WEST FARGO, N.D. — What a difference a day made for Carson Macedo.
Friday presented him with a day unlike any other in his career. Hauler problems for his Jason Johnson Racing team prevented his usual No. 41 ride from ever arriving at River Cities Speedway. His bother Cole’s team, TwoC Racing, was generous enough to unload a second car and tape the No. 41 on the wing to make sure Macedo didn’t suffer too much of a points hit. Unfortunately for him, the night ended in a crash.
The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series rolled into Fix It Forward Speedway on Saturday for the Danny Schatz Memorial with JJR’s hauler issues resolved. And a day after not even making it to the race track, the team made their way to victory lane.
Macedo lined up sixth for the 35-lap finale behind the wheel of a rocket. The Lemoore, Calif., native wasted no time marching his way forward. By Lap 12 he’d made his way into second, and only three circuits later, Macedo took the top spot for good. He rolled under early leader Bill Balog and spent the second half of the race slicing through traffic on his way to a commanding victory only a day after Friday’s issues.
“I think we’ve just been on like a stretch of every time we seem to get a good run together, we get a little bit of bad luck,” Macedo said. “I can’t really explain why, but sometimes that’s just the way racing goes. I remember Jason Meyers telling me, ‘When it’s hot, it’s hot. When it’s cold, it’s tough to get out of winter.’ That was all Philip Dietz right there. That car was absolutely unbelievable. It was the best one on the track, I think, by a pretty large margin. I could just move to a different lane and drive by guys. Hats off to him. He just kept getting it better and better as the night went on.”
Saturday was Macedo’s fifth win of the season and snapped a 24-race winless drought for the 30-year-old. It’s his 63rd career score with The Greatest Show on Dirt. Macedo and JJR have now claimed four of the last six series visits to Fix It Forward and ranks fifth all-time on the track’s win list through 72 World of Outlaws trips.
Garet Williamson fell just one spot shy of earning his first two World of Outlaws wins in back-to-back fashion, bringing the Fischer Motorsports No. 23 home second.
Bill Balog finished third to notch his fourth podium of the season and first since Cedar Lake Speedway in June.
David Gravel and Michael “Buddy” Kofoid completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[6]; 2. 23-Garet Williamson[2]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog[1]; 4. 2-David Gravel[4]; 5. 83-Michael Kofoid[5]; 6. 27-Emerson Axsom[9]; 7. 24T-Christopher Thram[7]; 8. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[3]; 9. 83JR-Sam Henderson[8]; 10. 2C-Cole Macedo[18]; 11. 7S-Chris Windom[12]; 12. 15-Donny Schatz[17]; 13. 13-Mark Dobmeier[11]; 14. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[25]; 15. 16C-Skylar Gee[14]; 16. 3-Kelby Watt[10]; 17. 1S-Logan Schuchart[21]; 18. 6-Bryce Lucius[15]; 19. 64-Andy Pake[13]; 20. 11M-Brendan Mullen[24]; 21. 15L-Laela Eisenschenk[23]; 22. 51-Steven Snyder Jr[19]; 23. 9-Dominic Dobesh[20]; 24. 27W-Weston Olson[22]; 25. 14T-Tim Estenson[16]
