Dirt Racing
Macri Masters Port Royal; Danner Does it Too
PORT ROYAL, PA (April 23, 2022): Anthony Macri fought off his rival, Logan Wagner, for the victory in the Keith Kauffman Classic for the All Stars Circuit of Champions at the Port Royal Speedway. Macri is now five for six, with three wins for the season at the Speed Palace alone. With Lance Dewease following Macri and Wagner to the checkers, it was the second night in a row that the PA Posse swept the podium against the traveling band.
Macri and Wagner put on a spectacular driving display over the last dozen or so laps, switching lines, trading slide jobs, and crowding each other, but keeping it clean despite their intense rivalry. “We had our incident and we talked on the phone, and we agreed we weren’t going to give each other an inch,” Macri said. “I have to give him credit,” Macri added. “He could have drove right through me,” but Wagner left Macri just enough room coming through turn two that Macri could squeeze between Wagner’s car and the wall to maintain his advantage in the closing laps. Wagner shared a similar story, “we drew a line in the sand, I told him I’m coming up on him and he said he would come up on me.” Wagner acknowledged that “Anthony is stout, and he shut the door on me (on the last lap), I shut the door on him in the last Keith Kauffman Classic, so I guess we’re even.”
Macri, who started sixth, was a little concerned about his tires as the race drew to a close. “I started to drive aggressively, maybe too aggressively, and my tires weren’t there.” Macri also knew that Wagner was good on the bottom, especially in turns one and two, and he came down off the rim to block a couple of slide jobs in the waning moments of the race.
Logan Wagner had the pole for the thirty lapper, with Parker Price-Miller on the outside. Mike Wagner lined up third, with Cap Henry beside him. Justin Whittal and Macri had dibs on row three, with Jeff Halligan and Lucas Wolfe right behind. Ryan Smith and Lance Dewease started in row five, with Tyler Courtney and Hunter Schuerenberg in row six.
Price-Miller held a slight advantage over the pair of Wagners entering turn one, but Logan maintained his momentum in the low groove to take the lead coming off turn two. Price-Miller stayed in second, but Henry rolled past Mike Wagner to claim third. Whittal, Macri, Smith, and Gerard McIntyre followed.
Logan Wagner was stretching his lead over Price-Miller and Mike Wagner as the laps clicked off. Macri moved into fourth, followed by Henry, Whittal, Smith, Wolfe, and Dewease.
By lap ten, Macri was into the third position, but he was almost a full straight behind Price-Miller, who was more than two seconds off Logan Wagner’s rapid pace. Macri closed quickly on Price-Miller and he had the second position by the halfway mark.
Macri continued his charge and soon he was on the leader’s tail. With seventeen laps completed, Macri dove low into turn one and slid up between a lapped car and Logan Wagner to assume the lead.
Wagner did not give up and he came storming back. He pulled a slider of his own in turn four and nipped Macri at the line. Macri returned teh favor at the opposite end of the speedway to regain the lead.
Back and forth they went, much to the delight of the large crowd. Wagner liked the low line through turns one and two and Macri preferred the far outside. Wagner could carry a lot of speed into turn one and he regained the lead. But Macri turned under him coming off turn two and he led the charge into turn three just as the caution came out.
Macri was put on the point for the restart, with only five laps remaining, as he had a nose ahead at the scoring loop on the last completed lap. He got away first, of course, but Wagner had another good run on him into one to force another lead change. But as Wagner slid up the track, he left just a bit too much room for Macri and, somehow, Macri was able to squeeze through to regain the lead off turn two.
By now, Macri know Wagner’s playbook. So, he drove through the middle of turn one to block the slider. Macri was a little better on the bottom than Wagner was on the top, so Macri retained the lead.
As they approached turn one for the final time. Macri went even lower. Wagner tried to get under him, but the move broke his momentum and Macri powered through the corners to take a ten car length lead off turn two. Macri stayed low in turns three and four for the final lap. Wagner tried to roll the outside, but he was too far behind the leader at that point.
While most eyes were glued on the fantastic duel for the win, there was excitement for position three as well. Smith and Dewease came up through the pack and they were in positions three and four for the only restart of the race. Smith had the advantage, but Dewease found the inside to his liking, He was able to slide by Smith with just a couple of laps remaining, but he could not get close enough to Macri and Wagner to make it a three car battle for the win.
“I wasn’t very good in the dash,” Dewease commented. So, he started tenth on the grid. The bottom line, which is his preferred groove at Port Royal, wasn’t good at the start of the race and he lost a few positions. But, on the long green run, he picked up speed. “Smith and I passed a bunch of cars, I just wish I was where he was for that restart, I might have had something for those guys. But there was nothing I could do when they were in the clean air.”
Mike Wagner came home in fifth. Wolfe was sixth. Dietrich was seventh, earning the hard charger award by passing fourteen cars. Price-Miller, Halligan, and Blaine Heimbach completed the top ten.
Five heats were run, with Smith, Henry, Price-Miller, Logan Wagner, and Whittal claiming the wins. Dietrich captured the B Main. Mike Wagner was the evening’s fastest qualifier, turning a lap of 15.416 seconds. Forty-two racers were on hand.
The USAC East Coast 360 non-wing Sprints provided the support. Briggs Danner had a good vantage point for the three-car battle for the lead in the early going. Ed Aiken, Mark Smith, and Alex Bright were putting on quite a show. But Danner soon realized that enough was enough, and he began to pick them off. Once out front, Danner built a substantial lead over Bright.
Bright ran second for more than half the race, but Steve Dravicki came on in the final five laps to chase him down for the second position. Bright held off Carmen Perigo and Smith.
Positions six through ten went to Colin White, Kenny Miller III, Aiken, Christian Bruno, and Jason Cherry.
The heats went to Danner and Bright. There was no B Main. Nineteen cars registered for the event.
Port Royal will present 410 Sprints, Super Late Models, and PASS/IMCA 305 Sprints on April 30. May 7 will feature the 410 Sprints, the ULMS Late Models, and Limited Late Models. General Admission will be $10 for all mothers. There will be no racing at Port Royal on May 14 because the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series will be performing at Williams Grove Speedway. The World of Outlaws Late Model Series will pick up on May 21, along with the 410 Sprint Cars.
SELINSGROVE, PA (April 21, 2024): Austin Bishop dominated the second half of the 410 Sprint Car feature at the Selinsgrove Speedway to score his first victory of the 2024 season. It was the first win for his car owner, Charlie Sorokach, since 2012.
Bishop had to overcome a malfunctioning top wing to garner the victory. He explained that the wing was sliding back on its own and he was having trouble keeping the car straight entering the turns. He was able to fiddle with the controls during a caution period on lap eleven and he got the wing to hold in a preferred position for the remainder of the race. It made a drastic improvement in the performance of the machine.
T.J. Stutts and Bishop brought the field to the green flag. Freddie Rahmer, Jr. and Davey Franek were lined up behind them. Cameron Smith and Devon Borden made up row three. Callum Williamson and Justin Whittal were in the fourth row. Mike Walters, II, and Blane Heimbach were in the fifth row. The sixth consisted of Mike Thompson and Lucas Wolfe.
A handful of racers were unable to make the call, including Danny Dietrich who lost a motor while leading his heat race.
Stutts roared into the lead on the opening lap, with Bishop, Franek, Borden, Smith, and Rahmer following closely. While Stutts and Bishop set the pace, Borden was making progress early. He was third by lap five and second by lap seven. He was gaining on Stutts when the first caution was displayed, on lap eight, for Walters. Who came to a halt in turn one.
When the race resumed, Borden was pressing Stutts for the lead. Indeed, coming off turn two on lap ten, Borden pulled up next to Stutts, but he could not complete the pass. It may not have mattered, for on the next trip around the fast half mile, Borden coasted to a stop with an apparent engine failure. It was the second of the night for him, as he also lost an engine in qualifications.
It was during this interlude that Bishop made his critical adjustment to the top wing.
Whatever Bishop did to the car was just what the doctor ordered. On the restart, he was hounding Stutts. On lap fourteen, he moved to the outside coming off turn two. He blew by Stutts midway down the backstretch. Bishop dropped to the inside entering turn three to prevent Stutts from attempting a slider to regain the lead, but the precautionary maneuver was not necessary, and Bishop had several car lengths on his adversary.
Bishop had the superior car for the last ten laps of the race. He was able to build a lead of slightly more than four seconds.
Stutts remained in second, with Whittal closing in on him in the final laps. Franek and Rahmer completed the top five. Williamson logged his first top ten since taking over the controls of John Trone’s famed 39. Heimbach, Cameron Smith, Mark Smith, and Wolfe were the balance of the top ten. Thompson was the last car running at the finish.
Heat wins belonged to Borden, Rahmer, and Franek. There was no B Main. Two cars broke the single lap track record in qualifications. Stutts claimed the top honors with a lap of 15.428 seconds. Also breaking the old mark, which belonged to Anthony Macri, was Cameron Smith. His time was 15.509 seconds.
The Limited Late Models and Roadrunners provided support. Their heat races were completed, but the features were postponed to next Saturday due to a broken water main. Scoring heat wins for the Limited Lates were Trent Brenneman and Devin Hart. Scott Dunham, Jr. and Mike Goodwin prevailed in the Roadrunners. The next 410 Sprint Car show on the docket at Selinsgrove Speedway will be the Ray Tilley Classic on May 12. Super Late Models and Roadrunners will also be on the card that evening.
IMPERIAL, PA (April 20, 2024) Aliquippa’s Tim Shaffer started on the pole position and survived several caution flags and restarts to win the Herb Scott Memorial Saturday night at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway (PPMS).
“Boy I earned that one huh,” said Shaffer following the race. “These wins just keep getting better and better. Herb Scott won a lot of features and I have a long way to go to catch him, but my career went on the road and it became hard to win races. It’s kind of back home racing now for me and it’s a lot of fun.”
Brock Pinkerous and Dave Hess Jr. staged an epic battle over the last several laps with Pinkerous scoring an emotional runner-up finish.
“Congrats to Tim on the win,” said Pinkerous, who hails from Ellenville, NY. “He’s really good at this track. Him and Dave are legends around this area. It’s really cool to battle with them; they raced me clean and I raced them clean. Even though we didn’t win tonight, this is for my uncle tonight who passed away about a month ago. I hope he’s watching over us tonight, and I really love you uncle Chris.”
“We were really good on those restarts,” said Hess, the 39-year-old Waterford, Pa. driver. “A little tweak to the car and maybe a gear change and we could have had something for the leaders. Once those two (Shaffer and Pinkerous) got rolling, they were a little better than I was.”
Kyle Lukon finished fifth and Logan Roberson rounded out the Top 5.
A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 45-Tim Shaffer[1]; 2. 555-Brock Pinkerous[4]; 3. 44-Dave Hess Jr[21]; 4. 184-Kyle Lukon[5]; 5. 17R-Logan Roberson[19]; 6. 10S-Joe Martin[16]; 7. 36-Cody Dawson[7]; 8. 3J-Jeremy Wonderling[10]; 9. 42-Daryl Charlier[6]; 10. 184C-Justin Chance[13]; 11. 21J-Jim Rasey[24]; 12. 184P-Cole Petrelle[20]; 13. 77-Tom Klein[23]; 14. 57-Charlie Sandercock[11]; 15. 36B-Colby Beighey[15]; 16. 18-Mike Wonderling[25]; 17. 29-Ryan Hare[17]; 18. 60H-Brian Huchko[22]; 19. 9R-Mike Reft[14]; 20. 25-Zachary Kane[9]; 21. 72B-Kassidy Kamicker[18]; 22. 75-Jared Miley[3]; 23. 60-Brandon Burgoon[2]; 24. 14AJ-AJ Miller[8]; 25. 14G-Jake Gunn[12]
ABBOTTSTOWN, PA (April 20, 2024): Anthony Macri made a triumphant return to the Keystone State. After spending a few weeks racing in the Midwest, Macri came back for some top-paying races in his own backyard. Weather claimed the first night of racing, at Williams Grove Speedway, but Macri made up for it by earning $20,000 in the 20th Annual Weldon Sterner Memorial at the Lincoln Speedway. It was his second victory of the season in the Pigeon Hills.
Macri, who was dominant running up near the wall in turns three and four, said “I think running out on the road made me more comfortable running up there, and running at that pace.” He did admit, though, that he did back off a bit in the late stages of the race in order to conserve his tires because this was the longest race he has run this season and he was not sure how the tires would hold up. “I was worried about tire wear. I had to run a good pace to make sure the tires would last.”
The luck of the draw put Macri on the pole for this forty lapper. Next to him was Aussie Ryan Newton. Billy Dietrich and Freddie Rahmer, Jr. were in the second row. Danny Dietrich was scheduled to start fifth, but a magneto problem forced him to pit just as the A Main was about to push off. The car could not be repaired in time to allow him to tag the tail of the field. So, Lucas Wolfe slid over to fifth and Troy Wagaman, Jr. became his dance partner. Cameron Smith and Kody Hartlaub were in row four. Behind them were Kyle Moody and Chad Trout, whose car was carrying the Sterner Cement wing to commemorate the event. Kyle Reinhart and Matt Campbell were in the sixth row.
Macri led Newton and Rahmer Jr. in the opening laps. Wagaman, Wolfe, Billy Dietrich, Moody, Smith, Campbell, and Hartlaub were next in line. A caution on lap three for Cory Haas bunched things up again, but the running order remained unchanged after the green lights came on again.
The first significant move occurred on lap twelve, when Rahmer Jr. worked the inside line to take over second. As Rahmer began his pursuit of Macri, Newton was busy keeping Wagaman and Wolfe at bay.
After a caution on lap sixteen for debris, Wagaman moved ahead of Newton, who struggled to stay ahead of Wolfe. In the second half of the race, Wolfe got stronger. He moved ahead of both Newton and Wagaman.
Macri continued out front, of course. Rahmer Jr. still held second, but Wolfe was closing in on him. Wagaman, Newton, and Campbell were battling for positions in the top five.
The final caution was displayed with seven laps remaining. Macri got away cleanly, and Wolfe resumed his attack on Rahmer Jr. As they contested the second spot, Macri began to pull away.
At the checkers, it was Macri ahead of Rahmer Jr. by over 2.4 seconds. Wolfe was a close third, followed by Wagaman and Newton. Billy Dietrich rallied in the closing laps to take sixth. Campbell, Devon Borden, Rinehart, and Brandon Rahmer completed the top ten.
Heat winners were Wolfe, Billy Dietrich, Macri, and Smith. Tyler Ross won the B Main. The evening’s fastest qualifier was Rahmer Jr., with a time of 13.768 seconds. He earned a $300 bonus for that accomplishment. Danny Dietrich received the hard luck award, worth $100. T.J. Stutts was the hard charger at plus eight. He, too, received $100 extra.
Ayden Hare will forever remember his sixteenth birthday, as he celebrated the occasion in victory lane after just his fourth 358 Sprint Car race. The teen drove a flawless race, leading wire to wire. “I am at a loss for words, I am so happy,” he said.
Scott Fisher had the pole, with Hare to his right. Behind them were Doug Hammaker and Frankie Herr. Row three consisted of Adam Carberry and Preston Lattomus. Jayden Wolf and Ashley Cappetta were in the fourth row. The fifth belonged to Mike Bittinger and Tyler Ulrich. Dylan Norris and Cody Fletcher claimed row six.
Hare won the race to turn one and he claimed the middle groove as his own. Fisher and Herr were side by side fighting for second, with Hammaker lurking in fourth. Carberry, Lattomus, Wolf, Bittinger, Cappetta, and Norris strung out behind the leaders.
Hare began to pull away from Fisher and Herr as they continued their struggle for second place.
A red flag on lap eleven for Wolf’s flip between turns three and four brought Hare back to the rest of the racers, but the teen had no trouble building his advantage up again in the final nine laps.
Hare, Fisher, Herr, Hammaker, and Carberry were the top five finishers. Bittinger, Cappetta, Norris, Lattomus, and Logan Rumsey were sixth through tenth. Wolf received the hard luck award and Jude Siegel was the hard charger, at plus seven. They each received $250.
Next week, Lincoln Speedway will present another 410 and 358 Sprint car doubleheader. The same two divisions will return on May 4. The World of Outlaws will be in for the Gettysburg Clash on May 8. There will be no racing on May 11, but the speedway will host the Hot Rod Annual for the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing.
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