey; 15. Domenic Melair; 16. Nick Sweigart; 17. Josh Beamer; 18. Jeff Weaver; 19. Doug Dodson; 20. Rowdy Heffner; 21. Mike Melair; 22. Ian Detweiler; 23. Dustin Young; 24. Kruz Kepner; 25. Kassidy Kreitz; 26. Mikell McGee.