AN ELECTRIC EVENING: CARSON MACEDO POWERS HIS WAY TO A PERFECT NIGHT, A NEW TRACK RECORD AND THE WIN IN THE KENNEDALE SPEEDWAY PARK DEBUT WITH SOME EXCITING WHEEL BANGING ACTION IN THE COWTOWN ROUNDUP

KENNEDALE, TEXAS (March 23, 2024) – The tour of stars with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Series returned to the state of Texas along with their traveling speed partners planning to kick off the two race weekend with an inaugural show at Big O Speedway, located in Ennis, Texas, in the Bluebonnet Showdown on Friday before heading to Kennedale Speedway Park for a debut in the Cowtown Roundup on Saturday. But well before any racing could get started on Friday the event was canceled due to more rain and an overly saturated facility. Mother Nature sure has not been a World of Outlaws fan during the early part of the season.

Not deterred, the JJR team climbed into their Border International and navigated towards Fort Worth to prepare for action at Kennedale Speedway Park. When the teams got their haulers situated in the pit area they took one look at this beautiful quarter mile bullring and smiles crossed their faces. They immediately knew it would produce some excited and close racing action all night so they could put a show on for the fans. There was a total of 42 race teams ready to go at it World of Outlaws (WoO) style at Kennedale Speedway Park for the Cowtown Roundup!

The participants and fans would have to be patient though as there was some electrical issues at the new facility causing an almost 2.5 hour delay. While everyone was eager to race they were understanding and went with the flow as they were willing to wait as they knew the show would be great.

After the electrical issues were addressed and the facility was lit properly each driver put heat in their engines and ran some hot laps. The officials were accelerating the show along as it was now time for each driver to get two laps around the quarter mile oval in Sea Foam Qualifying. There would be two groupings for qualifying based on the number of entries. The time trial order for each was established by random draw putting Carson Macedo as the 19th driver out on the track in Flight B. When Matt Covington completed his two circuits, Carson Macedo flipped the shield down on his cool looking Shifty Illusions custom painted Bell Helmet as he gripped his JOES Racing Products Matador Steering Wheel. Things were about to get exciting . . . in a good way this time. The Californian got the Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT)/Ben Cook Race Car Products/ChalkStix #41 Maxim cranking as he exited turn four racing under the waving green flag. The numbers on the stopwatch were at full speed and so was the driver of the forty-one. Only the clock knew how he was doing though as it told us he finished his first lap in 11.723 seconds. Carson stayed on the hammer and was hard at work trying to make more speed the next time around. This time when he exited turn four, he saw the checkered flag waving and was hoping the numbers told a better story. They sure did as Macedo recorded the fastest lap of the night overall on lap two at 11.467 seconds. When Giovanni Scelzi and Buddy Kofoid wrapped up qualifying, Carson Macedo’s time established the New Track Record (NTR) for Kennedale Speedway Park and earned him the Simpson Quick Time Award. It was his 34th quick time with the World of Outlaws in his young career. David Gravel was the quickest driver in Flight A with a lap of 11.468 seconds, with Macedo beating his quick lap by just .001 seconds.

By virtue of their qualifying times, each driver was positioned in one of the four 8-lap heat race lineups where the top five would earn transfer spots to the feature. When the lineups were posted, Carson Macedo would get started aboard the Albaugh – Your Alternative/BMRS/Motor State Distributing #41 entry from the pole position on the front row with “The North Pole Nightmare” Bill Balog in the #17B to his outside. Logan Schuchart and Austin McCarl lined up in row two with Buddy Kofoid and Koty Adams in row three. Matt Covington, Dominic Scelzi, Tanner Holmes, Colby Stubblefield, and Garet Williamson completed the starting grid.

It was now time for these 11 drivers to put on their daredevil show in the Lone Star State. The stands were packed with fans and when the front row starters hit the chalk stripe laid across turn four it was ‘go-time” at Kennedale Speedway Park! Carson Macedo powers off the bottom and into the lead in the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 just ahead of Bill Balog. Carson had speed and was starting to put some distance between himself and the field as Balog was racing with McCarl for the runner-up spot. These talented athletes are right on the edge performance wise and the slightest little bobble can open up the door of opportunity. Carson would not have any of that tough as he led wire-to wire to dominate the heat race victory crossing the finish line 3.584 seconds ahead of Balog who would join him later in the Toyota Dash. The final three transfer spots out of heat three were earned by Austin McCarl, Logan Schuchart and Buddy Kofoid.

Earning an opportunity in the 6-lap Toyota Dash, Carson would get his quest started from the outside front row with Bill Balog to his inside this time to start the race to see where each finisher would start in the feature based on their finishing position. Sheldon Haudenschild and Aaron Reutzel paced behind in row two with Brent Marks and David Gravel in row three as Bill Rose and Ryan Timms rolled in row four. When the green flag was thrown, Carson Macedo wasted no time hustling into the lead ahead of Bill Balog, Sheldon Haudenschild and David Gravel. The Californian was trucking in the Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT) #41 Maxim and was showing the way out front. Carson completed the 1.5 mile sprint to the checkers in the dash to take the win by 2.909 seconds over Bill Balog. Sheldon Haudenschild raced home in third aboard the NOS Energy Drink #17 followed by David Gravel and Aaron Reutzel to round out the top five. Brent Marks came home sixth with Ryan Timms and Bill Rose garnering seventh and eighth respectively to complete the dash finishing order.

With all of the qualifying now in the teams’ rearview mirror for the night, there was still a lot of important and challenging worked just ahead in the 35-lap NOS Energy Drink Cowtown Roundup feature at Kennedale Speedway Park for the drivers. Carson Macedo would start from the pole position and was looking to cap off a perfect night of performance in Texas. He set quick time. He won his heat race. He won the dash. And, now the feature was the last box to check for a perfect scorecard on the night.

He would start in the front row alongside a familiar foe on this night, Bill Balog, to get the show started. Sheldon Haudenschild and David Gravel were right behind eager to compete, with Aaron Reutzel and Brent Marks in row three. The Kistler Engines power fired under his hood and Carson was rolling slowly and maneuvering the Complete Parts & Equipment Solutions/Scott Boyd Family/T-Fab Custom Metal Fabrication #41 Maxim into his front row starting position in the field. Carson was ready to get rolling in the race for the winner’s check. The fans in the stands were packed and now brimming with excitement. It was feature time.

When the initial green flag flew it only lasted momentarily as there was contact between two drivers, Jason Martin and Brett Becker, deeper in the field to turn on the yellow caution lights before a lap could be completed. Both drivers went to the work area and were able to rejoin the field.

They would try to start the race again as the green flag was back out. Carson Macedo darted into the top spot with Bill Balog not too far behind. Carson was working the bottom in the forty-one as Balog was creating speed around the top side of the track. It was Macedo leading the first lap with Balog, Haudenschild, Reutzel and Gravel close behind in the early stages of the race. The leaders were flying and quickly catching up to the rear of the field.

By lap 5, Carson was already beginning his charge through the slower traffic balancing the ballet between his left foot on the brake and right foot on the accelerator to perfection. On lap 8, while racing through lap traffic Carson had a close call as he made contact with the slowing car of Jason Martin. He recovered to maintain the lead, but he was being tracked down from behind. Sheldon Haudenschild used the traffic to his advantage as he worked by Balog into the runner-up spot and was right there with the leader now. There was no room for error.

The racing was incredible and there was some awesome wheel-to-wheel action throughout the field. The second caution flag of the night flew though on lap 19, this time for second running Sheldon Haudenschild as he slowed on the frontstretch with fluid streaming from under his car. As Sheldon was slowing off the pace, Brock Zearfoss made incidental but hard contact getting up over his right rear sending the Moose’s LZ Bar & Grill #3z to the work area.

The restart order would be Carson Macedo ahead of Aaron Reutzel with the hard-charging Ryan Timms in third followed by Bill Balog and David Gravel right behind. The leader paced the field in their side-by-side restart formation and catapulted back in to the top spot with Aaron Reutzel in the Ridge and Sons Racing (RSR) #87 directly behind and hungry to move up the scoreboard. Top speed action was quickly halted though when Jace Park flipped on the backstretch collecting Austin McCarl and Bill Rose who both sustained extensive wing damage.

While the accident was being cleaned up, Carson sat quietly in the comfort of his Fibreworks Composites carbon fiber seat with a custom Sharp Advantage insert reviewing his race strategy for the remaining 16 laps. When he led the field back to the green he would be leading Reutzel, Timms, Balog, and Gravel and showing the way out front. The green lights illuminated as Carson hustled the JJR #41 back from the top spot. He was using the clean air to his advantage as he created speed to put some distance between himself and Reutzel.

With 8 laps to go, Carson caught up to traffic again and was doing his best to keep his speed up while making clean passes. Aaron Reutzel was doing the same thing and using the slower cars to his advantage as he shrunk Macedo’s lead quite a bit with each completed lap. Soon Macedo’s lead was gone with three laps to go as Reutzel found the high side had come in to make speed with Macedo working the low side of the track. David Gravel had also moved into the mix for the lead and had the Big Game Motorsports #2 on the move. Carson heard them both and maintained his line.

On the last lap entering turn one, things got really exciting while the leaders were preparing to lap Bill Rose. Macedo raced underneath the driver of the Michael Waltrip Brewing Company #6 entering turn one. Reutzel elected to go on the outside with Gravel licking his chops looking for an opportunity somewhere. Reutzel turned down in his RSR #87 and banged wheels with Rose enabling Gravel to race by underneath to claim second. Reutzel recovered and maintained the third position as Bill Balog was pressuring him down the backstretch. David Gravel raced hard into turn three blasting around the top of the track and Carson Macedo meticulously worked the bottom in the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41. Who was going to win? It would be Carson Macedo who raced off turn four and held off the fast closing Gravel to take with win with Aaron Reutzel recovering to secure the last step of the podium.

Carson was the eighth different winner in eight World of Outlaws races this year so far. After collecting his 36th career World of Outlaws win, Carson got out of the car smiling and sharing his appreciation with his team as the confetti began to fall. With a smile lighting up his face to end a perfect night of competition, he graciously reflected, “What a great job by this JJR race team. Philip Dietz just did an incredible job, communicated well and made really good adjustments all night.” He continued, “I feel like my car was exceptional, laying down a good lap (in time trials) and just kinda took it from there. Adam Zimmerman and Robby McQuinn, they worked extremely hard and did a great job. We’re all gelling together, and the JJR team is coming together really nice.” Kudos to the Albaugh #41 team and sponsorship partners on their first series win of the year. Another great run for the forty-one!

Carson Macedo and the JJR #41 Team Cap Off a Perfect Night at Kennedale Speedway Park in the Debut of the Cowtown Roundup! 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.

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

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