HANFORD, Calif. — There are so many reasons that the Tom Tarlton Classic is one of the most meaningful races to Carson Macedo.
First and foremost, the event honors his great uncle, who also played a major role in Macedo ascending to the highest level of the sport with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars.
The Tarlton family put the aspiring driver in their iconic No. 21 during his teenage years, allowing him to show his potential and hone his skills. He even took the car to a World of Outlaws win at Silver Dollar Speedway back in 2014 when he was only 18 years old.
Secondly, Kings Speedway hosts the race. The track is a mere 10 miles from Macedo’s hometown of Lemoore, Calif. It’s an event that brings his family, friends, and many fans ready to reunite with the local who made it to the big leagues.
It’s easy to see why the race is near the top of Macedo’s list of those he wants to win every year. He topped the first two editions back in 2020 and 2021, and after a two-year hiatus from victory lane, Macedo made a popular return on Saturday night.
The 28-year-old started on the pole and fended off several challenges from Sheldon Haudenschild and Michael “Buddy” Kofoid for a $21,000 payday.
“Man, what a cool event,” Macedo said. “Hometown crowd in Hanford. It feels good to see all of these awesome fans here. You guys are the best in the country. It feels good to win this race for Tom Tarlton. The Tom Tarlton Classic is near and dear to my heart. Robby Tarlton, my grandfather, and Tom Tarlton is my great uncle and really the reason I am a sprint car driver today.
“My parents kind of got me going in the micro ranks, and he was the one that gave me an opportunity. Had it not been for him I don’t think I ever would’ve had the chance to race a sprint car.”
Macedo’s eighth win of 2024 is the 43rd of his career with The Greatest Show on Dirt. He also took over second in points and still sits within striking distance of David Gravel — 110 points ahead.
Macedo led the field to green for the 35-lapper with Kofoid alongside. On the race’s opening lap Macedo took the early advantage as Haudenschild drove by Kofoid to grab second.
An early restart allowed Haudenschild to take his first swing at Macedo as he looked low when they entered turns one and two. But the driver of the NOS Energy Drink No. 17 didn’t quite have the momentum he needed as Macedo drove away.
Macedo’s run was nearly brought to a heartbreaking halt with 21 laps to go when a lapped car spun directly ahead of him, but he reacted quickly to narrowly avoid disaster.
Haudenschild nearly got the top spot on the ensuing restart as he got a strong launch on the top.
Macedo had just enough momentum and muscle to slide ahead of Haudenschild in the first set of corners. And then Kofoid snuck by Haudenschild for the runner-up spot.
The latter half of the race became a story of well-timed or ill-timed cautions depending on who you asked. Macedo enjoyed the yellow lights as each seemed to remove him from heavy traffic when the two behind him were closing. The yellow flag was the last thing Haudenschild and Kofoid wanted to see as it gave Macedo clean air.
With less than 10 laps to go, Haudenschild drove back by Kofoid and closed quickly on Macedo. A wild finish appeared to be in the works, but one last yellow flag eliminated traffic concerns for Macedo. He nailed one final restart, and that was all she wrote on the path to his third Tom Tarlton Classic win.
“Other than myself, I feel like they’re (Haudenschild and Kofoid) two of the most aggressive drivers on the tour,” Macedo said. “I knew they were going to be coming and coming hard. Little bit more money on the line. Everybody is running a little bit more up in the seat. Just had to switch up my game a little bit. Roll the dice a different direction, make sure they weren’t timing my restarts.”
Haudenschild brought the Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing/NOS Energy Drink No. 17 home second for his sixth podium finish in the last nine races.
“I was really good the whole race honestly,” Haudenschild said. “It put me behind once Buddy got in front of me and kind of killed my runs there. Overall, I’m really happy with the car. I feel like we made gains on the car all night, and (Kyle) Ripper did a good job there. I was hoping we could stay in traffic there a little bit more. Traffic was really slow and still running the top, and it was pretty exciting.”
Another driver on a hot streak is Kofoid as he and the Roth Motorsports crew have been firing on all cylinders as of late. It was his seventh straight finish of fourth or better with a 2.3 average finish over that span.
“I just didn’t need any yellows,” Kofoid said. “It’s hard to say if I could’ve got the lead if I would’ve been okay out front. On the short runs, both of them were probably just a little bit better, but I felt like on the long runs like when we’d get to traffic or even before, I felt like I could kind of close back up to them. But I just didn’t quite have the opportunity. Again, I felt really in traffic and thrived in traffic. Just needed to not have a yellow come out.”
D.J. Netto and David Gravel completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[1]; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[3]; 3. 83-Michael Kofoid[2]; 4. 88N-DJ Netto[9]; 5. 2-David Gravel[8]; 6. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[4]; 7. 23-Garet Williamson[17]; 8. 17AU-Jamie Veal[7]; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart[20]; 10. 73-Ryan Bernal[24]; 11. 88-Austin McCarl[14]; 12. 15-Donny Schatz[11]; 13. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[19]; 14. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[16]; 15. 29-Bud Kaeding[13]; 16. 57W-Jock Goodyer[6]; 17. 2K-Gauge Garcia[22]; 18. 7S-Landon Crawley[21]; 19. 21-Cole Macedo[12]; 20. 6-Lachy McDonough[15]; 21. 41S-Dominic Scelzi[18]; 22. 12B-Dawson Faria[23]; 23. O-Tim Kaeding[5]; 24. 17B-Bill Balog[10]