GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Carson Macedo came on strong in the closing laps to win Friday night’s 1st Leg of the Northern Tour Don Mack Classic for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series at River Cities Speedway.
River Cities served up a wild 40-lapper with three different leaders and a late duel between two of the best in the world to decide it. Series rookie Kasey Jedrzejek led the way from the pole, pacing the opening 14 circuits before David Gravel took command on a Lap-15 restart.
Cole Macedo surged into second and appeared poised to contend for his first career World of Outlaws win before tripping over the cushion and losing several spots. That gifted his brother Carson Macedo the runner-up spot and set up a wild closing segment.
Macedo closed his Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 right up on the tail tank of the Big Game Motorsports No. 2. A huge run allowed him to dive under Gravel for the lead down the front straightaway with four laps to go. Gravel answered with a slide job in Turns 3 and 4 the next time around but Macedo crossed him over. That proved to be the winning move as Macedo motored away to the checkered flag.
“Man, honestly that was just a Philip Dietz-race car right there,” Macedo said. “Every once in a while, you get one of those that’s just absolutely unbelievable. He killed it here tonight. I felt a little off in time trials then felt really good in the heat race. I felt like we made a lot of gains and were just a little stagnant because the track was a little faster. I felt like I was really good the whole feature. The minute we fired off I was able to pick a few cars off. Then I just got kind of bungled up there in traffic to where I couldn’t make a move. I was trying to get by my brother and I think Balog for a long time. I couldn’t quite get clear of them. Once I did, I was able to move around and start plugging away nice laps. Man, that was awesome. My heart rate was through the roof.”
The career win total for Macedo climbs to 61 after Friday’s triumph. Three of those have come at River Cities, which ties him with Craig Dollansky for the second most at the quarter mile. He and the Jason Johnson Racing team are heating up with their second score in the last four races after just one in the first 21 nights of action this season. Macedo also regained sole possession of the second position in points.
David Gravel finished second to notch his Series-best 14th podium of 2026. His point lead is at 114 markers over Macedo.
Kasey Jedrzejek brought the Bill Rose Racing No. 6 home third for his first career World of Outlaws podium, and it happened to come at the track where Rose’s best series finish is thanks to his third-place run at River Cities back in 2011.
Chris Windom and Sheldon Haudenschild completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[9]; 2. 2-David Gravel[2]; 3. 6-Kasey Jedrzejek[1]; 4. 7S-Chris Windom[13]; 5. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[6]; 6. 83-Michael Kofoid[14]; 7. 2C-Cole Macedo[5]; 8. 15-Donny Schatz[11]; 9. 23-Garet Williamson[7]; 10. 17B-Bill Balog[3]; 11. 1S-Logan Schuchart[18]; 12. 27-Emerson Axsom[17]; 13. 51-Ashton Torgerson[16]; 14. 13-Mark Dobmeier[10]; 15. 64-Andy Pake[4]; 16. 16C-Skylar Gee[19]; 17. 10-Alex Truscinski[23]; 18. 15L-Laela Eisenschenk[24]; 19. 8-Jack Croaker[20]; 20. (DNF) 24T-Christopher Thram[12]; 21. (DNF) 28M-Conner Morrell[8]; 22. (DNF) 17-Spencer Bayston[21]; 23. (DNF) 8H-Jade Hastings[15]; 24. (DNF) 27W-Weston Olson[22]
