BACK IN THE GROOVE: SPRINTING AROUND THE GROVE IN THE FINALE OF THE HVAC DISTRIBUTORS MORGAN CUP RESULTS TO A SIXTH PLACE RUN FOR THE LEMOORE, CALIFORNIA WHEELMAN ABOARD THE ALBAUGH – YOUR ALTERNATIVE #41

MECHANICSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA (May 9, 2026) – When the race officials turned the lights off around Williams Grove Speedway on Friday night following an exciting night of high speed action that saw Carson Macedo drive the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 to an eighth place finish in the opening night at the Morgan Cup, it was time to do it all over again on Saturday. Same place . . . albeit a little moister after rain most of the morning through mid-afternoon. Same time. Same field of talented sprint car drivers that featured local stars representing the PA Posse as well as the World of Outlaws (WoO) traveling tour of invaders. Williams Grove is one of those iconic tracks that has so much history and something mystical about it. There is the famous bridge that crosses the back straightaway, the paper clipped shape of the track with long straightaways and pinched corners, some rabid and knowledgeable sprint car fans that inhabit the stands outside of turn three known as the Beer Hill Gang, and a winners list riddled with names like Adamson, Dewease, Hinnershitz, Kinser, Lasoski, Hodnett, Tilley, and Rahmer just to name a few. Carson Macedo and Jason Johnson are lucky enough to be on that list too as they each have four wins at ‘The Grove’ with Macedo winning the National Open two times in 2021 and 2024. There were 40 drivers signed in hoping to add to their names to the list or increase their win totals if their names were already listed. It was race day at Williams Grove Speedway for the final night of the HVAC Distributors Morgan Cup.

With the large field of cars on hand, the field split into smaller groups for Race//Ready Hot Laps. Each driver gets a few laps around this place to evaluate their setup in preparation for Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying. Slated to be the 16th driver out on the track for his time trial laps in Flight A, Carson buckled his Crow Enterprizes safety belts to secure him into his Fibreworks Composites seat. Doug Hammaker in the J&S Classics #22 joined Macedo out on the track in two car qualifying. The Lemoore, California driver was up to speed when he raced under the waving green flag to start his session in the Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT)/T-FAB Custom Metal Fabrication/PWR Advanced Cooling Technology #41 Maxim. It is all about speed and precision with the goal of leaving not even a thousandth of a second behind. When Carson tripped through the timing light at the start finish line to end his first lap the clock read 17.006 seconds. He kept his foot planted and elbows up the next time around turning his final qualifying lap in 16.952 seconds. Carson’s second lap was the quicker of his two attempts positioning him 13th quick overall in Flight A to start the night. David Gravel #2 turned a lap of 16.431 seconds to set quick time in Flight A, which was also the quickest lap overall to earn another Simpson Quick Time Award. The fastest driver in Flight B with a lap of 16.897 seconds was Justin Whittall #67G.

It was now time for the four 8-lap Heat Races in the race for the five transfer drivers in each of the qualifying races. When scanning the lineups Carson would start from row four beside Logan Rumsey #41R in NOS Energy Drink Heat Race #1. They were sandwiched between Cameron Smith #75 and Garet Williamson #23 in row three and T.J Stutts #11and Conner Morrell #28M in row five. David Gravel #2 and Troy Wagaman Jr. #27W led the field from the front row with Doug Hammaker #22 and Brent Shearer #12 pacing in row two.

Primed and ready to go, Carson had some work to do around the historic half mile oval. When the front row started peeking out of turn for the race was on down the long front straightaway. David Gravel darted into the race lead with Wagaman Jr. right behind. Carson was stuck back in the pack coming down the front straightaway but drove the Durst Inc./Sander Engineering/Wilwood #41 hard into the low side of turn one hugging the low side and working underneath both Garet Williamson and Cameron Smith. Running in the fifth spot he went to the high side entering turn one and around Brent Shearer to take over fourth. Shearer then was off the pace bringing out the caution flag.

David Gravel and Troy Wagaman Jr. would line up beside each other with Carson pulling the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 to his outside for the restart. When the green lights turned back on he powered into the show position behind Gravel and Wagaman Jr.

Gravel drove the Big Game Motorsports #2 into a different zip code over the remaining laps taking the Heat race win by 3.736 seconds over Troy Wagaman Jr. as they would advance into the Toyota Dash. Carson made a terrific recovery from a challenging time trial session to finish third with Garet Williamson and Cameron Smith securing the last two transfer positions to the A-Main.

The grid was set for the 30-lap HVAC Distributors Morgan Cup finale at Williams Grove Speedway. After the Toyota Dash, Friday night’s winner Kasey Kahne in the Macri Motorsports #39M and David Gravel in the Big Game Motorsports #2 were at the head of the field with an all-PA Posse row two featuring Freddie Rahmer #51B and Justin Whittall #67G behind them. Troy Wagaman Jr. #27W and Sheldon Haudenschild #18 shared row three with Ashton Torgerson #99M and Chad Trout #1X side-by-side in row four.

Poised and focused, Carson was rolling in his ninth starting position aboard the Albaugh – Your Alternative/Durst Inc./Wilwood Racing #41 Maxim ready to drive forward. Joining him in row five was “The North Pole Nightmare” Bill Balog behind the wheel of the Anderson’s Pure Maple Syrup #17B.

It was time to go racing at Williams Grove Speedway! The next time by the flagstand the green lights turned on and the silence of the night filled with the ambient roar of sprint car engines. David Gravel powered from his outside front row starting spot into the early race lead with Kasey Kahne and Justin Whittall in chase mode as Troy Wagaman Jr. and Freddie Rahmer ran in the next two positions to round out the top five.

Carson maintained his starting spot on the opening lap as he was running in ninth chasing after Chad Trout. It took him until lap 6 to move by him as he raced around the top in turn two and blasted by the PA Posse member down the back straightaway.

The Lemoore, California driver then turned his attention towards Ashton Torgerson in the Moody Motorsports #99M who was holding down the seventh spot in the running order with Gravel building his lead out in front of the pack. Carson would get close but just could not make the past. It appeared he had the faster car, but the 99M was quick too. Then on lap 25 Carson made the move to take over seventh place.

The next time by he gained another position as he climbed into sixth place after passing Freddie Rahmer for the position. David Gravel was on a mission and had a huge lead over second place running Justin Whittall, but the talented Vincentown, New Jersey driver was closing the gap on the leader late in the race.

David Gravel was the first driver to race under the waving checkered flag with Justin Whittall coming home second and Troy Wagaman Jr. crossing the finish line third. Sheldon Haudenschild finished fourth with Kasey Kahne holding off Carson to complete the top five. Carson secured sixth with Freddie Rahmer, Ashton Torgerson, Danny Dietrich, and Bill Balog rounding out the top ten on the final night of the Morgan Cup. Another good run for Macedo and the forty-one!

After weather short circuited the initial visit a two weekends ago, Carson Macedo and the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series stars will head back to the “Buckeye State” next weekend for two nights for the #LetsRaceTwo event at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway on Friday (5/16) and Saturday (5/16). This is a cannot miss event and track, but if your plans are not taking you in that direction tune into DIRTVision so you can at least watch the best in the business do their things at one of the elite tracks in the country.

Showing a Little California Tenacity in the Finale of the Morgan Cup at Williams Grove! Cameron Saich – CS Productions

JJR’s Valued Sponsorship Partners for 2026: 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); 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; CASM Safety Products; Crow Enterprizes; CS Productions; Dale “Mickey” Snyder; Engler Machine & Tool, Inc.; Factory Kahne (FK Shocks); Fibreworks Composites; FK Rod Ends; Greber Racing Components (GRC); Hoosier Racing Tire; ISC Racers Tape; Jansen Transportation; K1 Race Gear; KSE Racing Products; LogoDaddy; Motor State Distributing; Mr. Jim’s Racing; Prime Composite Innovations; PWR Advanced Cooling Technology; Saldana Racing Products; Sam I Am; Schoenfeld Headers; Smiley’s Racing Products; 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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