OGILVIE, Minn. — Carson Macedo is inevitable in the state of Minnesota.
Maybe it’s the lakes. Maybe it’s the Twin Cities. Maybe it’s the mild summers. Whatever it is, Macedo can’t be stopped in the “Gopher State.”
He proved it yet again on Friday night as the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series rolled into Ogilvie Raceway. The Lemoore, Calif., driver lined up fourth for the 30-lap feature and ripped his way into second on the opening lap.
Only a few circuits later the driver of the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 closed in on leader Bill Balog. Macedo fired a slider to clear Balog, and the battle was on.
The two engaged in a war for the top spot for several laps and even made contact down the back straightaway at one point. Finally, Macedo was able to wrestle the lead away at the halfway point.
But there was still work to do as Michael “Buddy” Kofoid surged into second ready to challenge Macedo. The Roth Motorsports No. 83 was glued to the bottom as Macedo stayed on the cushion. Kofoid closed in, but lapped traffic in his preferred lane prevented him from ever being able to pull alongside Macedo. The checkered flag flew with Macedo just under a second ahead.
“When I got to the lead, I could see every lap on the big screen that Buddy was running the bottom in (Turns) 1 and 2 and was apparently close to me doing a good job,” Macedo explained. “He tried to slide me in (Turns) 3 and 4, and I knew I had to really get going and be smart in lapped traffic. They were pretty good. I feel like in the first three quarters of the race I was really good, and then I’d say in the last quarter I was a little unsure of where to be and didn’t want to go away from the momentum and have it bite me again like it did the first time after I got by Bill.”
The win served Macedo a bit of redemption after victory was pried from his grasp on the last lap at Ogilvie a year ago when Sheldon Haudenschild passed him right after the white flag flew.
“I lost this race last year running the top late in the race just not getting around there very good and being too patient in lapped traffic,” Macedo admitted. “I knew I didn’t want to do that again. I wanted to make sure I was extremely aggressive.”
Macedo and the JJR crew are now up to eight checkered flags in 2025 with The Greatest Show on Dirt. The 29-year-old’s career tally grows to 55 as he becomes the first driver to win multiple at Ogilvie to go along with his win in the 2023 series debut at the Minnesota track. Friday’s score was his seventh in the state of Minnesota, which ranks as the second most in World of Outlaws history behind only Donny Schatz’s tally of nine in the “Gopher State.”
Kofoid claimed the runner-up spot.
“I thought we maybe had the better car most of that race,” Kofoid said. “There’re a couple things I probably should’ve done differently. There were lappers in the bottom of (Turns) 3 and 4, and I didn’t want to follow them, so I tried to drove across and slide him (Macedo) and just got a little eager. We had a really good car that last half of the race. We kind of struggled to get the car comfortable for me and get it to run a smoother corner and make more speed, and whatever Dylan (Buswell) did was magic.”
David Gravel came home third after an up and down race.
“We just were really tight early,” Gravel said. “If the first start went, our race is probably a lot different. With that second start, I actually got a good start but Bill just slid up enough to get me in dirty air, and those guys passed me below me there and put me in a bad spot. In the last 10 to 12 laps, I think I was just as good as those guys just a little too late. You can’t fall back to fifth and try to get back up there.”
Bill Balog and Sheldon Haudenschild completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[4]; 2. 83-Michael Kofoid[6]; 3. 2-David Gravel[2]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog[1]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[7]; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart[3]; 7. 99-Skylar Gee[21]; 8. 2C-Cole Macedo[18]; 9. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[12]; 10. 15S-Kerry Madsen[13]; 11. 45X-Landon Crawley[9]; 12. 7S-Chris Windom[14]; 13. 23-Garet Williamson[16]; 14. 18-Emerson Axsom[11]; 15. 6-Zach Hampton[5]; 16. 33-Scott Broty[20]; 17. 28M-Conner Morrell[8]; 18. 18T-Tyler Rabenberg[23]; 19. 91-Reed Allex[24]; 20. 4S-Jeremy Snow[25]; 21. 24T-Christopher Thram[17]; 22. 14-Brooke Tatnell[19]; 23. 74N-Luke Nellis[22]; 24. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[15]; 25. 15-Donny Schatz[10]
