PACKED IN THE PIGEON HILLS: MACEDO AND FORTY-ONE TEAM CONTINUE CONSISTENCY IN PENNSYLVANIA AS THE OUTLAWS SWEEP THE PODIUM IN THE FEDERATED AUTO PARTS GETTYSBURG CLASH AT LINCOLN SPEEDWAY
ABBOTTSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA (May 8, 2024) – Some of the best sprint car drivers and teams in the country touring with the World of Outlaws (WoO) NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series were in the Keystone State to race against the Pennsylvania Posse stars. The Keystone State, particularly in Central Pennsylvania, has a rich and robust history in this form of grassroots dirt track racing and is known for cultivating exceptional, and always very competitive, talent. When the WoO band of brothers visit the area each year there are never any guarantees they will walk away with the checkers. On Wednesday night, after an early morning thunderstorms moved through the area that were followed by sun-filled skies throughout the day, there were 37 race teams lined up in the pit area located on the hill parallel to the backstretch at Lincoln Speedway for the Federated Auto Parts Gettysburg Clash. The talent showed up prepared to provide the entertainment in front of a packed house at the 3/8-mile dirt oval. It was time to go racing World of Outlaws versus PA Posse style!
After the engines fired and each driver got a few practice laps in around the Pigeon Hills facility, the field started to line up in the staging area in the correct order for Sea Foam Qualifying. Based on the number of entries there would only be one group for time trials. Carson Macedo would be the 24th driver out on the track aboard the Albaugh – Your Alternative/Winters Performance Products/Buckwalter Trucking #41 Maxim. The native of Lemoore, California climbed into his Fibreworks Composites seat and buckled into his Crow Enterprizes safety belts. When he got the ‘go ahead’ signal from the officials, the push truck tapped the rear nerf bar on Carson’s speed machine as the black Sander Engineering wheels on the forty-one began to turn. He rolled out onto the track surface in turn three and immediately called for some power from his Kistler Engines power plant. Gone was the human flagman who actually held a wooden dowel with different colored cloths on the end to control the race signals. Now there was the introduction of modern technology – a large display screen – virtually sharing the race commands and direction with the drivers. Carson raced by the virtual display monitor that was mounted on the former flagstand as a picture of a green flag was shown. The stopwatch was turning thousandths of a second at an alarmingly fast pace as Carson Macedo circled Lincoln. When he completed his first lap Carson was timed in 13.958 seconds. He kept his right foot planted as he raced against the clock the next time around trying to find more speed. This time Carson turned in a much better lap at 13.623 seconds as he took the checkers and headed back to the pit area. The faster of his two laps ended the night fourth quick overall. The fastest driver of the night though, earning the Simpson Quick Time Award, was none other than the ten-time World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz in the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) #15 with a lap of 13.497 seconds.
At the WoO Command Center the officials were compiling the starting lineups for each of the four 8-lap heat races. The top five finishers in the heat races would automatically transfer into the feature finale at the end of the night with the winners and runner-up finishers moving into the dash. Carson Macedo would get the Boltz Family/Ben Cook Race Car Products/Smith TI #41 started from the pole position in the fourth heat race. He rolled to the left of Chad Trout on the front row. It was a talent laden row two with Buddy Kofoid and Sheldon Haudenschild with Bill Rose, Tyler Ross, Brock Zearfoss, Aaron Bollinger, and Dallas Schott pacing behind.
The field of powerful sprint cars were arranged neatly side-by-side as they paced down the back straightaway. They were all eagerly awaiting the opportunity to mess up the white chalk stripe laid down across turn four to start the race. When Carson Macedo arrived to turn four, he mashed the gas as did outside front row starter Chad Trout. It was a race to turn one. Macedo arrived first and exited turn two before being scored the leader after one lap was completed. Buddy Kofoid followed him into the second spot with Chad Trout in third.
The yellow soon was shown for Brock Zearfoss’ Moose’s LZ Bar & Grill #3z as he slowed to a stop in turn two. The restart running order with 7 laps to go was Macedo, Kofoid, Trout, Haudenschild and Ross. The green flag was on the screen again with Carson powering off the bottom of the double file restart to gain the lead again ahead of Kofoid. Haudenschild powered the NOS Energy Drink #17 into third with Ross and Trout racing in the top five.
Carson Macedo had the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 moving as his Hoosier Racing Tires were digging for grip around the Lincoln Speedway surface to create the necessary speed to stay ahead of the Roth Motorsports #83 of Buddy Kofoid. Carson never look back or was challenged as he raced to the heat race win over Kofoid who came home second. Sheldon Haudenschild finished third, Tyler Ross was fourth, and Chad Trout held on to the fifth and final transfer spot.
After having a little luck in the draw for the 6-lap Toyota Dash, Carson would sit on the pole position for the start of the dash in the Albaugh – Your Alternative/RaceDiecast.com/BR Motorsports #41 with Kody Hartlaub to his outside in row one. Buddy Kofoid and David Gravel made up row two with Anthony Macri and Giovanni Scelzi in row three. The final row of the dash featured Donny Schatz and Chase Dietz. It was a nice mix of Outlaws and Posse represented in the Toyota Dash. When the race got started it was Macedo to the lead with Gravel tussling his way into the runner-up position after getting a great start from the outside of row two. Lap after lap Carson was fending off the red hot driver of the Big Game Motorsports #2, but David Gravel continued to apply pressure on the leader. With one lap to go, the two fierce racers were still competing hard to see who would start from the pole in the feature. In the last set of turns Carson drove the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 in high, Gravel went to the low side. Off turn four David Gravel inched ahead and took the win by a mere 0.021 seconds over Carson Macedo at the finish line. What a race! Buddy Kofoid came home third with Giovanni Scelzi and Kody Hartlaub completing the top five. Anthony Macri raced home sixth with Donny Schatz and Chase Dietz completing the dash’s finishing order.
There were 24 cars that earned their way into the 35-lap Federated Auto Parts Gettysburg Clash feature. The fans in the bleachers seats were packed in cheek-to-cheek as the high speed athletes climbed into the safety seats in their cars ready to do battle. The Complete Parts & Equipment Solutions/Team Jack Foundation/Xtreme Body and Paint #41 would get started from row one in the second starting spot in the field. Two more Californians were right behind the front row starters as Buddy Kofoid and Giovanni Scelzi were poised to get started.
When given the signal by race officials, David Gravel and Carson Macedo split low and high respectively as Buddy Kofoid and Giovanni Scelzi pulled into the gap between the two front row starters to showcase the four-wide salute to the fans. After saluting these great fans in Pennsylvania, the field realigned into their two-by-two starting formation as they awaited the green flag to display on the screen. Off turn four, the neatly arranged field spread out as the 410 sprint cars roared up to speed under green racing conditions at Lincoln Speedway. Gravel held the early lead just ahead of Macedo and Kofoid.
Over the first 6 laps, Carson Macedo continued to run in the second position chasing Gravel and pacing himself ahead of Kofoid as they were working around the top lane. The next time around, Gravel and Macedo were racing in lap traffic tightening the gap between the two as they raced for track position. They both were meticulously finding gaps and taking advantages of the opportunities presenting themselves.
The leaders raced like this nose-to-tail at times all the way up to lap 23 when the yellow was displayed for Kyle Moody as he slowed in his #99m. The top five at the time was David Gravel, Carson Macedo, Giovanni Scelzi, Buddy Kofoid and Anthony Macri.
With 12 laps to go, it would be a double file restart with the race leader choosing the inside lane for the restart. That positioned second running Carson Macedo on the outside when the green lights came back on. There was a clear track ahead now for the leaders. David Gravel used the clean air to motor back his #2 back into the lead. Giovanni Scelzi used the inside restart position in row two to his advantage as he snuck under Carson Macedo on the restart as he moved into the runner-up spot.
Carson was running in the third position, but now had his hands full with a hard-charging Anthony Macri in the J&S Classics #39M. That action was paused on lap 26, when the red lights illuminated around the track for Bill Balog who flipped in turn four after getting up over the cushion.
At the time, with only 9 laps to go in the race, the running order when they would go green again would be Gravel, Scelzi, Macedo, Macri and Kofoid. The Big Game Motorsports #2 led Giovanni Scelzi in the KCP Racing #18 in single file order to bring the field back up to speed with Anthony Macri using a low entry into turn one to slide up to take the third spot away from Macedo as they exited turn two. On the same lap, Carson returned the high speed favor at the other end to regain the show position.
Macedo and Macri would continue to trade the third spot in the running order after some fierce competition with Carson gaining the higher numbered spot right before the race’s final race stoppage occurred on lap 28. He red conditions were for Kody Hartlaub who flipped on the backstretch after Devon Borden and Freddie Rahmer made contact directly in front of him while racing for position.
The remaining racers went back to green as David Gravel raced the remainder of the distance to collect his sixth win of the year, and third in the last four races, crossing the finish line ahead of Giovanni Scelzi and Carson Macedo. Anthony Macri came home fourth with Donny Schatz racing home fifth. The win for David Gravel was Tod Quiring’s and Big Game Motorsports team 100th World of Outlaws win. A big congratulations to Tod and the team on their accomplishment.
It was the JJR #41 team’s 9th straight top five finish, as well as their 15th consecutive top ten finish, as they are on a mission to collect their next win for the season. Carson reflected and explained, “I feel like I was pretty good in the feature.” He continued, “I feel like we had a lot of speed. Philip (Dietz), Robby (McQuinn), and Adam (Zimmerman) did a great job. I feel like I was kind of just racing my race just waiting to make a move and it never kind of played out. I feel like I did a good job in traffic.” They will continue their pursuit of that next win at Williams Grove on Friday and Saturday night, hoping Mother Nature cooperates, in the Morgan Cup. It was another good run for Macedo and the forty-one!
Carson Macedo Raced at Full Strength for 35 Competitive Laps to Earn a Third Place Finish in the Gettysburg Clash! Photo Credit: World of Outlaws
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