BARBERVILLE, Fla. — Volusia Speedway Park was unforgiving to Carson Macedo and Jason Johnson Racing in 2024.
The pairing entered the year with hopes of challenging for their first World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series championship. But four nights outside the top 10 to start the year buried them in a deep hole. They did all they could to climb out, but ultimately the gap proved too large. Macedo settled for runner-up in the standings as David Gravel was crowned champion.
The next year, Macedo won the season opener, but it only awarded show up points. On the first full points paying night of the season, he slipped to 12th.
This year, there would be no slow start.
Only one car was on the Volusia podium all three nights during the Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals, and it was none other than the JJR No. 41. Macedo marched from ninth to runner-up in the season opener, came home third the next night, and finalized the week with a charge from 12th to third. The performance left Macedo trailing Michael “Buddy” Kofoid and Gravel by only four markers. No huge hole to dig out of.
“Yeah, it was just a great start for us,” Macedo said. “I feel like for JJR and myself to start off on that note is big for us. I think in the past for us we’ve left Volusia with a pretty heavy deficit, not every year, but most years… It’s just tough to play the catch-up game. It’s so close.”
The early speed is a testament to the efforts of Macedo and the JJR crew. One of the areas they highlighted to improve was qualifying. A few years ago, they were arguably the top qualifiers on the circuit before sliding a bit over the last couple seasons. They had an average qualifying result of sixth at Volusia and were fastest in their Flight on the second night.
“I just think that JJR put in a lot of work over the off-season to better our program, especially our qualifying program,” Macedo said. “I think, other than the last night, that really showed. We had a lot of speed early in the night.”
Another factor that plagued them in 2025 was the occasional mechanical gremlin. Issues with parts can lead to DNFs and have major points implications. Last year’s issues led to five finishes outside the top 20. For reference, Gravel’s championship stats showed only four results outside the top 10. Macedo slid a spot to third in points as Buddy Kofoid climbed ahead.
Winning a World of Outlaws championship requires near perfection. There may be room for one or two DNFs but nothing beyond that. Blend a few nights of not finishing with a few more nights of bad luck that are bound to struck over the long season, and that’ll effectively end a team’s title chances.
“I think the biggest thing is just our DNFs,” Macedo said. “You can’t have those. We blew up a few engines. I know we also had some stuff happen. Then one night there in Pennsylvania I packed the hood scoop and had to go to the work area and finished in the back because there were only a few laps to go. I got a flat at Attica with like four or five to go. I was running fourth or so before that. But it has nothing to do with luck. It’s on our shoulders to make sure we don’t have failures, don’t have problems and things like that. I do think over the off-season we’ve worked really hard in that area. We spoke to Paul Kistler about the engine failures that we had, and I feel like he’s addressed them. And I think that it wasn’t on his shoulders; it was part failures and other issues. You just can’t have that stuff happen.”
Volusia is ready to breathe life back into the 2026 campaign this weekend. After three weeks off, the tour returns to the Florida half-mile on Sunday-Monday, March 1-2 for the Bike Week Jamboree. Those are the first two of a 10-race March that takes the Series to eight tracks in seven states, signaling the true beginning of the grind that is The Greatest Show on Dirt.
And this time around, Macedo and the team can head to the “Sunshine State” without wondering how they’re going to get themselves back in contention. They didn’t stumble out of the gate. They’re running stride for stride with two fellow title favorites. The 29-year-old feels mentally and physically better than he has in years. They’re a championship caliber organization. Now, it’s just a matter of putting the pieces together.
“I just think it’s big to not be coming in with a deficit,” Macedo said. “It sucks having to battle back and play the catch-up game. I feel like we’re all going in tied at this point, and that makes me confident. For whatever reason, even though we’ve had a lot of speed at Volusia and won races there, it’s just been like an Achilles heel for consistency for some reason.
“I think a big deal too is just coming in healthy for the first time in a while. I feel like I’m super healthy. My body is in a good place. My head is in a good spot, and I think that’s a big deal. I don’t have any broken legs or lingering injuries or a broken back from the year before. From my Knoxville wreck, it took me a while just to get completely in a physical spot. I think that’s helpful as well.”
