EXPEDITIOUS AT ELDORA: A PODIUM RUN FOR CARSON MACEDO AND THE FORTY-ONE TEAM AT “THE HOUSE THAT EARL BUILT” CAPS OFF TWO NIGHTS OF HIGH SPEED ACTION IN THE OUTLAWS #LETSRACETWO EVENT

ROSSBURG, OHIO (May 4, 2024) – After pushing the pace on Friday night at Eldora Speedway and coming home with a fifth place finish, Carson Macedo and the JJR #41 team were back in the pit area at “The House that Earl Built” in the middle of the cornfields of Northeast Ohio for the final night of the #LetsRaceTwo event. This high banked, fast half-mile dirt speed ring is a really exciting race track to compete on, but my goodness it also magnifies even the smallest mistake by the drives or if the crew missed the setup by just an iota. The driver of the Albaugh – Your Alternative entry had his game face on and was ready for some Saturday night fun aboard the forty-one as they walked into the pit area through the famous The Love Tunnel – Eddie Gossage Tunnel! There were 33 sprint car teams lined up throughout the pit area finalizing their game plans for the final night of action in the #LetsRaceTwo event at Eldora Speedway.

For the drivers, there is no time to waste as they have to get their giddy-up on during their two timed laps in Sea Foam Qualifying as it stages the field for the night of action. Carson, your 2019 World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year winner, would be the 32nd of 33 drivers to buckle up and take off as he paced himself down the back chute heading towards the flagstand. He raced off turn four with speed and tripped the timing light as the thousandths of a second started to race by on the stopwatch. Carson was through the first set of turns and already down the back straightway and was motoring through the last set of turns. He stopped the clock on lap one in 13.584 seconds. Never hesitating, the Lemoore, California driver kept his momentum moving in fast forward on lap two. The Kistler Engines power under the hood was roaring around Eldora. When Carson exited the last turn on his final lap, the Scott Boyd Family/High Performance Lubricants/KSE Racing Products #41 bolted like a rocket under the waving checkered flag to end his qualifying session. His second lap was clocked at 13.671 seconds. The better of his two laps ended the night 11th quick overall. Earning the Simpson Quick Time Award for the second night in the row was David Gravel in the Big Game Motorsports #2 who raced around Eldora in 13.200 seconds.

The lineups were put together based on each driver’s best lap time for the four 8-lap heat races where the top five finishers would earn automatic transfers to the feature event later in the evening. The winner and runner-up finishers from each heat race would advance into the dash to race for their feature starting position. Carson Macedo would be in the third heat race where he would get started from the inside of row two alongside Danny Sams III. Those two were behind the front row of Giovanni Scelzi and Logan Schuchart. Landon Crawley and Nate Dussel were found in row three with Brady Bacon and Greg Wilson in row four.

Polesitter, Giovanni Scelzi, gassed it up when he hit the chalk stripe laid across turn four and drove into the lead ahead of Schuchart and Macedo. Carson slid into second in turns one and two, but Schuchart patiently waited and turned his Shark Racing #1s back underneath him to regain the runner-up position.

The next time around Carson continued to stay in Schuchart’s tire tracks and made the pass for position stick as he took control of the second position. Giovanni Scelzi was leading and had quite a bit of space between himself and second running Macedo, but the race was on as Schuchart was still in contention running in third.

Giovanni Scelzi ripped to the victory by 1.812 seconds with Carson bringing the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 home second to advance to the dash. Logan Schuchart came home third with Landon Crawley and Danny Sams III locking down the final three transfer positions.

Carson earned a shot in the 6-lap Toyota Dash for the 13th time this season, a 72.22% success rate, where he would draw the ‘7’ pill. That placed him on the inside of row four beside Brock Zearfoss in the Moose’s LZ Bar & Grill #3z. Skylar Gee and David Gravel were on the front row with Emerson Axsom and Buddy Kofoid in row two. Donny Schatz and Giovanni Scelzi paced from row three.

David Gravel raced into the lead when the green flag was displayed with Buddy Kofoid scooting into the second spot. Carson was working hard trying to gain a position in the running order running in the seventh spot. On lap 3, Macedo drove the Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT) #41 by Emerson Axsom into sixth.

David Gravel dominated the dash taking the win over Kofoid, Gee and Schatz with Scelzi coming home fifth. Carson’s made his pass stick coming home sixth and gaining a row for the start of the feature. Brock Zearfoss and Emerson Axsom rounded out the finishing order finishing seventh and eighth respectively.

The final piece of the puzzle for the night for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series competitors was the 30-lap #LetsRaceTwo feature finale. The push trucks finished manicuring the surface and pulled down into the staging lane with their safety lights blinking waiting to push start the competitors.

Carson Macedo earned the right to begin the race from the sixth starting position located in row three. That positioned him beside Giovanni Scelzi’s KCP Racing #18 as they slowly paced side-by-side waiting for the sign to go four-wide. Out of turn four the 24 car field of stars spread into their famous formation as a thank you to the fans in the stands and tuned in on DIRTVision. It was time to go racing, World of Outlaws style, at Eldora Speedway!

The yellow lights were turned off as the field paced towards turn four. Upon arrival, the front row of David Gravel and Buddy Kofoid could see the flagman unleashing the green flag to start the race. David Gravel drove the Billion Automotive #2 and led the opening lap. He was racing side-by-side with Kofoid as they were putting on a show early at the front of the pack with action occurring throughout the entire field.

Carson Macedo had the Albaugh – Your Alternative/Pro Powder Coating (PPC)/CASM Safety Products #41 Maxim running in the fifth position pressuring Skylar Gee for the spot on the scoreboard ahead of him. On lap 4, Macedo made his way into that position as he raced around him in turn two.

On lap 8, David Gravel and the leaders starting to work their way through lap traffic. Carson was using that traffic to his advantage as he was closing in on Buddy Kofoid in the Roth Motorsports #83. Three laps later Carson was right there and made the pass into the show position.

David Gravel was still leading but Donny Schatz was pressuring him for the top position. On lap 14, Schatz rolled by Gravel and took the lead at the start/finish line. The driver of the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) #15 stayed focused and was maneuvering through traffic.

On lap 17, the first caution flag of the night came out for Kalib Henry who slowed on the backstretch. The running order was Donny Schatz followed by David Gravel, Carson Macedo, Giovanni Scelzi and Logan Schuchart.

With 13 laps to go, the green flag was back out with Schatz bringing the field back up to speed. David Gravel used the restart as an opportunity to charge back into the lead. He wasted no time building his lead in clean air and had his #2 moving and grooving.

With 8 laps to go, David Gravel was back in slower traffic with Schatz closing and Macedo running third. The ten-time WoO champion was closing in quickly on the leader and it was about to get good. With 3 lap s to go, Schatz made his way by Gravel again to regain the lead. At the same time, Giovanni Scelzi moved by Carson to claim the third spot.

With two laps to go, the red flag was thrown when Bryce Lucius flipped in turns one and two. It would be a green-white-checkered finish with Schatz leading Gravel and the field back up to speed in a race to see who would win the $12,000 winner’s share. Donny Schatz had the lead, but Gravel wanted it. They exchanged the lead back and forth and on the last lap, last turn David Gravel made his way by Schatz back into the lead. Gravel won his fifth race of the year as Schatz came home second with Carson Macedo rounding out the podium.

Working Hard from Start-to-Finish Yields a Podium Run in the Finale of #LetsRaceTwo at Eldora! 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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