A SPECIAL WIN IN SOUTH DAKOTA: CARSON MACEDO CO-PILOTS THE JJR #41 TO VICTORY ON PRELIMINARY NIGHT TWO OF THE HIGH BANK NATIONALS AT HUSET’S SPEEDWAY ADDING TO THE LEGACY #FOREVER41

BRANDON, SOUTH DAKOTA (June 24, 2022) – With the first preliminary night of the Huset’s High Bank Nationals in the books, a night that saw Buddy Kofoid collect the opening night victory and the his first World of Outlaws win, with Carson Macedo coming home in tenth place. On Friday night, the incredibly stout field of competitors returned to the pit area for the second preliminary night of action looking to add more points to their night one totals. With each driver accumulating points every time they hit the track their performance matters. Carson and the JJR #41 team earned 410 total points in the Albaugh #41 throughout Thursday’s preliminary night of action, which positioned them tenth overall in the event standings after the first night of action. The team was looking to improve and continue to build on their carried over point total Friday night in the second night of preliminary action. It was a special day too, as it marked four years since the team lost their founder, friend and mentor Jason Johnson in an accident at Beaver Dam and they were looking to continue the legacy and celebrate the Ragin’ Cajun. There were 48 teams registered to race on Friday night, with each of the teams having their calculators and score sheets ready to go!

The qualifying order for each of the competitors in My Place Hotels Qualifying was once again established by the luck of the draw in the pill draw for both groupings in time trials. Carson Macedo, a 22-time career winner on the World of Outlaws tour, would be the eighth driver out in Group A aboard the Tarlton and Son/Meyers Constructors/FK Rod Ends #41 Maxim. The Bell Athlete was ready to go as Philip Dietz, Clyde Knipp and Nate Repetz finalized their adjustments on his white, green and black 900+ horsepower speed machine following hot laps. Carson waited patiently in the staging lane for his turn on the 3/8-mile bullring. He climbed into the cockpit and flipped the shield down on his Shifty Illusions custom painted helmet. Carson was not thinking about numbers, either the thousandths of a second on the stopwatch or the number of points he could earn, but rather focused on getting the most out of his performance by hitting his marks at speed and laying down the best two laps he could when he was afforded the opportunity. His Kistler engine fired and he raced under the flagstand on the frontstretch to start lap one. The numbers of course matter and they started racing too on the stopwatch at the same time. Carson stopped them after his first lap in 10.910 seconds. The determined racer kept his elbows up and was looking to refine just a little more the next time around. The clock measured his second lap performance at 11.039 seconds. The better of his two circuits was quick time overall not only in Group A, but also on the night. Carson It was Carson Macedo’s sixth Slick Woody’s Quick Time Award of the 2022 season, which puts him at the top of that list at this point of the year. Carson’s stellar time trial qualifying results also earned him an additional 100 points bringing his cumulative two-night total to 510 points at this stage of the math race.

Based on the Huset’s High Bank Nationals format, the six fastest cars in each heat race would again be inverted for each of the starting lineups in the six 10-lap heat races. This elbows up strategy makes for some exciting and daring racing moves in order to earn the most points handed out in each heat race. When the lineup for heat race number one rolled onto the track and into their starting positions, the fans could spot Carson in the Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT)/Dissolvalloy Downhole Revolution/C&R Racing #41 on the outside of row three with always tough David Gravel right beside him on the starting grid. Hunter Schuerenberg and Noah Gass paced from the front row with Riley Goodno and Ayrton Gennetten in row two. Matt Wasmund and Lee Goos made up row four. When the front row starters threw the dirt up after passing through the chalk stripe they were on the gas and heading down the front straightaway into the first set of turns. Third starting Riley Goodno wasted no time moving into the top spot ahead of Schuerenberg and Gravel. Carson was running in the fifth position after the first lap. He would gain another spot the next time around as he raced past Noah Gass. Goodno was checking out up front and never looked back as he took the win by 3.404 seconds over Schuerenberg with Gravel coming home third. Carson wheeled the Albaugh #41 to a fourth place finish ahead of Gass and Gennetten as Wasmund and Goos rounded out the finishing order on the scoreboard. Carson’s heat race results earned him another 89 points that were added to his cumulative event point total, raising his overall score to 599 points.

Not only was Carson and the JJR #41 locked into the second night’s 35-lap High Bank Nationals preliminary feature, they were also in the top 8 in points for the night which enabled them to draw for their starting position in the first four rows. When he went up to meet with Hannah Rickards on the frontstretch in the luck portion of the show, he pulled the ‘5’ pill, Jaxx Johnson’s favorite number. The native of Lemoore, California would start from the fifth position driving the Border International/BR Motorsports/Buckwalter Trucking #41 Maxim. Carson would share row three again with David Gravel in the Big Game Motorsports #2 as both drivers were looking to drive forward in their race for the win and to gain the associated points with their finish. Riley Goodno and Brian Brown, both Knoxville regulars, sat in row one followed by Brad Sweet and Rico Abreu. Macedo and Gravel were in row three followed by Matt Juhl, Buddy Kofoid, Brock Zearfoss, and Logan Schuchart. After the traditional salute to the fans it was time to get down to business at Huset’s Speedway. When the green flag waved, it was Riley Goodno racing into the lead over Brian Brown. Over the first few laps they were wheel-to-wheel racing cleanly before the red flag came out on lap 4 for Parker Price-Miller who bicycled in turn three resulting in him flipping. He was ok. Goodno would assume the top spot when they got restarted and led the first 8 laps. Carson was manning the fifth position in the running order during that same span. On lap 8, the running order of the top five would change when third and fourth running Rico Abreu and Brad Sweet made contact entering turn three sending Sweet flipping up across the track. Brad was ok, in fact his crew went to work in the work area and incredibly made all of the necessary repairs for him to rejoin the field at the back of the lead lap cars. Kudos to the KKR #49 team! When they would restart it would be Goodno, Brown, Macedo, Gravel and Spencer Bayston. Brian Brown would take the lead away from Goodno with Gravel and Macedo exchanging slide jobs for position for a few laps later. By lap 17, Brian Brown approached lap traffic and was beginning to navigate the slower cars on the track. That enable Goodno and Macedo to tighten the gap and before you knew it the top 7 or 8 cars were all close. Carson was running in third, but he was in a three-way battle for position with Bayston and Gravel for position. Macedo held it, they wanted it, and Carson kept it. With 9 laps to go, Carson closed in on Riley Goodno for the runner-up position and made his way around him on the top side of turns one and two. The Lemoore, California native then set his sights on tracking down the leader. With 3 laps to go, Carson pulled off a slide job entering turn one to take the lead over Brown and Goodno. He never looked back as he collected his sixth World of Outlaws win, seventh overall as he also won a non-sanctioned show at Knoxville, by 1.046 seconds over Brian Brown and Riley Goodno with Spencer Bayston and David Gravel rounding out the top five.

When Macedo got to victory lane he was greeted with smiles and emotion. This win was special for many reason – wins never get old, critical event points were earned, the $20,000 winner’s share of the purse is nice, Jace Dietz’s first trip to victory lane with his Mom and Dad will be a forever memory, and it was a celebration of a high point on the exact day four years ago that certainly was the lowest for the team – losing Jason Johnson. What a very special win. The mature driver of the JJR #41 climbed out and celebrated with a gratuitous and reserved smile and was greeted with sincere hugs and high fives. In victory lane he stated, “I think I had a co-pilot there tonight. Winning today on June 24th, four years after we lost Jason, is pretty special. He was an incredible man, built an incredible team, and I’m privileged to continue his legacy with these guys.” He continued, “From Craig and Debra and Bobbi and Jaxx to now Philip and Brooke, carrying on his legacy means a lot to us all.”

With the engines silenced following the conclusion of the feature, the timing and scoring officials finalized the finishing order where Carson was scored with the win in the Albaugh #41 to close out the second of two preliminary nights of racing. That earned him an additional 250 points in the feature to bring his two-day total to 849 points. When the calculators came up to breathe, the Lemoore, California driver had accumulated a tie for second most event points overall throughout both of the preliminary nights of racing with Buddy Kofoid. David Gravel sat atop the list with 852 points, Carson Macedo and Buddy Kofoid earned 849 points, and Brock Zearfoss was fourth with 846 points. Those four drivers were locked into Saturday night’s $100,000-to-win event and the King of the Hill race to sets the starting positions for the first four rows. What a great run for the forty-one . . . and a very special one, too! #FOREVER41

Carson Macedo Drives the JJR #41 to Victory at Huset’s Speedway on Night Two of the High Bank Nationals! Photo Credit: Trent Gower

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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.