MOMENTUM CONTINUES: THE YOSEMITE SHOWDOWN IS FILLED WITH ACTION AT MERCED SPEEDWAY AS CARSON MACEDO DRIVES THE MESILLA VALLEY TRANSPORTATION (MVT) #41 TO ANOTHER PODIUM FINISH

MERCED, CALIFORNIA (September 14, 2024) – When the engines quieted following the highly entertaining Nashville West Showdown held at Bakersfield Speedway on Friday night, Carson and the Jason Johnson Racing (JJR) #41 team loaded up the hauler after their third place podium run and set their GPS to take them to Merced Speedway. Merced is located almost three hours from Bakersfield in the northern part of the Central Valley. The team was enroute to race on Saturday evening in the Federated Auto Parts Yosemite Showdown at the quarter mile, semi-banked bullring that is situated on the Merced County Fairgrounds. Carson was looking to keep his performance, consistency, and speed a priority when the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 team unloaded to prepare for the night of racing competition. There was a total of 33 410 sprint car teams parked throughout the pit area situated off turn three. Each of the teams and drivers were ready to put on another quality show for the fans in The Golden State. It was race day at Merced Speedway – World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink style!

After hotlaps, where each of the drivers get to spin a few laps around the track to test the track’s surface and their setups, it was time for Sea Foam Qualifying. Each driver would get two laps against the clock to lay down their quickest lap during their session. Where they would go out for those laps was determined by random draw before the night of racing began through the pill draw. Carson would be the 21st speed chauffeur out on the track driving the Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT)/Scott Boyd Family/Saldana Racing Products #41 Maxim. When Donny Schatz sped across the finish line to complete his work, Carson fired up the Kistler Engines power and built up his speed as he headed towards the waving green flag to start his individual session. He broke through the timing light as the numbers started to race by on the clock as he worked his way through the first set of turns and down the backstretch. The homegrown racer who cut his teeth here in the area raced off turn four and stopped the clock on lap one at 10.440 seconds. Carson was hammer down though trying to better his efforts the next time around. Creating speed in these sprint cars is a fine balance between precision and insanity, but that is what makes these drivers amazing professionals. He blasted the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 into turn three carry his speed and momentum through the exit of turn four and down the front straightaway. When the crossed under the checkered flag his second lap was recorded in 10.494 seconds. The quicker of his two speed sessions ended up second overall on the speed charts for the night. The Simpson Quick Time Award recipient was Buddy Kofoid in the Roth Motorsports/Mobil 1 #83 who clocked an impressive lap in 10.387 seconds to outpace Carson by a mere 0.053 seconds.

Using each driver’s best lap they recorded in time trials, the WoO Timing and Scoring Officials at the Command Center sorted out the starting lineups for the four 10-lap heat races. When they were posted, Carson would get the Border International/BR Motorsports/High Performance Lubricants #41 started from the pole position on the inside of the front row in the second heat race. He would pull the forty-one up alongside Giovanni Scelzi’s KCP Racing/Logan Contractors Supply, Inc. #18 as they lined up in the traditional two-by-two starting formation for the beginning of the race. Bill Balog shared row two with Dominic Scelzi as Donny Schatz and Dylan Bloomfield were side-by-side in row three. In the fourth and final row it was the California duo of Caeden Steele and Tanner Carrick.

The high speed athletes were nose-to-tail as they approached the chalk stripe in turn four. When they arrived the ordered turned to chaos as they all got up to speed quickly. Carson quickly drove the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 into the lead ahead of the Scelzi brothers as Giovanni was working hard to fend off the hard charging Dominic.

Dominic would work his way into the runner-up position with Bill Balog following him by Giovanni Scelzi. Carson was checking out up front making his way around the top side if the track where he could stay in the gas and ride around the cushion. But, Bill Balog was quietly working the bottom and closing in slightly when the white flag waved.

Carson did not look back as he raced to the heat race win with Bill Balog coming home second. Dominic Scelzi had a great run to finish third with Giovanni Scelzi and Donny Schatz rounding out the top five.

For the 38th time this season in World of Outlaws competition, Carson moved the Albaugh – Your Alternative/FK Rod Ends/Premium Coach Group #41 Maxim into the 8-lap Toyota Dash where he would get start from the outside of row two from the fourth spot. He shared that row with D.J. Netto #88N as they paced behind the front row starters of Tim Kaeding #0 and Buddy Kofoid #83. Cole Macedo #21 pulled to the inside of row three with Bill Balog #17B off to his right. The final row, row four, had a pair of 17s – Jamie Veal #17AU and Sheldon Haudenschild #17. These eight drivers were all aligned and ready to go. The green flag was waving as they exited turn four with all the fun and games turning into an all hands on deck battle for position. Tim Kaeding led the first lap ahead of Kofoid, Netto, and Carson in the forty-one. But, the next time around it was Buddy Kofoid moving into the lead with Kaeding, Netto, and Carson chasing. Running in fifth was Sheldon Haudenschild up from his eighth starting position. Up front, Buddy Kofoid had checked out as he was all alone with Kaeding off in the distance. Further back was Netto as a three car battle was heating up for fourth between Carson, Bill Balog, and Sheldon Haudenschild. It was close and with two laps to go Balog looked low for a way by Macedo, but off the turn got tapped on the rear by Sheldon Haudenschild sending him spinning around. He was able to keep it fired and kept going. Buddy Kofoid collected the win over Tim Kaeding and D.J. Netto with Carson Macedo coming home fourth, Sheldon Haudenschild finished fifth followed by Cole Macedo, Jamie Veal, and Bill Balog.  

The starting grid was now set for the running of the 35-lap Federated Auto Parts Yosemite Showdown at Merced Speedway. Carson was pacing from his fourth starting spot in the Tarlton and Son/Bandy and Associates/Walker Performance Filtration #41 Maxim. He was joined in row two by Fresno, California’s D.J. Netto #88N. Two other Californians would pace the field from row one as Buddy Kofoid #83 and Tim Kaeding #0 led the field before the traditional four-wide salute to the fans.

When all of the pre-race festivities concluded and the yellow lights were turned off around the track it was ‘go time’. Polesitter Buddy Kofoid in the Roth Motorsports/Mobil 1 #83 was the first to drop his right foot along with second starting Tim Kaeding as they raced down the frontstretch towards turn one to open the feature.

Kofoid led the first circuit with Kaeding scored in second. Carson moved the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 up to third with D.J. Netto and Cole Macedo running in the top five.

The first caution flag of the night flew on lap 4 for Kraig Kinser who spun off turn four with the leaders quickly approaching. Buddy Kofoid would lead the field back to the green with 31 laps to go as he was followed by Kaeding and the driver of the forty-one.

The drivers were able to get three more laps in before the yellow was back out on lap 7, this time for Ryan Bernal #73 who was stopped up in the turn as he was pushed back to the pit area. The green flag was back out with 28 laps to go as Kofoid reclaimed the top spot followed by Kaeding and Netto who used the outside lane on the restart to race ahead of Carson.

The caution flag was back out again on lap 9 for Chance Grasty #X1 and Dominic Scelzi #41S who both had issues after making contact with Sheldon Haudenschild who got sideways between turns one and two.

When they went back to green it was the Roth Enterprises #83 back out front as Carson drove into second. But before a lap could be completed, the red flag was thrown pausing all of the action when eleventh running Landon Brooks made contact with the outside wall on the front straightaway and he flipped end-over-end. He was ok.

After an open red flag period, the horn sounded for crew members to finish up and exit the track before the engines re-fired. It would be a single file restart with 26 laps left in the race. The flagman waved the green flag again with Buddy Kofoid darting off into the clean air again ahead of Kaeding, Netto, and the Macedo brothers. Carson raced into third as he made his way around Netto.

The race went non-stop for the balance as the leaders navigated the lap traffic and acclimated to the changing track conditions. Buddy Kofoid raced to the win over Tim Kaeding with Carson Macedo coming home third aboard the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41. D.J. Netto finished fourth as Cole Macedo drove the Tarlton and Son #21 to a fifth place finish. Another good run for the forty-one!

Mapping His Way Forward During the Federated Auto Parts Yosemite Showdown at Merced Speedway! Photo Credit: Trent Gower 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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