PORT ROYAL — Anthony Macri might be forever known as King Anthony XLII after winning the World of Outlaws 42nd Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

But Macri certainly has presided over the Speed Palace by claiming three checkered flags at Port Royal Speedway this season.

Appearing in 8 of 14 scheduled features, Macri also has six top-five and seven top-10 finishes. Currently, he stands 17th overall in the 410 Sprints-Winged points race, well behind leader Justin Whittall.

“I’m about to cry,” an emotional Macri told reporters after winning the Kings Royal race on July 19. “This is honestly really special to be able to start where we started, me and my parents and everyone that put all the time and the effort into this thing.

“Never in a million years did I think I’d be standing up here winning a crown jewel that’s worth $200,000,” Macri added.

The July 19 triumph made him the 23rd overall different Kings Royal champion and the third from Pennsylvania, joining Don Kreitz Jr. (1986) and Brent Marks (2022). It’s the richest win of Macri’s career.

But more important than any stat to Macri is his success story. The Dillsburg, York County, native wasn’t always the cream of the crop from the Pennsylvania Posse. His early journey in racing brought many bumps in the road, but he refused to quit. Now, he’s a King forever.

“Never give up no matter how much stuff you tear up,” Macri said. “There was a time when I wanted to quit and didn’t think I was going to be a good race car driver at all, but I stuck through it. Man, this is where the tears come out. It’s just I stuck through it. Never give up.”

On Wednesday, Macri lined up for the 30-lap Bricker’s Bash and stalked defending World of Outlaws champion David Gravel through the opening circuits.

A lap 7 restart gave Macri the opening he needed as he slid past the Big Game Motorsports No. 2 in the first set of corners to secure the top spot.

Gravel attempted to make things interesting late as he closed back in on the Macri Motorsports No. 39M in traffic, but Macri made just enough moves through lappers to give himself the cushion needed to hold off the current points leader with the greatest show on dirt.

“I saw him to the inside of me in (turns) one and two the one lap,” Macri said. “I started to get pretty tight on the curb, and I just kind of moved my wing back a little bit and tried to cheat the curb and run right below it and kind of catch it on the exit of the corner so I could still get some drive down the straightaway.

“I just feel like the lapped cars kind of moved around when I needed them to,” Macri added. “I zigged when they zagged. Man, I’ve got to thank these guys.”

The checkered flag gave Macri his second in a row with the World of Outlaws and third overall of 2025, which equals him with Rico Abreu as the fifth winningest driver of the year.

Nicknamed the “Concrete Kid”, Macri really started to show his Sprint Car chops in 2020 picking up multiple wins, including his first career All-Star Circuit of Champions win, and hitting the road from his home in Dillsburg to visit tracks as far away as Park Jefferson, S.D.

From Aug. 31, 2019 through June 14, 2020, Macri went 39 races between victories.

“I thought about it a lot,” Macri said. “I’m not going to lie. As a driver, when you’re not winning races, you ultimately start thinking about it yourself and what you can do differently. Not winning races, I can’t blame anybody but myself. I’m the one behind the wheel out there. I should be able to deal with anything that (crew chief) Joe (Mooney) gives me.”

He’s been dealing quite well over the past few seasons. Macri has won his share of major races, big-purse events and high-profile affairs but none quite like Kings Royal. Although his victories at Port Royal rank up there and are pretty special, too.