TULARE, Calif. — Carson Macedo overcame a few frantic moments to earn his second career USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship victory Wednesday night at Thunderbowl Raceway.
For the first 25 circuits, Macedo was in full control in what was his first appearance of the series season aboard his Dyson Motorsport/Complete Parts & Equipment – Tarlton & Son – Empire/King/Speedway Toyota, an Australian based team with a car built by a New Zealand based chassis company.
However, engine problems plagued the World of Outlaws regular during the final five circuits at the third-mile track. As Macedo rounded turns three and four along the inside berm with five laps remaining, his car inexplicably, and suddenly, stalled. The lapped car of Dane Culver banged into the back end of Macedo’s car. As flame flickered from the headers, miraculously, Macedo’s car regained power and continued on its merry way.
“Before the race started, it was kind of spitting and sputtering,” Macedo revealed. “I was nervous that something wasn’t going right. Then we fired off and it felt good, and then the lap before that, I actually lifted on the bottom and it just died. I came around the next lap and thought, ‘man, maybe that was just a weird deal,’ then it did it again really badly. I actually didn’t get refired until the guy behind me ran into the back of me.”
When the yellow flag was displayed a split second later, the moment was not all lost for Macedo. The caution was deemed an inadvertent yellow, thus, according to Section 1406, Part I of the USAC National Midget rulebook, “a car that an inadvertent yellow is displayed for will be positioned in order of positions lost.”
As Jacob Denney scooted underneath Macedo for the lead in turn four on lap 26, Denney became the new leader while Macedo was relegated back to second, which is where he was running when the yellow was displayed. Macedo wound it up on the high line, and on lap 27, used his momentum off turn four to slingshot under Denney entering turn one.
Macedo’s first attempt was unsuccessful as he slid in front of Denney on the entry to turn one, but was unable to make the move stick as Denney darted back under Macedo off turn two.
However, on lap 28, Macedo reloaded and stuck the move on the second try, then raced away over the final 3.5 laps to victory by a 1.178-second triumph.
“When he went to the lead, I thought, if he’s running the top, I’m going to be in trouble, especially in one and two, but he cheated it down there and I was able to get a run,” Macedo recalled. “I knew he was going to the bottom in three and four, so I just figured I’m not going to win if I follow him down there. I might as well give it everything I’ve got and it worked out.”
For car owner Sean Dyson, it’s the third year in a row his team has won a USAC National Midget feature with the first two coming at California’s Merced Speedway with Macedo in 2022 and Spencer Bayston in 2023.
“I really had to get up on the wheel and earn that win,” Macedo explained. “I was excited there after the race. I know these races are hard to win, and it just felt really special racing with my buddy Sean Dyson. He ships this car all the way over from Australia. It’s a lot of money and a lot of work and a lot of effort, so it feels good to reward him with a win.”
Crossing the finish line behind Macedo on this night at Tulare for the series’ first visit since 2010 were runner-up Jacob Denney and third-place finisher Cannon McIntosh while Corey Day came home fourth and Logan Seavey rounded out the top five. Earlier in the program, Macedo won the 360 sprint car feature.
“I had some motivation going into tonight,” Macedo pointed out after his second career USAC National Midget score. “I was looking at the pool and saw I was in group C and I thought man, I’ve got to get up in the seat. I know these midget guys are really good, especially the guys who run them all year long and are really comfortable in these cars. It felt good to be comfortable tonight. This track is a little bigger, so I can move around and run it more like a winged sprint car.”
USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship, Thunderbowl Raceway, Tulare, Calif., Nov. 20, 2024
HONEST ABE ROOFING QUALIFYING: 1. Tanner Carrick, 98, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.344 (Track Record); 2. Justin Grant, 2, RMS-15.417; 3. Tanner Thorson, 25m, Malloy-15.580; 4. Daison Pursley, 86, CBI-15.585; 5. Logan Seavey, 57, Abacus-15.614; 6. Carson Macedo, 99AU, Dyson-15.632; 7. Jacob Denney, 25, Malloy-15.698; 8. Corey Day, 4, Kahne-15.701; 9. Drake Edwards, 3p, Petty-15.720; 10. Emerson Axsom, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.731; 11. Kale Drake, 97K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.738; 12. Buddy Kofoid, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.755; 13. Zach Wigal, 89, CBI-15.771; 14. Ryan Timms, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.801; 15. Zach Daum, 31B, Beilman-15.805; 16. Tyler Courtney, 23c, Silva-15.816; 17. Cannon McIntosh, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.854; 18. Jake Andreotti, 00, Davis-15.913; 19. Gavin Miller, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.946; 20. Karter Sarff, 31, Beilman-15.948; 21. Austin Torgerson, 88A, Mounce/Stout-16.200; 22. Chase McDermand, 8w, Ford-16.265; 23. Hayden Reinbold, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-16.352; 24. Dane Culver, 50, Knuckles Up-16.384.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Zach Wigal, 2. Jacob Denney, 3. Tyler Courtney, 4. Emerson Axsom, 5. Tanner Carrick, 6. Chase McDermand, 7. Daison Pursley, 8. Gavin Miller. 2:10.237
ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Cannon McIntosh, 2. Ryan Timms, 3. Corey Day, 4. Justin Grant, 5. Logan Seavey, 6. Kale Drake, 7. Hayden Reinbold, 8. Karter Sarff. NT
T.J. FORGED / CAR IQ THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Zach Daum, 2. Tanner Thorson, 3. Buddy Kofoid, 4. Carson Macedo, 5. Drake Edwards, 6. Jake Andreotti, 7. Dane Culver, 8. Austin Torgerson. 2:07.597 (New Track Record)
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Carson Macedo (2), 2. Jacob Denney (1), 3. Cannon McIntosh (9), 4. Corey Day (11), 5. Logan Seavey (3), 6. Tanner Thorson (4), 7. Tanner Carrick (6), 8. Buddy Kofoid (15), 9. Justin Grant (5), 10. Ryan Timms (16), 11. Daison Pursley (10), 12. Zach Daum (8), 13. Gavin Miller (19), 14. Zach Wigal (7), 15. Dane Culver (24), 16. Kale Drake (14), 17. Drake Edwards (12), 18. Hayden Reinbold (23), 19. Jake Andreotti (18), 20. Tyler Courtney (17), 21. Chase McDermand (22), 22. Emerson Axsom (13), 23. Karter Sarff (20), 24. Austin Torgerson (21).