BEDFORD, Pa. – One night after a 21st-to-second rally at Port Royal Speedway, Anthony Macri did one better, securing his first FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victory of the season in Sunday’s Johnny Grum Classic at Bedford Speedway.
The victory, which awarded Macri a $6,000 payday, came after fourth-starting Macri utilized a restart with eight laps remaining to work by race-long leader and California invader Rico Abreu.
“These guys gave me one hell of a car all weekend long and it finally paid off,” Macri said in victory lane. “I don’t know what to say; I’m out of breath. I just tried to pace myself there at the end and not do anything stupid.”
Abreu, who started on the pole by way of his dash victory, led the first 22 circuits of the 30-lap contest. Setting sail around the very top of the speedway, Abreu seemed uncatchable, but as traffic started to intensify, Abreu’s momentum began to suffer.
That allowed Macri, who found his way to second for the first time on lap 11, to shrink Abreu’s commanding margin. Just as a battle for the lead was about to break out, the caution flag appeared on lap 13, ultimately eliminating traffic and clearing the path for Abreu.
A similar situation would occur on lap 22, as heavy traffic entered the picture once again for Abreu, forcing the driver of the Rowdy Energy No. 24 to check up on his speed. Yellow lights returned to the speedway on lap 23, and although it rid the speedway of any slower traffic, Macri was more than ready for another opportunity at a single-file restart behind Abreu’s No. 24.
The second try proved to be the charm for Macri, who dove to the bottom of turn one to drive across in front of Abreu. The move stuck, and Macri immediately extended his command to a multi-second advantage.
“I noticed on that first restart that (Abreu) kinda jerks the wheel when he gets ready to take off,” Macri noted. “When he started to turn his wheel again, I got on the gas and got a great run down the frontstretch. I knew that was my chance and I’m glad we were able to capitalize.”
Once claiming the top spot, Macri was untouchable, racing on to secure his place on Bedford Speedway’s victory lane stage. Abreu held on to claim second, followed by Paul McMahan, Cory Eliason, and Kyle Reinhardt.
The finish:
A-Main (30 laps): 1. 39M-Anthony Macri [4]; 2. 24R-Rico Abreu [1]; 3. 23-Paul McMahan [2]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [6]; 5. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [5]; 6. 13-Justin Peck [11]; 7. 72-Tim Shaffer [3]; 8. 11-Ian Madsen [7]; 9. 55W-Mike Wagner [8]; 10. 5-Brent Marks [13]; 11. 17B-Bill Balog [9]; 12. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [10]; 13. 24-Kerry Madsen [14]; 14. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [12]; 15. O7-Lucas Wolfe [24]; 16. 48-Danny Dietrich [20]; 17. 2C-Dylan Cisney [22]; 18. 4-Cap Henry [18]; 19. 91F-Tony Fiore [16]; 20. 10-Zeb Wise [25]; 21. 35H-Zach Hampton [23]; 22. 51-Freddie Rahmer [15]; 23. 45-Jeff Halligan [19]; 24. 99M-Kyle Moody [21]; 25. 6-Ryan Smith [17].
Lap Leaders: Rico Abreu 1-22; Anthony Macri 23-30.
