CRUISING IN CABARRUS COUNTY: A FRIDAY NIGHT SPEED SHOW AT THE DIRT TRACK OF CHARLOTTE NETS CARSON MACEDO AND THE FORTY-ONE TEAM AN ELEVENTH PLACE FINISH AT THE NOS ENERGY DRINK WORLD FINALS

CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA (November 3, 2023) – When the red dirt settled back down to Earth following Thursday night’s lid lifter at the 2023 edition of the NOS Energy Drink World Finals, where Carson Macedo and the JJR #41 team secured a podium finish with a third place run earning a total of 144 points which he carried forward to Friday, it was time to re-focus and prepare for some more high speed battles on Friday at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. Each of the team haulers stayed parked throughout the pit areas so the crews had to return to the track to clean up their equipment and complete their daily maintenance routines on their sprint cars to prep for another night of competitive action. The sun was shining and the spirits were high as the competitors and teams anticipated and readied themselves for another night of high speed entertainment and action at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. There were again 53 sprint cars on hand to compete for the victor’s honors and add some more of those coveted points to their point totals.   

With time trials for the night being completed on Wednesday night for the Friday show, it would be all multi-car competition beginning with heat races on Friday late afternoon. A look back at Carson Macedo’s results in time trials for the Friday portion of the show, which was split into two separate groups, reflected that he was the 24th competitor to get on the gas for his two timed laps in Low-E Insulation Qualifying. He was buckled in and ready to go when it was his turn to test the limits of his speedster against the fast moving clock. The cushion was right up against the fence and that was the fast line too. The aggressive California racer was out on the track with Wout Hoffmans #17H to calibrate his speed against the stopwatch. When he received the signal to enter the track into turn three he flipped the shield down on his Bell Helmet and went to work. From of the comfort of his office situated inside his Maxim Racing machine, Carson got up to speed as he raced underneath the waving green flag. The numbers on that stop watch were moving so darn quick, but fortunately he was up to the task of trying to outrace them. Only time would tell, literally, and when Carson completed lap one he did so in 14.484 seconds in the Boltz Family/Liquid Trucking/BR Motorsports #41. Unbeknownst to him what the numbers were for his first circuit, Carson stayed on the accelerator looking to see if he could squeeze anything out of his car or himself to improve on his initial effort. He did his best to finish slightly slower on lap two at 14.852 seconds. The better lap of his two attempts put Carson seventh quick overall in Group A in the final qualifying order for Friday night’s show. Brent Marks in the M&M Painting and Construction #19 sat atop the speed charts out of Group B for Friday’s show with a quick lap in 14.149 seconds to earn the Simpson Quick Time Award.

The World of Outlaws Time & Scoring Officials had the starting lineups set for each of the four 8-lap heat races set. When scanning the lineups, Carson would get a shot to start from the outside of row two in the Bandy & Associates/Winters Performance Products/All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads #41 Maxim where he would pace beside fellow Californian Rico Abreu in the Rothwell Hyde Napa Valley #24. Scanning the lineup revealed an extremely talented group of racers that included David Gravel and Chase Randall ahead of Macedo and Abreu in the front row. Behind them was Spencer Bayston that was starting in the fifth spot with Cole Macedo in the Dietz Motorsports #14 sharing row three with the driver of the CJB #5. Row four found Brock Zearfoss and Tanner Holmes with Sam Hafertepe Jr. and Noah Gass in row five. In row six it was Lance Moss and Wout Hoffmans with Matt Farnham by himself in row seven.

There were five coveted transfer spots up for grabs for each of the drivers with the winner and runner-up also earning an opportunity to race for their feature starting spot in the Toyota Dash later in the evening. The front row of David Gravel and Chase Randall paced the starting field in heat one slowly down the backstretch and into turn three. When they exited turn four they accelerated and sped down the frontstretch into the first set of turns. It was third starting Rico Abreu blasting into the lead off turn two with Chase Randall following him past polesitter David Gravel. Carson had the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 right behind Gravel in the fourth spot with Cole Macedo coming fast in the Dietz Motorsports #14. The Macedo brothers would battle early with Carson eventually keeping control of the fourth spot on the racing surface. Rico Abreu had a fast hot rod and raced to a dominant heat race win over Chase Randall and David Gravel. Carson Macedo came home fourth with Cole Macedo locking down the fifth and final transfer position out of the first heat race.

After missing out on the Toyota Dash and with all of the qualifying in the books, the 28 car field, including the provisional starters, was set for Friday night’s $15,000-to-win, 25-lap NOS Energy Drink World Finals feature at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. The first three rows would look like this – Brent Marks and Tyler Courtney were perched in the front row with Brian Brown and Justin Henderson rolling behind in row two. Justin Peck was pacing alongside Rico Abreu in row three with Carson Macedo ready to get rolling from the 13th starting position aboard the Albaugh – Your Alternative/WELD Racing/Pro Powder Coating (PPC) #41 Maxim.

The field was set. The drivers were ready. The fans were on their feet. It was time to go racing World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series style at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. The flagman unfurled the green cloth as the front row starters hit the chalk stripe and the southern air in North Carolina was smothered with the sweet powerful sound of sprint cars. Brent Marks jumped into the early lead just ahead Tyler Courtney. Carson Macedo was racing back in the dirty air trying to get in sync throughout the early laps of the race wheeling the Tarlton and Son #41 inside the top 15 spots in the running order. He had a fast race car and was balancing his patience with the need to get on the move during the early stages of the race.

The race up front was an exciting three way battle between Brent Marks, Tyler Courtney and a hard-charging Justin Peck. Courtney had wrestled the lead away from Marks on lap 10, but he only was able to fend off Peck for three laps before surrendering the top spot to the driver of the Pella Windows #13. At the halfway point of the race it was Justin Peck out front with Courtney and Marks lurking. Carson was still hard at work running in the 12th position. Meanwhile, Brent Marks found some mid-race speed and raced back into the lead on lap 15. The driver from Myerstown, Pennsylvania was up on the wheel and would not be denied as he raced under the checkered flag first following closely across the finish line by Justin Peck and Tyler Courtney. Brad Sweet raced home fourth with James McFadden rounding out the top five.

Carson raced home to an eleventh place finish. With the heat still coming off his Schoenfeld Headers following the feature he pulled back into his pit stall and by virtue of his 11th place finish in the feature earned 128 points for the night of action. When combining the points he earned in Thursday night’s show (144 points) with those he added to it on Friday night (128 points), Carson had an accumulated point total of 272 points, which positioned him seventh overall in event points heading into Saturday night’s action. That would lock him into an outside front row starting spot in the third of four heat races to start Saturday night’s festivities under the stars near the Queen City of Charlotte.

If you can’t be at the track, be sure to tune in on DIRTVision to watch the final race of the 2023 World of Outlaws season!

Carson Macedo and the Jason Johnson Racing (JJR) #41 Sprint Car Team Put Together a Solid Effort Which Nets an 11th Place Finish on the Second Night at the World Finals! Photo Credit: Trent Gower Photography

Albaugh, LLC; Border International; Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT); Saich Family; Tarlton and Son Inc.; Boltz Family; Complete Parts & Equipment Solutions; Durst Inc.; Liquid Trucking; Bandy & Associates Accountancy Corporation; Buckwalter Trucking, LLC; Jansen Transportation; Larry Davis Farms; Meyers Constructors Inc.; Mr. Jim’s Racing; RaceDiecast.com; Sam I Am; Team Jack Foundation; Mark Burch Motorsports; T-FAB Custom Metal Fabrication; Tiger Towing; All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads; AutoMeter; Bell Helmets; BMRS (Brown & Miller Racing Solutions); BR Motorsports; C&R Racing; Crow Enterprizes; Engler Machine & Tool, Inc.; Factory Kahne (FK Shocks); Fibreworks Composites; FK Rod Ends; Greber Racing Components; High Performance Lubricants, LLC; Hoosier Racing Tire; Indy Performance Composites (IPC); ISC Racers Tape; K1 Race Gear; Kistler Racing Engines; KSE Racing Products; Maxim Racing; Motor State Distributing; Premium Coach Group; Pro Powder Coating (PPC); Saldana Racing Products; Schoenfeld Headers; Smith Titanium; Vortex Racing Products; Walker Performance Filtration; Weld Racing; Wilwood Racing; Winters Performance Products; and, Xtreme Body and Paint.

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

To stay up-to-date with Carson Macedo and his success journey on and off the track, as well as to purchase his gear and merchandise directly, visit www.carsonmacedoracing.com.