By Tyler Altmeyer
PORT ROYAL, Pa. (April 23, 2022) – The 2022 Keith Kauffman Classic at Port Royal Speedway will go down as a race for the ages, as “Speed Palace” rivals Anthony Macri and Logan Wagner waged an all-out war on Saturday night for the $10,000 crown, exchanging challenge after challenge and slider after slider until a final lap block by Macri sealed his winning fate, ultimately securing his second Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victory in three tries, now with five on his career.
Lining up sixth on the feature grid by way of dash result, Macri was in a hurry right from the start, advancing his way through the running order and poking his nose into a podium position by lap nine. Meanwhile, feature polesitter and Harrisonville native, Logan Wagner, was the man in charge, setting a quick pace at the front of the field with an empty track and clean air to his advantage. The pace did not hold for long, as lapped traffic would enter the picture on lap seven creating a multi-car roadblock for the four-time track champion.
Taking second from Parker Price-Miller on lap 11, Macri’s aim quickly switched to Wagner, using Port Royal’s extreme outer edge to rapidly reel in the Zemco Speed Equipment No. 1. By lap 17, Macri was all over Wagner for the race lead, exchanging slidejobs the very next circuit before powering around Wagner coming off of four on lap 19. Refusing to settle for second, Wagner did everything he could to power back around the “Concrete Kid,” exchanging sliders yet again on lap 24 and 25 before a caution snapped the excitement on lap 26. Without saying, the war was far from over.
The ensuing restart saw the pair pick up right where they left off with Wagner continuing to throw everything he could at Macri. Another slider exchange on lap 29 ultimately resulted in near contact between the two, but Macri persevered. A final lap block by Macri would seal his trip to victory lane, still with Logan Wagner in tow followed by Lance Dewease, Ryan Smith, and Mike Wagner.
“After our incident, Logan and I came to the conclusion that we weren’t going to give each other an inch, and with starting sixth, I knew that I had to make something happen on the start. I really didn’t do the best job at making that happen…I started to drive aggressively and I think I maybe got too aggressive too soon. The car was a handful in those last few laps and I just tried to get as wide as I could,” Dillsburg’s Anthony Macri said in victory lane, driver of the J&S Classics/C&D Rigging No. 39M. “I gotta give Logan (Wagner) credit…he could have drove through me when I went to the bottom to block but he didn’t. So I thank him for that. These guys have been giving me an awesome car all year long and it’s been showing.
“How about these fans…this was an unreal race,” Logan Wagner said following his runner-up finish. “Anthony (Macri) is good and he drove me clean. He shut the door on me getting into one but I shut the door on him in the last Keith Kauffman Classic…that’s just the way it goes. The best driver won here tonight.”
UP NEXT:
The Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will continue their 2022 campaign with a Pennsylvania and Ohio mixer on Friday through Sunday, April 29 through May 1, visiting Lernerville Speedway, Sharon Speedway, and Waynesfield Raceway Park in consecutive fashion. All three events will award $6,000 top prizes, simultaneously igniting a busy May slate comprised of nine events throughout Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.
In response to the concern for limited right rear tire supply resulting in the potential for a very low car count, Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 and Bedford Speedway officials have made the mutual decision to postpone the Bedford Speedway event scheduled for Thursday, April 28, until a date later in the year that has yet to be determined. An announcement will be made when it becomes available.
For those who can not witness the All Star Circuit of Champions live and in person, FloRacing.com, the official media partner and broadcast provider of the All Stars, has you covered. To access live and on-demand racing action from the All Star Circuit of Champions, visit FloRacing.com and become an annual PRO subscriber. Race fans can see all the USAC and dirt late-model action they want in addition to Eldora Speedway’s slate of races and those of the All Star Circuit of Champions. The subscription unlocks access to premium content across the entire FloSports network. Watch the events across all screens by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Chromecast.
Contingency Awards/Results: Port Royal Speedway | April 23, 2022:
Event: Keith Kauffman Classic | $10,000
Kistler Racing Products Pill Draw | Entries: 41
Nunzi’s Advertising Hot Laps: Logan Wagner | 15.182
Dixie Vodka Fast Qualifier: Mike Wagner | 15.416
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #1 Winner: Ryan Smith
Competition Suspension Inc Heat #2 Winner: Cap Henry
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #3 Winner: Parker Price-Miller
Mobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: Logan Wagner
Kistler Racing Products Heat #5 Winner: Justin Whittall
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash Winner: Logan Wagner
Classic Ink USA B-Main Winner: Danny Dietrich
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Dylan Cisney
Tezos A-Main Winner: Anthony Macri (2)
Hercules Tires A-Main Hard Charger: Danny Dietrich (+14)
Carquest Perseverance Award: Bill Balog
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 55W-Mike Wagner, 15.416; 2. 7-Scott Bogucki, 15.573; 3. 6-Ryan Smith, 15.581; 4. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 15.585; 5. 19M-Brent Marks, 15.626; 6. 19-Chris Windom, 15.738; 7. 28-Tim Shaffer, 15.831; 8. 11B-Carl Bowser, 16.052; 9. K33-Dylan Cisney, NT
Group (B)
1. 45-Jeff Halligan, 15.737; 2. 98-Jared Esh, 15.802; 3. 4-Cap Henry, 15.916; 4. 33-Gerard McIntyre, 15.969; 5. 11T-TJ Stutts, 15.997; 6. 35-Tyler Reeser, 16.082; 7. 25-Tyler Bear, 16.259; 8. 2C-Cory Thornton, 17.654; 9. 18-Gio Scelzi, NT
Group (C)
1. 69K-Lance Dewease, 15.698; 2. 11-Parker Price Miller, 15.897; 3. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 15.940; 4. 2-AJ Flick, 15.952; 5. 19s-Curt Stroup, 16.096; 6. 9K-Kevin Thomas Jr., 16.264; 7. 33W-Michael Walter, 16.491; 8. O7-Bradley Howard, 16.515
Group (D)
1. 39M-Anthony Macri, 15.695; 2. 1-Logan Wagner, 15.825; 3. 12-Blane Heimbach, 16.023; 4. 10-Zeb Wise, 16.032; 5. 17-Steve Buckwalter, 16.118; 6. 23-Pat Cannon, 16.127; 7. 42-Sye Lynch, 16.138; 8. 58-Troy Wagaman Jr., 16.315
Group (E)
1. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 15.926; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 15.970; 3. 67-Justin Whittall, 16.024; 4. 26-Cory Eliason, 16.033; 5. 13-Justin Peck, 16.037; 6. 48-Danny Dietrich, 16.042; 7. 17B-Bill Balog, 16.150; 8. 8-Nick Sweigart, 17.239
Heat 1 (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 6-Ryan Smith [2]; 2. 7-Scott Bogucki [1]; 3. 55W-Mike Wagner [4]; 4. 19M-Brent Marks [5]; 5. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [3]; 6. 28-Tim Shaffer [7]; 7. K33-Dylan Cisney [9]; 8. 19-Chris Windom [6]; 9. 11B-Carl Bowser [8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 4-Cap Henry [2]; 2. 33-Gerard McIntyre [3]; 3. 45-Jeff Halligan [4]; 4. 11T-TJ Stutts [5]; 5. 35-Tyler Reeser [6]; 6. 2C-Cory Thornton [8]; 7. 98-Jared Esh [1]
Heat 3 (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 11-Parker Price Miller [1]; 2. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [2]; 3. 2-AJ Flick [3]; 4. 69K-Lance Dewease [4]; 5. 9K-Kevin Thomas Jr. [6]; 6. 33W-Michael Walter [7]; 7. 19s-Curt Stroup [5]; 8. O7-Bradley Howard [8]
Heat 4 (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 1-Logan Wagner [1]; 2. 39M-Anthony Macri [4]; 3. 12-Blane Heimbach [2]; 4. 10-Zeb Wise [3]; 5. 23-Pat Cannon [6]; 6. 42-Sye Lynch [7]; 7. 17-Steve Buckwalter [5]; 8. 58-Troy Wagaman Jr. [8]
Heat 5 (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 67-Justin Whittall [2]; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [1]; 3. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [4]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [3]; 5. 48-Danny Dietrich [6]; 6. 13-Justin Peck [5]; 7. 17B-Bill Balog [7]; 8. 8-Nick Sweigart [8]
Dash (6 Laps)
1. 1-Logan Wagner [1]; 2. 11-Parker Price Miller [2]; 3. 55W-Mike Wagner [5]; 4. 4-Cap Henry [4]; 5. 67-Justin Whittall [6]; 6. 39M-Anthony Macri [10]; 7. 45-Jeff Halligan [8]; 8. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [7]; 9. 6-Ryan Smith [3]; 10. 69K-Lance Dewease [9]
B-main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 48-Danny Dietrich [3]; 2. 19-Chris Windom [2]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog [14]; 4. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [1]; 5. K33-Dylan Cisney [15]; 6. 35-Tyler Reeser [4]; 7. 28-Tim Shaffer [7]; 8. 23-Pat Cannon [5]; 9. 17-Steve Buckwalter [13]; 10. 58-Troy Wagaman Jr. [16]; 11. O7-Bradley Howard [17]; 12. 9K-Kevin Thomas Jr. [6]; 13. 42-Sye Lynch [9]; 14. 19s-Curt Stroup [12]; 15. 2C-Cory Thornton [11]; 16. 8-Nick Sweigart [18]; 17. 13-Justin Peck [8]; 18. 11B-Carl Bowser [19]
A-main (30 Laps)
1. 39M-Anthony Macri [6]; 2. 1-Logan Wagner [1]; 3. 69K-Lance Dewease [10]; 4. 6-Ryan Smith [9]; 5. 55W-Mike Wagner [3]; 6. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [8]; 7. 48-Danny Dietrich [21]; 8. 11-Parker Price Miller [2]; 9. 45-Jeff Halligan [7]; 10. 12-Blane Heimbach [16]; 11. 33-Gerard McIntyre [13]; 12. 4-Cap Henry [4]; 13. 17B-Bill Balog [23]; 14. 19M-Brent Marks [17]; 15. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [12]; 16. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [14]; 17. 19-Chris Windom [22]; 18. 10-Zeb Wise [19]; 19. 7-Scott Bogucki [11]; 20. K33-Dylan Cisney [26]; 21. 26-Cory Eliason [20]; 22. 2-AJ Flick [15]; 23. 13-Justin Peck [25]; 24. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [24]; 25. 28-Tim Shaffer [27]; 26. 19s-Curt Stroup [28]; 27. 67-Justin Whittall [5]; 28. 11T-TJ Stutts [18] Lap Leaders: Logan Wagner (1-18), Anthony Macri (19-30)