WINGING IT IN WISCONSIN: ROLLING AROUND THE TOP, MACEDO LEADS 16 LAPS BEFORE RACING BEHIND HAUDENSCHILD ACROSS THE FINISH LINE ON THE OPENING NIGHT AT BEAVER DAM IN THE JIM “JB” BOYD MEMORIAL

BEAVER DAM, WISCONSIN (May 31, 2024) – Carson Macedo and the JJR #41 crew headed to Wisconsin on Friday after picking up the win earlier in the week in the inaugural Rick Ferkel Tribute race on Memorial Day at Fremont Speedway. The win, while only their second of the 2024 season, extended the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 team’s top five streak to 14 in a row and positioned them second in the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series season long point standings behind David Gravel. When Philip Dietz pulled the Border International into the pit stall at Beaver Dam Raceway, they dropped the back gate of the trailer and pulled out their black, green and white accented Albaugh – Your Alternative Maxim Racing machine for the opening night at the 14thAnnual Jim “JB” Boyd Memorial event. There were 31 sprint car teams unloaded, primed, and ready to put on a high performing show – World of Outlaws style – in the Badger State!

The opening act at the Beaver Dam show would be Sea Foam Qualifying where each driver gets the opportunity to display their speed twice around the 1/3-mile, high-banked oval. The hotshoe hailing from Lemoore, California would be the 28th driver out on the track aboard the Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT)/High Performance Lubricants/RaceDiecast.com #41 Maxim. When the Kistler Engines power came to life under the forty-one’s Indy Performance Composites (IPC) carbon fiber hood, Carson pounded the loud pedal and was off to the races. The stopwatch was running at full speed as Carson navigated through turns one and two and down the backstretch. He hustled off turn four and stopped the clock at 11.585 seconds after lap one. Carson still had his right foot buried in the gas pedal looking to get any more speed out of his speedster that he could. When the Californian raced by the waving checkered flag to end lap two, his lap time was 11.511 seconds. Lap two was the better of his two attempts and when time trials concluded was seventh quick overall. Giovanni Scelzi in the KCP Racing #18 sat at the top of the speed charts to earn the Simpson Quick Time Award when the final checkered flag flew over time trials with a lap of 11.400 seconds.

Philip Dietz, Robby McQuinn, and Adam Zimmerman went to work putting their race setup in the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 prior to the running of the four heat races. Only the top five finishers would lock themselves into the feature at the end of the night, so it was go time when the green flag waved. Carson climbed into his Fibreworks Composites seat with a custom Sharp Advantage insert and buckled in for his 10-lap high speed adventure aboard the Scott Boyd Family/AutoMeter/CASM Safety Products #41 where he would start in the second position. He would roll outside of polesitter Michael “Buddy” Kofoid with Josh Schneiderman and Bill Rose in row two. Jordan Goldesberry and Tim Estenson paced from row three with Dave Uttech and Christopher Flick in row four.

Neatly arranged side-by-side, the field headed towards turn four to start the race. The drivers on the front row hit the chalk stripe laid across the track and surged forward down the frontstretch with everyone else chasing them at speed. Buddy Kofoid led the first lap in the Roth Motorsports/Mobil 1 #83 with Carson and Josh Schneiderman in hot pursuit.

Buddy Kofoid was on fire speed wise as he continued to put space between himself and the driver of the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 after each completed lap. When the white flag flew over the field he had built a four second lead over Macedo who also had a fast car.

The talented field of drivers entered the last set of turns and raced off turn four for the final time in this race. Buddy Kofoid took the win by an astonishing 3.935 seconds as Carson Macedo followed him across the finish line. Both of those drivers would move into the Toyota Dash with the drivers in finishing positions three through five respectively – Josh Schneiderman, Bill Rose, and Tim Estenson – all locking themselves into the feature.

The eight drivers that earned a spot in the 6-lap Toyota Dash were the four heat race winners: Brock Zearfoss, David Gravel, Buddy Kofoid, and Sheldon Haudenschild and, the runner-up finishers: Giovanni Scelzi, Donny Schatz, Carson Macedo, and Bill Balog who joined them. They all came to the frontstretch to reach into the oversized NOS Energy Drink draw can to see where they would start. When all the numbered pills were drawn out of the can the front row of the Dash would be Bill Balog and Carson Macedo with the row two starters being Brock Zearfoss and Donny Schatz right behind. Row three was populated by David Gravel and Buddy Kofoid, with Sheldon Haudenschild and Giovanni Scelzi rolling in row four. The green flag came out as the field powered up to speed. It was Bill Balog to the lead with Carson Macedo tracking “The North Pole Nightmare” from behind. Balog was fast though and made sure he was putting space between himself and any challengers. Balog had built a sizable lead when he took the white flag, but heading into the final set of turns experienced some mechanical issues as he slowed coming off turn four. Carson made the pass for the Dash win right before the flagstand with Balog limping home second. Donny Schatz finished third followed by Kofoid, Gravel, Haudenschild, Scelzi and Zearfoss.

With the starting field loaded for the $12,000-to-win, 30-lap opening night of the 14th Annual Jim “JB” Boyd Memorial feature the cars started to roll out onto the track at Beaver Dam. Carson’s night of work so far dictated where he would start. He would get the Albaugh – Your Alternative/C&R Racing/Factory Kahne (FK) Shocks #41 started from the pole position with Bill Balog right beside him after he addressed his mechanical issues.

The field was set. The fans were on their feet. It was time to go racing at Beaver Dam Raceway! Before the race could get started though track officials had to remove some debris from the track and address Bill Rose’s one-way communication issues. When all was resolved, the caution lights were turned off. The field hit turn four and the engines roared with Carson Macedo in the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 winning the race through the first set of turns. He would lead Donny Schatz in the Ford Performance #15 and David Gravel in the Jackson Motorplex #2 at the end of lap one.

Carson was wheeling the Tarlton and Son #41 up front the next time by, but David Gravel moved into the runner-up position as he moved by Schatz. The driver of the Big Game Motorsports #2 was working the bottom to perfection as Carson ripped the top.

By lap 10 your leaders were now in traffic battling each other as they made their way around the slower cars at speed. Four laps later, on lap 14, the yellow lights around the track were turned on when Josh Schneiderman’s #49J was sitting sideways off turn two.

The restart order with 16 laps to go would be Macedo, Gravel, Haudenschild, Schatz and Kofoid when they came back to the green. Carson held onto the top spot with Haudenschild and Gravel exchanging the runner-up position as they received the crossed flags, indicating the hallway point of the race, from the flagman.

On lap 16, the yellow flag was back out when Brock Zearfoss looped the Moose’s LZ Bar & Grill #3z in turn four. It would be a double file restart with Sheldon Haudenschild pulling to the outside of Carson Macedo for the restart. Carson led again when they got back going as Haudenschild and Gravel were swapping the second spot back and forth. It was developing into a three car race for the lead.

The next time by Haudenschild found some speed around the top and made the pass on Carson for the lead. Macedo and Gravel were now side-by-side racing for the second spot. Macedo had it. Gravel wanted it. This is sprint car racing at its best. The duel between to two talented racers continued until lap 24 when the caution flag was back out for Zearfoss who slowed on the frontstretch.

There was only six laps between the leaders and the checkered flag. Sheldon Haudenschild would lead Macedo, Gravel, Schatz and Scelzi back up to speed. The driver of the NOS Energy Drink #17 was in control out front as Carson was running securely in second with Gravel still holding down third. Sheldon was catching up to the back of the field again, which enabled Carson to close in slightly. Behind the leader though Macedo had Gravel coming on strong in the low lane with two laps to go, so he has his elbows up trying to fend the hard-charger off. Sheldon Haudenschild raced under the checkers first with Carson coming home second and Gravel coming home third. It was Carson and the JJR #41’s team eighth straight podium finish and 15th Top 5 finish in a row.

Carson reflected on the race as he stood on the front. He started by stating, “I feel like that was obviously the wrong move now, but hindsight is 20/20.” He then continued, “I felt like during the race I was getting edged on the bottom. I could see David down there, and I think I could see Sheldon down there at one point. It just felt like in lap traffic it was decent down there, and it was good, and then a couple laps later I went down there and spun my tires, and Sheldon blew my doors off. Then when I moved back up, it was way more giddy up there all of a sudden,”

Opening the Jim “JB” Boyd Memorial Two-Day Show with a Second Place Run in the Forty-One! Photo Credit: World of Outlaws

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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