WILD WEDNESDAY NIGHT: CARSON MACEDO RUNS RIGHT ON THE EDGE OF THE BULLRING IN THE LAND OF LINCOLN TO GARNER A WELL-EARNED TOP FIVE FINISH AT JACKSNVILLE SPEEDWAY IN THE HY-VEE PERKS 40

JACKSONVILLE, ILLINOIS (May 1, 2024) – After severe weather ravaged the Midwest last weekend, canceling the Premier Chevy Dealers Clash at Knoxville Raceway both nights, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series brought their traveling tour of stars to Jacksonville Speedway to mix it up on Wednesday Night in the Hy-Vee Perks 40. With their Border International parked in the pit area, Philip Dietz and the JJR #41 crew lowered the back gate on the trailer to roll out Carson Macedo’s beautiful Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 speed limousine into the grass area for the night of racing to kick off racing in May. This 1/5-mile bullring is certainly built for excitement. As the cushion builds, the track slicks off and the side-by-side action begins to heat up on the track, the racing here has a naturally built in system to check the level of each driver’s courage and speed sanity. There were a season-to-date high 56 race teams registered to race and ready to roll when they were called to the staging area for the first practice session of the night in The Land of Lincoln – Illinois.

By the luck of the draw at the WoO Command Center each driver would determine where they would go out for their two time trial laps in Sea Foam Qualifying. With a loaded pit area stacked with incredible talent, the field was separated into two equal groups for qualifying. Carson was slated to be the 12th driver out on the track in Flight 1 driving the High Performance Lubricants/Maxim Racing/ChalkStix #41. He climbed into his Fibreworks Composites carbon fiber seats with his custom fitted Sharp Advantage insert and buckled his Crow Enterprizes belts securely. As he inched towards the race official directing all of the action, Carson began to envision his two laps around this bullring. His goal was clear. He wanted to maximize his speed and deliver a lap in the shortest amount of time possible, hoping his effort was the quickest of the night. Sheldon Haudenschild holds the current track record at 9.990 seconds, which he set when they visited here back on April 29, 2021. With a tap on his rear nerf bar, Carson flipped the shield of his BELL Helmet down as he was building up speed. When he raced by the flagman, he was on the clock. His right foot was planted with his eyes laser focused ahead. His hands dictated where the car was going as he turned his JOES Racing Products MATADOR Steering Wheel. Carson turned left entering turn three. He raced off turn four as he wheeled by the flagstand again ending his first lap against the clock. The time that flashed up on the scoreboard was 10.165 seconds. He was still racing hard as the clock was already measuring his performance for lap two. His Hoosier Racing Tires were digging into the moist racing surface creating grip and forward motion. This time when he exited turn four the black and white checkered cloth was waving. When he raced under them his second lap time was a little better at 10.138 seconds. When all was said and done in qualifying, Carson’s best lap was third quick overall in Flight 1. Brady Bacon, who pushed out first in Flight 2, set quick time with a lap of 10.062 seconds to earn the Simpson Quick Time Award for the night.

Each of the starting lineups for the four 10-lap heat races were lined up with the fastest drivers at the front of the field and the slower ones filling in behind. There were five transfer positions up for grabs in each of the heat races, so when the green flag dropped it was all business for these competitors. That was not an easy task as the field of drivers was stout to say the least.

Carson Macedo would start from the second position in the first and fastest heat race aboard the Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT)/Scott Boyd Family/Winters Performance Products #41 Maxim. The California raised racer lined up beside another home state star, Buddy Kofoid in the Roth Motorsports #83, on the front row. Another Californian, Brad Sweet, started third beside Indiana’s Parker Price-Miller. Brenham Crouch and Brock Zearfoss made up row three with Chase Randall and Zach Hampton in row four. The final row of the heat race was Bill Rose and Trevin Littleton.

The field was set. Things were ready to go down and go down quickly. The green flag was waving and the field immediately got up to speed. It was a mayhem of madness as they raced down the short front straightaway with Kofoid having a slight edge on Macedo. Carson ducked his forty-one speed machine underneath Kofoid entering turn one to take the lead coming off turn two. He would be scored as the leader of the first lap and then use the clean air to his advantage. He started to build his lead over Kofoid and led from green-to checkers taking the heat race victory, his fifth in a row, by 1.136 seconds over Kofoid who would join him in the dash. Parker Price-Miller brought his #9P home third with Brad Sweet and Chase Randall securing the final two transfer spots out of the4 first heat race.

For the eleventh time in 2024, Carson earned a spot in the Toyota Dash. His number picking skills have not been great so far, which is all part of the deal, but he was happy to test his luck again. He pulled a ‘6’ pill, which put the Tarlton and Son/BR Motorsports/Walker Performance Filtration #41 Maxim Racing entry on the outside of row three for the start of the 8-lap dash. Kyle Larson and Buddy Kofoid would be on the front row followed by Giovanni Scelzi and David Gravel. Cole Macedo, driving the 2nd Law Motorsports #16T, joined his brother in row three with Corey Day and Sheldon Haudenschild in row four. Six of the eight (75%) dash competitors all were California-born racers.

After the track crew tilled up the track to make for better racing, the horn sounded throughout the nighttime air in Illinois summoning the teams to the track for the Hy-Vee Perks 40 feature at Jacksonville Speedway. Race officials, along with World of Outlaws officials, made the decision to reduce the laps in the feature from 40 laps to 35 laps due to tire wear concerns. It was a sold-out crowd for this Wednesday night show. The fans were prepared to see some high speed entertainment, World of Outlaws style, and it would be worth the price of admission.

Buddy Kofoid sat on the pole position with Kyle Larson to his outside. David Gravel and Giovanni Scelzi were in row two. Carson rolled into row three to the outside of Sheldon Haudenschild with Corey Day and Cole Macedo in row four. It was about to go down in The Land of Lincoln.

The green flag was out with Kyle Larson racing into the leading early with Kofoid, Scelzi and Gravel Chasing. Carson was running in the fifth position in the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 with Sheldon Haudenschild directly behind. There was action everywhere on the track from the front of the pack to the back. This was competitions Jacksonville Speedway style.

The racing for position here is just so close that where a driver is scored may change every lap at the line. On lap 3, Carson moved by David Gravel into fourth and held that position through lap 10 with Larson still showing the way out front. The next lap though David Gravel passed him back as the two talented racers were battling for the better position.

Sheldon Haudenschild was lurking behind both of them and soon entered the mix making it three wide at times as they raced for the fourth spot. The trip was closing in on second and third running Buddy Kofoid and Giovanni Scelzi respectively, but the leaders were not only racing each other, but also now navigating the slower lap cars. This is sprint car racing at its’ best.

After the hallway point of the race things started to change. Current points leader, David Gravel, moved into the top three on lap 18 and took over the runner-up spot the next time around. He had the Big Game Motorsports #2 moving on the bottom side of the track and began to track down Kyle Larson for the lead.  Carson was still battling and running in the fourth spot some laps and others being scored fifth.

David Gravel had caught your leader and took the lead away from Larson on lap 24. Two laps later, Larson returned the favor and moved back to the top of the scoring pylon before Gravel retook the top spots with 4 laps to go. Gravel would not be denied as he earned to his fourth World of Outlaws victory of the season with Kyle Larson and Buddy Kofoid rounding out the podium.

Carson Macedo raced home fourth with Corey Day locking down the final spot in the top five. The top five finish was Carson and the JJR team’s sixth to five finish in a row as he also extended his top ten streak to 12. Another great run for Macedo and the forty-one!

All the Hustle and Bustle at Jacksonville Speedway Nets a Fourth Place Finish in the Hy-Vee Perks 40! Photo Credit: Trent Gower Photography

JJR’s Valued Sponsorship Partners: Albaugh, LLC; Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT); Border International; Scott Boyd Family; Saich Family; Tarlton and Son Inc.; Complete Parts & Equipment Solutions; Durst Inc.; High Performance Lubricants, LLC; Kistler Racing Engines; Maxim Racing; Sander Engineering; Bandy & Associates Accountancy Corporation; Boltz Family; Pro Powder Coating (PPC); RaceDiecast.com; Team Jack Foundation; Mark Burch Motorsports; T-FAB Custom Metal Fabrication; Xtreme Body and Paint; All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads; AutoMeter; Bell Helmets; Ben Cook Race Car Products; BlackBeard LTD; BMRS (Brown & Miller Racing Solutions); BR Motorsports; Buckwalter Trucking; CASM Safety Products; C&R Racing; ChalkStix; Crow Enterprizes; CS Productions; Engler Machine & Tool, Inc.; Factory Kahne (FK Shocks); Fibreworks Composites; FK Rod Ends; Fuel Safe Racing Cells; Greber Racing Components; Hoosier Racing Tire; Indy Performance Composites (IPC); ISC Racers Tape; Jansen Transportation; K1 Race Gear; KSE Racing Products; LogoDaddy; Motor State Distributing; Mr. Jim’s Racing; Premium Coach Group; Saldana Racing Products; Sam I Am; Schoenfeld Headers; Smith TI; Vortex Racing Products; Walker Performance Filtration; Wilwood Racing; and Winters Performance Products.

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