CLASH OF THE TITANS: A TALENT LOADED PIT AREA AT KNOXVILLE FOR THE OPENING NIGHT PREMIER CHEVY DEALERS CLASH PROVES TO BE CHALLENGING AS MACEDO HANGS ON FOR A 21ST PLACE FINISH AFTER SOME MECHANICAL ISSUES

KNOXVILLE, IOWA (June 14, 2024) – After severe weather silenced the weekend of racing here at Knoxville Raceway back in April for the Premier Chevy Dealers Clash, the Jason Johnson Racing (JJR) hauler was back in this sprint car wonderland as it pulled into the infield pit area to unload for a night of high speed entertainment on Friday night in Knoxville, Iowa. This small town surrounds one of the sprint car racing’s true gems – Knoxville Raceway – and is bubbling with some of the best fans in the sport. The beautiful black gumbo, half-mile clay facility is located on the property of the Marion County Fairgrounds. There are legends of the sport honored over in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame (NSCHoF) perched above the exit of turn two along with premium suites. As the haulers began to pull into their pit stalls, the entry list for the night of action was filled with some drivers that have already earned first ballot consideration into the hallowed NSCHoF one day, while others are just starting their career or are in the process of building their resumes with hopes for serious entry consideration down the line. The World of Outlaws (WoO) NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series was back in town and there was an incredible 64 talented drivers and race teams entered Friday night’s running of the opening night in the Premier Chevy Dealers Clash. It was race day, World of Outlaws style, at Knoxville Raceway!

With a large field of competitors on hand, the drivers were split into two equal groups for their two time trial laps in Sea Foam Qualifying. It would be two car qualifying in each set to establish rank order based on the drivers best of two, timed speed attempts. After the hot lap practice sessions all concluded, Carson Macedo would climb back into the cockpit of his Maxim Racing sprint car and roll into the staging area to wait for his turn against the clock. He would be the 17th car out in Flight B and would be joined on the famous track by Cory Eliason. He had almost the entire racetrack to turn up the wicks of his Kistler Engines power. When he exited turn four he was hammer down ready to take the green flag aboard the Albaugh – Your Alternative/FK Rod Ends/Vortex Racing Products #41. The numbers were rolling by quickly on the stopwatch as Carson maneuvered the forty-one around the big half mile. He was smooth and steady hoping to convert his consistency and style into a low number. When Carson broke though the timing stripe to end lap one, his time was 16.228 seconds. His speed and momentum carried him forward as he looked to repeat, and even improve, his time. With his engine still singing a beautiful racing melody off turn four, he raced under the checkered flag on lap two in 16.284 seconds. The better of Carson’s two time trial laps ended up fifth quick overall in Flight B. Sheldon Haudenschild, out of Flight A, ran the quickest lap of the night at 15.634 seconds to earn the Simpson Quick Time Award on the opening night of the Premier Chevy Dealers Clash.

The racers from the first flight comprised the starting lineups in the initial two heats, with those competitors from the second flight being allocated based on their best lap time in qualifying to the last two 8-lap heat races. That positioned Carson Macedo and the Tarlton and Son/Sander Engineering/Scott Boyd Family #41 in the third heat race where he would get started from the inside of row two beside Justin Peck. Rico Abreu, fast timer out of Flight B, was on the pole with Aaron Reutzel to his outside. Kyle Larson and Buddy Kofoid were in row three, Corey Day and Ayrton Gennetten in row four, with Cory Eliason, A.J. Moeller, and Tasker Phillips filling in behind them.

They were side-by-side off turn four with Rico Abreu driving into the lead ahead of Aaron Reutzel with Carson Macedo tucking in behind in third. Carson was being tracked down by Larson, who made the pass for position on lap two. Carson was now running fourth as it was an all-accelerator type of speed show with everyone chasing Abreu.

No one would catch him, or even challenge him, as they ran single file for the most part the remainder of the way. Rico Abreu picked up the win ahead of Reutzel with Kyle Larson coming home third, Carson Macedo fourth, and Justin Peck securing the fifth and final transfer position.

Missing out on competing in the Toyota Dash for the first time in a long time, Carson and the team watched and adjusted the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 as the track changed. Carson would get started from the 14th starting spot, with Brian Brown to his inside, in the Friday night’s 25-lap Premier Chevy Dealers Clash feature. From top to bottom the lineup was loaded with sprint car talent. There were 26 cars ready to roll as they paced wheel-to-wheel before spreading out in the tradition World of Outlaws four-wide salute to the fans. They raced back into their starting positions as the yellow lights dimmed around the track and the flagman showed them the one-to-go flag.

Off turn four, polesitter Parker Price-Miller stomped on the gas to get the show started with David Gravel and Sheldon Haudenschild chasing him down the front straightaway. Carson Macedo had his foot planted in the accelerator of the Complete Parts & Equipment Solutions/Boltz Family/ Durst, Inc. #41 Maxim, too, as he was scored in the 13th position when the opening lap was recorded.

This half-mile is a showcase of speed and displays each driver’s technical abilities behind the wheel. Parker Price-Miller was masterfully handling each lap up front when the yellow flag came out on lap 4 when Aaron Reutzel spun after hooking the inside berm in turns three and four.

The restart running order was Parker Price-Miller, David Gravel, Sheldon Haudenschild, Rico Abreu, and Tyler Courtney with Carson restarting from the 12th spot. The green was back out with Price-Miller going back to the lead. Sheldon Haudenschild claimed the second spot as he ripped underneath Gravel. Carson wheeled forward into tenth, but the next lap lost two positions as Giovanni Scelzi and Austin McCarl and was running in the 12th position with 5 laps in the books.

On lap 6, the yellow was out for Brian Brown as he slowed on the frontstretch with brake line issues. He went to the work area and rejoined the field. Back to green with 6 laps to go, Parker Price-Miller again held down the point position ahead of Haudenschild. Carson moved back into tenth before Austin McCarl wrestled it away from him.

They were moving fast until another yellow flag was displayed on lap 8, this time for Brock Zearfoss who slowed on the track as Bill Balog headed into the pit area as he called it a night. Parker Price-Miller brought them back up to speed as David Gravel raced by Sheldon Haudenschild to take over second place.

Carson restarted from the 11th position, but when they went back racing he realized he had something amiss with his forty-one, He, too, had some kind of brake issues as he started to lose positions with each passing lap. He had fallen back to the 19th position on lap 10, just as David Gravel overtook Parker Price-Miller as he was now your leader.

Tenth starting Kyle Larson was on the move in his JVI/Finley Farms #57 as he picked off some positions and was now running in second. He methodically worked the bottom and closed the gap between himself and Gravel before taking the lead on lap 16.

He had a dominant car, but his time at the front of the pack was short-lived as his engine appeared to expire bringing out the caution flag again and relinquishing the lead back to David Gravel. Parker Price-Miller would restart second, Rico Abreu third, Tyler Courtney fourth, and James McFadden fifth. Carson was doing his best to hang on and would restart from the 22nd spot.

They went back racing and David Gravel dominated the remaining distance to collect his ninth WoO win of the season ahead of Parker Price-Miller and Rico Abreu. James McFadden came home fourth with Tyler Courtney rounding out the top five.

It was a rough night, but that is racing, for Carson Macedo and the JJR #41 team. After having a left front brake fitting snap he completed the race with zero brakes. Along with the good comes the bad, but adversity adds strength when processed and learned from. Carson and the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 team will be back at Knoxville Raceway on Saturday night to show their strength!

A Rough Night Slowed by Braking Issues Results in a 21st Place Finish on Opening Night of the Premier Chevy Dealers Clash at Knoxville Raceway! Photo Credit: Jeremy Zarfos 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.

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

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