SELINSGROVE, Pa. — Anthony Macri captured his third straight victory in the Jim Nace Memorial 40th annual National Open for 410 sprint cars Saturday night at Selinsgrove Speedway.
Macri, who won the division’s first race of the year in April’s Ray Tilley Classic, book-ended his season at the historic speedway by becoming the fourth driver to record three consecutive wins in the National Open.
The late Maynard Yingst of Linglestown (1983-85), Fred Rahmer of Salfordville (1995-97), and Pat Cannon of Etters (2011-2013) also pulled off the feat.
The win aboard the Macri Concrete/J&S Classics No. 39m was worth $26,000, a tribute to one of Nace’s most popular car numbers he campaigned in central Pennsylvania sprint car racing.
Polesitter Danny Dietrich out-dueled second-place starter Anthony Macri for the early lead at the start of the sprint car main event. For the first laps, Macri tormented Dietrich for the front spot but struggled to find a way around him. On the seventh circuit, Macri powered underneath Dietrich in turn two to take command of the field while third-place starter Brian Brown and fourth-place starter Freddie Rahmer raced in the top five.
At the lap-15 mark, Dietrich reeled in Macri again and on lap 17 pulled a slider in turn two. Dietrich was able to take the lead back for a few seconds until Macri raced back underneath him to reclaim the front spot out of turn two.
The race was red flagged on lap 20 for a scheduled fuel stop. Under the red flag, Brown’s car developed a flat tire and he was forced to restart on the rear of the field.
When the race resumed, Macri led Dietrich, 10th-place starter Brent Marks, sixth-place starter Daryn Pittman, and Rahmer. The closest battle on the track in the second half of the race was the battle for third between Marks and Pittman.
In the final laps of the race, Dietrich was reeling in Macri, erasing the deficit with each passing lap. At the checkered flag, Macri was victorious by just 1.6 seconds over Dietrich, Pittman, Marks, and Rahmer.
Blane Heimbach, who won two of the eight 410 sprint car races this year, clinched his first career Lelands.com 410 sprint car track championship worth $5,000.
Logan Spahr won his second race of the year in the 20-lap PASS 305 sprint car feature.
The finish:
Feature (30 laps): 1) 39M Anthony Macri 2) 48 Danny Dietrich 3) 27 Daryn Pittman 4) 19 Brent Marks 5) 51 Freddie Rahmer 6) 23 Devon Borden 7) 5W Lucas Wolfe 8) 18 Gio Scelzi 9) 71 Cory Eliason 10) 11 TJ Stutts 11) 12 Blane Heimbach 12) 21 Brian Brown 13) M1 Mark Smith 14) 75 Tyler Ross 15) 19R Matt Campbell 16) 5G Briggs Danner 17) 33 Michael Walter 18) 25 Tyler Bear 19) 6 Ryan Smith 20) 33 Gerard McIntyre 21) 17B Steve Buckwalter 22) 35 Jason Shultz 23) 20 Ryan Taylor 24) 0 Rick Lafferty 25) 67 Justin Whittall