MECHANICSBURG, Pa.: Sometimes, you have to lose races to learn how to win them, and Anthony Macri has lost plenty at Williams Grove Speedway.
Not winning a 410 Sprint race at the famed central Pennsylvania oval has been one of the few disappointments in Macri’s young career. It became even more taxing after being victorious at other area speedways.
The near misses ended Friday night. And Macri put a check mark next to one of the lines on his Sprint Car bucket list.
It took a while, but Macri made his way to the front after starting seventh on the grid and claimed the victory in the 25-Lap Sprint Car feature. It was the Dillsburg, Pa., driver’s seventh 410 win of the season and eighth overall.
“I’m kind of speechless now,” Macri said. “It’ means a lot, because my family has been coming here my whole life. To be sitting in the stands as a kid and wishing to win here and to finally get it done, it’s pretty cool.
“Coming off the Knoxville Nationals and now winning at Williams Grove, it has my confidence up. I’m going to keep it in check, that way I don’t go into Port Royal, ball a car up, or do something stupid. It, definitely, has my confidence up going into our Month of Money, so hopefully, we can keep clicking as a team.”
Macri had things rolling in this one. Although, it took a while to get to the front with the first 18 laps being run off caution free.
Dylan Norris started on the outside pole and beat Landon Myers into the first and second corner. Macri was fifth by the end of the first circuit and took fourth on the low side of Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 2.
Macri wasn’t done there. He chased down Doug Hammaker for third by the completion of Lap 5. Meanwhile, Norris held a hefty 2.595-second lead over the field.
The top three of Norris, Myers, and Macri settled in and logged laps. They caught lapped traffic by the 12th circuit, which allowed Myers to cut the lead down to 1.023 seconds.
“I knew I wasn’t going to win it on the first lap, but I knew I had to get in front of Freddie [Rahmer] … he started beside me,” Macri said. “If he gets in front of you, he’s hard to pass, because he knows what to do.
“Once I got in front of him, I just kind of played it cool and slowly made my way to the front. When it came to lapped traffic, I knew it was my time to start making moves and try to get to the front.”
Three laps later, Myers made his move. He caught Norris in the third and fourth corner and pulled off a slider to take the lead. Macry followed, nailing the bottom and beating Norris and the lapped car of Steven Downs to the stripe.
Macri started running higher and higher through Turns 3 and 4. That allowed the 22-year-old driver to close and get a run on the leader at the other end of the speedway.
There was nothing Myers could do. Macri got a run down the frontstretch to complete Lap 17 and shot under Myers to take the lead through the first and second corner on the 18th circuit.
“We’ve been kind of working on getting my entry speed into three faster,” Macri said. “I think we got it to where I’m more comfortable driving it in harder.
“Getting into lapped traffic, I started driving it in there harder and harder, and it kept sticking better and better. When I got to the 19 [Myers], I knew I just needed to time everything right.”
A horrific crash occurred on Lap 19. Devon Borden and Freddie Rahmer were battling for sixth entering Turn 1, when contact ensued and Rahmer flipped over the first turn fence. He was OK.
Macri stretched his lead when the race went back to green. Norris slipped up the track a bit, which allowed 13th-place starter Lance Dewease to take third.
Dewease was coming fast. While Macri built a two-second lead, the Fayettville driver caught Myers for second and took the position on Lap 23.
When Dewease took second, he was 1.903 seconds back. He trimmed four tenths off the advantage by the time the white flag flew, but Macri had too much of a lead and took the win.
“After the yellow, I was running as hard and as smart as I could and trying to keep the tires underneath me,” Macri said. “Going down the backstretch, I looked to see who was second.
“The last lap, I saw the 69 [Dewease] in second, and I knew to cut down to the bottom and take whatever air he had if he was close enough. I’ve kind of learned from past experiences of losing races here after leading them late, and luckily, we were able to finish the deal.”
Dewease made it closer than expected at the end but had to settle for second. It was his ninth straight top-five finish at the speedway.
Myers finished third behind the two leaders. Norris came home fourth, followed by Doug Hammaker, who recorded his first top-five finish in the 410 Sprint Car division at the speedway.
“I didn’t think we were excellent, and I was just biding my time there,” Dewease said. “I was just trying to get as many cars as I could.
“When I got to second, I picked my pace up and was like, ‘Wow, I’m gaining on him.’ So, we ran pretty hard those last two laps to try and catch him. We were gaining on him, but I knew we weren’t going to catch him.”
410 Sprint Car Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Anthony Macri; 2. Lance Dewease; 3. Landon Myers; 4. Dylan Norris; 5. Doug Hammaker; 6. Danny Dietrich; 7. Aaron Bollinger; 8. Jared Esh; 9. Devon Borden; 10. Matt Campbell; 11. T.J. Stutts; 12. Justin Whittall; 13. Kyle Moody; 14. Ryan Taylor; 15. Alan Krimes; 16. Steven Downs; 17. Freddie Rahmer; 18. Chris Arnold.