Sentinel photo by MIKE GOSS
Eventual winner Anthony Macri (39), second Logan Wagner (1) and third Jeff Halligan (45) battle for the lead in Saturday night’s 410 sprint car race at Port Royal Speedway.
PORT ROYAL – Anthony Macri claimed his sixth Port Royal Speedway sprint car win of the season on Saturday night, and 12th overall.
His $5,000 win didn’t come without a bit of controversy, however.
After losing the lead to Macri, Mike Wagner tried to regain it as they came out of turn four and down the front straight. They made contact with Wagner going into the wall and turning on the straight. He finished for the night while Macri continued ahead.
Macri, who started eighth, then fended off a challenge from Logan Wagner after the ensuing restart to take the win.
He was met with boos in victory lane and said he expected to be criticized on social media this week.
Sentinel photo by MIKE GOSS
Third-placed Brad Bacon (53), eighth-placed Cody Swanson (10), second-placed Matt Westfall (54) and eventual winner Logan Seavey (22) battle for position during the USAC Silver Crown 50-lap event at Port Royal circuit.
“Until people on Facebook and in the stands get into one of these cars and realize you can’t see anyone next to you, I will continue to ignore them.” Macri said. “We ran clean the whole way. I lifted for Logan. I lifted for his father a few times. I didn’t even see him on the straight. It was a racing affair in my book. People can say whatever they want. I didn’t know if we had a flat tire or something bent or if the car was going to handle the same thing.
“I found the bottom there before we were together” Macri said. “I stayed at the bottom the first two rounds after that restart. I knew from the run Logan had on me on the front straight that I probably needed to be on top of the three and four. I changed lanes and tried to take the air off him. Fortunately, it paid off. »
Tyler Bear took the lead in the 25-lap event. Mike Wagner followed him into second as yellow flew for Blane Heimbach at turn two.
Jeff Halligan and Logan Wagner both passed two cars on the restart, moving up to third and fourth respectively.
Bear caught traffic with the others closing as Anthony Macri and Mike Walter II traded fifth place
Zach Newlin hit the wall between turns one and two just ahead of the lead battle with seven laps completed.
Logan Wagner put a slider on Halligan for third place on the restart as his father chased the lead. Halligan passed Logan as Mike took the lead from Bear.
Yellow flew again when Devin Adams slowed down after the leaders completed lap eight.
Halligan passed Bear at the top of turn two. Macri was on the bumper of Logan Wagner as they came out of turn four.
The red flag stopped the race for a front crash involving Dylan Cisney. He was fine.
Mike Wagner led Halligan, Bear, Logan Wagner and Macri for the restart with 16 laps to go.
Macri slipped by L. Wagner and Bear on the restart. Logan Wagner also passed Bear. Mike Wagner held a comfortable 1.4-second lead over Halligan with 10 to go.
Halligan and Macri shared a slower car as they raced down the front straight. Macri took second in turns one and two. Mike Wagner’s momentum was also slowed by traffic allowing Macri to close. A slider in the first and second corners allowed Macri to take the lead.
Mike Wagner tried to get back at Macri as they came out of turn four and down the straight. They made contact by sending Wagner into the wall and spinning.
Wagner passed Halligan and went after Macri after the restart with six to go. They were close for a lap or two before Macri pulled away in the closing laps. Logan Wagner, Halligan, 16th starter Ryan Taylor and Walter II round out the top five.
Justin Whittall, Bear, Tyler Reeser, Gerard McIntyre Jr. and Dan Shetler round out the top 10.
Elimination races for all 25 cars were won by Mike Wagner, Jeff Halligan and Logan Wagner.
Feature USAC Sprint Car
Logan Seavey said he was looking forward to the Eastern Storm event at Port Royal Speedway for USAC Sprint Cars.
It showed on Saturday night as Seavey put on a dominating performance by winning the 30-lap main event.
Seavey earned $6,000 for the 5.4 second win over 16th starter Alex Bright and Justin Grant, who came from behind after changing a flat tire.
After blasting his way forward, Seavey, of Sutter, Calif., drifted away from the field and was never challenged again.
“It was the track I was looking forward to the most in the whole program,” said Seavey. “Up there, hammering the guardrail for a big, fast half mile is hard to beat. I knew it would be a place I would quickly get familiar with and enjoy racing. It was a hell of a race. I love this kind of race track.
“I had no idea how big my lead was. I didn’t feel like I was running that hard because the harder you run the harder you hit the pad and the more it eats you up. I had a line different in three and four. I was looking for any type of grip. My guys had the car really, really good.
Brady Bacon and Emerson Axsom rounded out the top five after a back-and-forth battle throughout the race. Matt Westfall, Robert Ballou, Chase Stockon, Steve Drevicki and Briggs Danner complete the top 10.
Leary set the fastest time out of the 21-car field with a lap of 18.617. Bacon, Seavey and Mark Smith won the heat races.
Seavey used a last-lap pass to win the 50-lap finale for the USAC Silver Crown cars. Westfall, Bacon, Dallas Hewitt and Leary round out the top five.
Characteristic USAC Sprint Car (30 laps): 1. Logan Seavey 2. Alex Bright. 3.
Justin Grant. 4. Brady Bacon. 5. Emerson Axsom. 6. Matt Westfall. seven.
Robert Boulou. 8. Chase Stockon. 9. Steve Drevicki. 10. Briggs Danner.
11. Shane Cottle. 12. CJ Leary. 13. Brian Ruhlman. 14.Brandon
Mattox. 15. Joey Amantea. 16. Dallas Hewitt. 17.Jake Swanson. 18.
Austin Graby. 19.Jadon Rogers. 20. Mark Smith. 21.Charles Davis Jr.
Feature 410 Sprint Car (25 laps): 1. Anthony Macri. 2. Logan Wagner.
3.Jeff Halligan. 4.Ryan Taylor. 5. Michael Walter II. 6. Justin
Whittal. 7. Tyler Bear. 8. Tyler Reeser. 9. Gerard McIntyre Jr. 10.
Dan Sheller. 11. Ryan Smith. 12. Steve Buckwalter. 13. Blane Heimbach.
14. Trenton Sheaffer. 15. Kassidy Kreitz. 16. Brent Shearer. 17.Nick
Sweigart. 18. Ryan Linder. 19. Bill Jones Jr. 20. Jon Stewart. 21.
Mike Wagner. 22. Ron Aurand. 23. Dylan Cisney. 24. Devin Adams. 25.
Zach Newlin.
Comments are closed.