MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Anthony Macri outlasted Chase Dietz in a clash of the PA Speedweek sprin car titans at Williams Grove Speedway on Friday night and Macri ended up scoring the 38th annual Mitch Smith Memorial and $20,000.
But the win was far from easy for Macri, who entered the night as the Speedweek point leader and left it with an extended lead over Dietz.
Macri and Dietz shared the front row for the start of the 30-lap Smith Memorial.
Macri was able to sneak into the lead ahead of Dietz when action began and was already coming up on the backmarkers by lap seven.
Traffic was heavy for the leaders as they tried to pick their way through the field and by lap 12 Dietz was all over Macri.
Third-starter Tanner Holmes raced in third during the first half of the event and was in the hunt with the front duo until the only caution flag of the race unfurled with 13 laps to go.
The reason for the yellow was a stopped Doug Hammaker who had been running in the fourth spot.
The restart saw sixth starter Logan Schuchart get by Holmes for third and begin making inroads on the leaders.
The final 10 laps of the race saw Dietz hound Macri all the way to the finish, at times racing just one car length behind him when the pair would cross the start-finish line.
Dietz would consistently gain ground using the m idle line in the first corner before attempting passes in turns three and four.
With each passing lap it seemed Dietz would get just a bit closer to completing the pass as Macri was forced to play defense.
Then by his own admission Macri made the worst corner of the race in the final turn as he worked through the fourth corner.
He hopped the outside curb just enough to nearly make contact with the outside rail as he raced onto the frontchute with Dietz in his shadow.
That allowed Dietz to race to his outside as Macri’s car became unsettled and drifted down across the racetrack.
And at the line Dietz would end up just a whisker shy of the lead, instead settling for second by.041 seconds, or the blink of an eye.
The victory was the fourth of Speedweek for Macri and tied him with Dietz in that category.
It was also his second career win in the prestigious Mitch Smith Memorial and the 16th of his career at the oval.
Schuchart was third followed by ninth starter Brent Marks and 12th starter James McFadden.
Dietz set fast time with a lap of 17.120 seconds.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. Anthony Macri, 2. Chase Dietz, 3. Logan Schuchart, 4. Brent Marks, 5. James McFadden, 6. Tanner Holmes, 7. Dylan Norris, 8. Ryan Newton, 9. Brady Bacon, 10. Logan Rumsey, 11. Troy Wagaman Jr., 12. Ryan Smith, 13. Danny Dietrich, 14. Brock Zearfoss, 15. Justin Whittall, 16. Preston Lattomus, 17. Buddy Schweibinz, 18. Logan Wagner, 19. Doug Hammaker, 20. Austin Bishop, 21. Mike Thompson, 22. Cameron Smith, 23. Lance Dewease, 24. Billy Dietrich
