Lance Dewease has been summonsed to drive the Macri Motorsports No. 39 Sprint Car for Wednesday and Thursday’s Eldora Million following Anthony Macri's departure from the family ride for at least the time being.

The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame driver of Fayetteville, Pa., was initially scheduled to run his familiar No. 69K in the sport’s richest-ever event at $1,002,2023-to-win before the Don Kreitz-owned team withdrew last week.

Dewease is in the Macri Motorsports No. 39M owned by Anthony’s father, Nick, for this week and this week alone.

“I’m in it today and tomorrow, and the rest of the weekend (for the Kings Royal on Friday and Saturday) is up in the air,” the 57-year-old Dewease said. "They’re okay if I want to stay out and race. Nick said if I just want to run the Million and go home, that’s fine, too. Basically, I’m in it for this weekend and that’s it. As far as for me, that’s all this is. I’m filling in. Nick asked me (Tuesday) if I wanted to run the Million. It’s a last-minute thing. I said yes. That’s the gist of it as far as my end from it.”

As for Macri, the 24-year-old rising star whose 24 Sprint Car wins led the nation last year, his Eldora Million status is unclear. The Macri Motorsports team posted to social media Wednesday morning that “Macri has chosen to step away from the 39M” and to “stay tuned for future announcements.”

When Macri Motorsports crew chief Joe Mooney was asked to share what he can on the matter, he said, “I’m here to try to win a million dollars and have a Hall of Famer in the seat. That’s all I got for the weekend.”

Macri and Mooney are fresh off a Pennsylvania Speedweek title in which they won three of six races.

I talked to @IndyRaceParts and yes he has rolled out two cars, and yes he offered @AnthonyMacri7 a ride for the @EldoraSpeedway Million, but he politely declined, stating he didn’t want to step on @shanestewartrcg’s toes. @FloRacing Macri has told others he is staying home. pic.twitter.com/DQdRDyAMh0

— Tyler Burnett (@_TylerBurnett) July 12, 2023

Dewease said he left the Kreitz Racing shop at 7 a.m. this morning with his seat and personal safety equipment in tow to the Rossburg, Ohio, half-mile. Then the preparations begin to make himself as comfortable as possible ahead of the historic event streamed exclusively on FloRacing.

“My expectations are plain and simple: I’m going there to try and win,” Dewease said. “I’m a realist. You have to go through the steps. You first have to get in the show to have a shot at winning. I’m sure this show isn’t going to be easy to qualify for. There’s going to be some really, really good cars that won’t qualify. I know the car is going to be capable of it. It’s just if I can get comfortable quick enough.

“I’m sure the race car is going to have a way different feel than what I’ve driven for the last seven years. It’s how quick can I adapt and adjust? And feel comfortable. Hopefully me and Joe can communicate quick enough and well enough to make the adjustments we need to make to make it really fast. I know the car is fast. It has some of the best engines in the country. It’ll be interesting.

“I’m a little excited to see what it feels like and what it’s like,” Dewease added. “It’s still the same goal when I show up — it’s only one reason — and it’s to try and win the race. I also know we could not make the show. There’s a lot of good cars that won’t make the show.”

The Eldora Million begins Wednesday night with two groups of preliminary action. Each group will complete a full race program including qualifying, heats, last chance races and a preliminary feature. Throughout the night on Wednesday, drivers will earn points using Eldora's "Every Lap Matters" point system. Those points and the "Wheel of Misfortune" will be used to set the heat lineups for Thursday night. 

Fans can watch both days of racing from the Eldora Million live on FloRacing. If you're not already a FloRacing subscriber, click here to sign up today.