WHEELING IN WISCONSIN: AFTER DOMINATING THE FIRST 33 LAPS AT CEDAR LAKE TO KICK OFF THE INDEPENDENCE DAY SPECTACULAR, MACEDO FINISHES AS THE RUNNER-UP IN THE MEYERS CONSTRUCTORS #41

NEW RICHMOND, WISCONSIN (July 2, 2021) – With the recent busy stretch of the World of Outlaws (WoO) schedule behind them with the Jackson Nationals and Huset’s 50 in the rearview mirror, Carson and the JJR #41 crew turned their attention to the two-day doubleheader at Cedar Lake Speedway dubbed the Independence Spectacular for the holiday weekend celebrating our freedom. As the calendar turns to July it marks the busy month on the World of Outlaws schedule. There is no better place to start that Cedar Lake! The team unloaded the Meyers Constructors #41 Maxim out of the trailer as they prepared for the night of high speed action. Cedar Lake Speedway was built in 1957 and is located just across the Minnesota border in the neighboring state of Wisconsin, just to the northeast of Minneapolis. The town of New Richmond was founded back in 1857 as the early settlers were looking to harvest the bountiful Wisconsin timbers. On this night, the fans would get to see 29 talented drivers at the track as the teams prepared their equipment in an attempt to preserve a victory to get the Fourth of July weekend started WoO sprint car style.

The random draw by each driver set the time trial order for Slick Woody’s Qualifying. The one-lap track record here was set back on September 11, 2004, by Terry McCarl with a lap of 10.775 seconds. Carson Macedo would be the fourteenth driver out onto the track in the Durst Inc./Team Jack Foundation/Greber Racing Components (GRC) #41 Maxim to see how well he could do against that mark. He wasted little time getting his Kistler Engines power singing as he raced under the waving green flag to start the clock. The track had slowed down considerably, but he made quick work of the first lap covering the distance around Cedar Lake in 11.756 seconds. Pedal down Carson kept his speed moving forward and rocketed around the second lap turning in a consistent, but slightly slower lap, in 11.769 seconds. The better of his two circuits against the clock netted him ninth quick overall on the night in time trials. David Gravel set quick time with a mark of 11.244 seconds.

The first multiple car competition for each competitor started in the three Drydene Heat Races. When the lineups were posted, the Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT)/Border International/Fibreworks Composite #41 and Carson Macedo would start third in heat race #3 beside Paige Polyak in row two. Aaron Reutzel and Jason Sides paced from row one as Parker Price-Miller, Wayne Johnson, Scotty Thiel, Ryan Bowers, and Reed Allex filled out the remainder of the starting grid. Aaron Reutzel brought the field to the green and led early. Carson was racing with Jason “Double Down” Sides for the second spot. Over the first six laps they were putting on a show for the fans with Macedo leading one lap, then Double Down the next. Macedo would take the spot on the sixth circuit and keep it. Reutzel had checked out and took the win over Macedo by 3.227 seconds. Parker Price-Miller beat Sides to the line to grab the show position with Wayne Johnson and Scotty Theil locking down the two final transfer positions.

Earning one of the coveted spots in the DirtVision Fast Pass Dash, Carson would have to be patient as he would be the last of six drivers to find out his fate regarding his starting positions as it is determined by the lick of the draw. He waited patiently and walked up in victory lane when it was his turn. The suspense was gone as five of the six pills were already picked. The only one left in the NOS Energy Drink can was the ‘1’ pill, which position him on the pole for the 8-lap race in the Tarlton and Son/FK Rod Ends/Larry Davis Farms #41 Maxim. He would start beside David Gravel in row one, Aaron Reutzel and Brad Sweet would get rolling from row two, and Donny Schatz and Logan Schuchart would blast off from row three. The six racers came to the stripe with Macedo driving hard off the bottom to the lead. But Gravel was blasting around the top and made the pass for the lead at the end of lap one. Macedo was staying close and working the bottom as he found some moisture and speed. He was closing the gap on the leader and with 3 laps to go he had tracked him down and made the pass for the lead. Gravel tried valiantly to get it back, but the Lemoore, California driver in the #41 maintained it and took the win by 0.151 seconds over Sweet. Brad Sweet was able to work his way by Gravel too to finish second, Gravel came home in third, Reutzel fourth, Schuchart fifth, and Schatz sixth. With the win, Macedo would start the feature from the pole position.

When the checkered flag flew over the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown, the starting lineup for the 35-lap NOS Energy Drink Independence Day Spectacular feature was set. The 8-minute horn sounded as the team finalized their worked and pushed their drivers and cars onto the track for the start of the race. The engines fired and the field went four-wide with fireworks going off overhead from the infield. It was time to go racing at Cedar Lake Speedway! They paced slowly down the backstretch and when they hit the chalk stripe it was Macedo racing under the flagman’s waving green flag first with Sweet and Gravel right on his tail. The top three were flying and it did not take long for the leaders to catch the back of the field. Macedo was doing a masterful job navigating the lap traffic and maintaining his lead. But Sweet and Gravel were not going anywhere as they kept the pressure on the leader in the Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT)/Tiger Towing/Jonestown KOA #41 Maxim. Carson led the first 19 laps when the first yellow flag of the event was thrown for the #14 of Marcus Dumesny who rolled to a stop in turn four with a flat rear tire. When the race resumed, Macedo maintained the lead over Sweet with clean air. He started to build a bigger lead with each completed lap over Sweet. They again were encroached by the slower competitors, but Macedo was making good decisions and building a dominant lead. Sweet would close in and Macedo would then race forward. The race was far from over. As Macedo was circling back to take the white flag another yellow flag was displayed, this time for fourth place running Logan Schuchart who had a left rear tire going down. He headed to the work area and rejoined the field. Under the yellow, David Gravel also had a tire going down and also had to go to the work area for a tire change. All that stood between Carson Macedo and the winner’s trophy was a green-white-checkered restart with Brad Sweet and Aaron Reutzel eye the same prize. The green flag came back out and Macedo spun his tires but maintained the lead through the first set of turns. Sweet though was relentless and dove low entering turn three and cleanly slid up across the track in front of Macedo to take the lead. Macedo would attempt to fight back to no avail with Sweet taking the win by 0.895 seconds at the finish line over Carson with Reutzel, Sheldon Haudenschild, and Jason Sides rounding out the top five on the first night of the Independence Day Spectacular at Cedar Lake Speedway. On the frontstretch, the runner-up on this night looked up and explained, “I feel bad for my team.” He continued, “I think we had the car to win. I feel like I was making good decisions up until that point (last restart). I just spun my tires on that restart and it killed us. I saw Brad peeled off and I tried to block, but he threw a slider and cleared me.” Another great run for the forty-one to start the weekend at Cedar Lake Speedway!

After Dominating Early, Macedo Wheels the Meyers Constructors #41 to A Runner-Up Finish to Open the Independence Day Spectacular! Photo Credit: Trent Gower Photography

Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT); Tarlton and Son Inc.; Complete Parts & Equipment Solutions; Saich Family; Border International; Dissolvalloy Downhole Revolution; Jonestown KOA; Durst Inc.; Maxim Racing; The Boyd Family; Liquid Trucking; Meyers Constructors Inc.; Tiger Towing; Pro Powder Coating (PPC); Waco Metal; High Performance Lubricants, LLC; Kistler Engines; Team Jack Foundation; Mark Burch Motorsports; All Pro Auto Reconditioning; K1 Race Gear; AutoMeter; Bandy & Associates Accountancy Corporation; Bell Racing USA; Blackbeard LTD; BR Motorsports; Brown & Miller Racing Solutions (BMRS); Buckwalter Trucking, LLC; C&R Racing; Chalk Stix Torsion Bars; Crow Enterprizes; Engler Machine & Tool, Inc.; Factory Kahne (FK Shocks); Fibreworks Composites; FK Rod Ends; Fuel Safe Racing Cells; Greber Racing Components; Hoosier Racing Tire; ISC Racers Tape; Jansen Transportation; KSE Racing Products; Larry Davis Farms; Logo Daddy Graphics; Mr. Jim’s Racing; MSD Performance; RaceDiecast.com; Sam I Am; Schoenfeld Headers; Smith Titanium; T-FAB Custom Metal Fabrication; Vortex Racing Products; Walker Performance Filtration; Weld Wheels; Wilwood Racing; and Winters Performance Products.

To stay connected with Jason Johnson Racing (JJR), go to www.jasonjohnsonracing.com.

To stay up-to-date with Carson Macedo and his success journey on and off the track, as well as to purchase his gear and merchandise directly, visit www.carsonmacedoracing.com.