OHIO TRAVELER HONORED: CARSON MACEDO RACES TO THE WIN ABOARD THE FORTY-ONE ON MEMORIAL DAY IN THE RICK FERKEL TRIBUTE EVENT RECOGNIZING A SPRINT CAR ICON AND “ORIGINAL OUTLAW” AT FREMONT SPEEDWAY

FREMONT, OHIO (May 27, 2024) – Coming off a successful weekend of racing at the southern end of Ohio at Atomic Speedway, which resulted in a second place run and a third place finish in the Xtreme Chillicothe Classic respectively on Friday and Saturday night, Carson Macedo and the Jason Johnson Racing (JJR) team headed north to Fremont Speedway for a very special race held on Memorial Day – the inaugural World of Outlaws Rick Ferkel Tribute. This event was created to honor Rick Ferkel in his home state of Ohio. A place that he was born and raised in and left peacefully 84 years later on January 1, 2024. He is gone, but his legacy and impact on the sport certainly will never be forgotten. There was an impressive field of 48 race teams registered to compete in a race that was paying tribute to a true hero of the sport and in life. It was race day at Fremont Speedway dubbed The Track That Action Built – World of Outlaws style!

Rick Ferkel, who had many nicknames ranging from the “Zero Hero” to the “Ohio Traveler” or the “Original Outlaw” around sprint car racing circles, started his career in 1965 and set out on the road in 1978 to race with a new series started by none other than Ted Johnson – the World of Outlaws. In the series third race ever, which was held at the Eldora Speedway, Rick Ferkel raced to victory against a stout field of competitors. It was just one of his many wins during his storied racing career that earned him a deserving spot in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame’s 1995 induction class. While he was a tremendous racer and competitor, what most admired and respected about him is that he was an even better person.

Rick Ferkel certainly liked to go fast in circles on dirt. Each of the driver’s would get that chance when they were speed tested in Sea Foam Qualifying. The large field of entrants were split into two equal groups, Flight 1 and Flight 2, for their two time trial laps around the 1/3-mile dirt oval located right in downtown Fremont. Carson, a day after celebrating another successful trip around the sun, was assigned to Flight 1 based on his draw and would be the 22nd driver out on the track in the Albaugh – Your Alternative/Xtreme Body and Paint/Crow Enterprizes #41 Maxim. He lined up in the staging lane eager to get up to speed. When it was his turn, Carson was joined on the track in two car qualifying by David Gravel and they both went right to work. The flagman waved the green and the second hand was measuring his performance down to the thousandths of a second. He worked his lines trying to maximize his traction on the moist surface to create the most speed possible. At the end of his first lap, he did so in 12.629 seconds. He kept the hammer down looking to pick up anything he may have missed out there the first time around. With the dirt flying he continued to do his thing. Off turn four Carson saw the checkered flag through the shield of his Bell Helmet and raced underneath it to stop the clock. The numbers on the scoreboard showed 12.596 seconds for lap two. The quicker of is two laps ended up sixth quick in Flight 1. The fastest driver of the night overall came out of Flight 1 and was David Gravel in the Billion Automotive #2 earning him the Simpson Quick Time Award.

The grandstands at Fremont were packed with fans and the pit area was bustling with activity when the lineups were posted for the four 8-lap heat races. The dirt slinging action was about to commence. Carson was set to race in the Milton Hershey School second heat race where he would get the Tarlton and Son/Factory Kahne (FK) Shocks/Motor State Distributing #41 going from the third starting spot. He was pacing alongside Helena, Ohio’s Stuart Brubaker in row two. The front row was comprised of Kalib Henry and Chris Andrews with Logan Schuchart and Bill Rose in row three. Sterling Cling and Brian Smith were featured in row four followed by Creed Kemenah, Jordyn Charge, T.J. Michael, and Jerry Dahms.

The caution lights around the facility were turned off as the field in heat two anticipated the green flag waving at the chalk stripe in turn four. Front row starters, Kalib Henry and Chris Andrews, were the first drivers to stomp on the gas with everyone else in sync. Andrews was scored your leader after lap one. Carson was running in the third position.

After lap one, the green lights around the track were quickly replaced by the red ones when Bill Rose jumped Logan Schuchart’s left rear tire attempting a pass for position and flipped wildly nose-to-tail down the frontstretch coming to rest in turn one. Bill was ok, but the car suffered severe damage.

The restart order with seven laps to go was Andrews, Henry, and Macedo as they came back to the green flag. Henry raced into the lead as Carson maneuvered underneath Chris Andrews in the first set of turns to take over the runner-up position. He was now on the move and tracking Henry to position himself to take the lead.

Just before the halfway point of the race, Carson drove the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 in low entering turn three and passed Kalib Henry for the lead. He was working the bottom lane of the track to perfection and started to extend his lead with each recorded lap.

Without any interruptions throughout the remainder of the heat race, the laps completed and counted down quickly. When the final trip around the Fremont oval ended it was Carson Macedo collecting the win by 2.347 seconds ahead of Kalib Henry, with Stuart Brubaker, Sterling Cling, and Chris Andrews rounding out the top five as each of those drivers were assured starting spots in the Rick Ferkel Tribute feature.

Making his 19th appearance in the Toyota Dash this season, Carson headed to the frontstretch to continue to test his luck drawing a number from the oversized NOS Energy Drink Draw Can. After pulling out a pill with the number five on it, he realized his luck was a little better – could have pulled a 6, 7 or 8 pill – but certainly not stellar by any means. Not sure what Carson has done to upset the shamrock guy, but you would think his fortunes must soon start to improve. These eight drivers would have six laps to race for their starting position in the feature. David Gravel and Cale Thomas sat in the front row followed by Kalib Henry and Brock Zearfoss in row two. Carson pulled the Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT) #41 to the inside of row three with ten-time World of Outlaws (WoO) Champion Donny Schatz to his outside. Cole Macedo and Sheldon Haudenschild made up row four. At the drop of the green flag it was David Gravel seizing the top spot followed by Cale Thomas. Carson used his inside starting position in row three to stay low and drive into the show position sneaking underneath Brock Zearfoss in the Moose’s LZ Bar & Grill #3z early. David Gravel was sailing in the smooth air with Thomas and Macedo chasing him in the wind. Gravel raced under the checkered flag first in the 6-lap Toyota Dash with Cale Thomas coming home second. Carson crossed the line third ahead of Zearfoss, Schatz, Cole Macedo, Haudenschild, and Henry.

The field of speed stars were now set to compete for the win in the inaugural 35-lap World of Outlaws Rick Ferkel Tribute feature at Fremont Speedway. There was only one check and one trophy set aside for the winner of the race. Every one of these 26 drivers, including the provisional starters, definitely wanted to be the first car to cross the finish line so they could earn the coveted trophy and winner’s share of the purse.

Carson would get started from the third starting position aboard the Complete Parts & Equipment Solutions/KSE Racing Products/Wilwood Racing/Sander Engineering #41. After Philip Dietz, Robby McQuinn and Adam Zimmerman completed their work, it was time for Carson to do his work from the comfort of his cockpit office space in his Maxim Racing machine. The talented racer was buckled into his Crow Enterprizes safety belts ready to rock and roll.

After all of the pre-race ceremonies concluded, it was time to go racing at Fremont Speedway. The front row of David Gravel and Cale Thomas led the field off turn four and down the front straightaway. But it was Carson Macedo powering out of his third starting position and driving under both of them through the first set of turns to take the top spot and lead lap one. David Gravel was in second with Cale Thomas in third.

With only one lap in the books, the first caution flag of the feature flew for Zeth Sabo you spun in turn two. Carson chose the inside lane for the restart and would lead the field back to green flag racing with Gravel and Thomas in tow. Behind those two it was Cole Macedo running in the fourth position in the Honest Abe’s Roofing #16T. The next time by Cole passed Cale Thomas to take over the third spot.

By lap 6, Carson had caught up to the back of the field and would now need to not only outrun those chasing him, but also navigate through the slower cars at speed. He was doing his job masterfully as Carson put three slower cars between himself and second running Gravel before another caution flag flew on lap 8, this time for Parker Price-Miller who slowed and headed to the pit area after making contact with Zeth Sabo.

The green lights were turned on again, but they were quickly replaced by red ones for a multi-car accident on the restart ending with Sterling Cling flipping off turn four. Also caught up in the melee was Stuart Brubaker and Joel Myers Jr. It would be a single file restart this time by as Carson led everyone back up to speed. David Gravel was right behind keeping the pressure on the driver of the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 for the lead.

They got two more laps in before racing was halted again on lap 10 for Sterling Cling who flipped in turn two. He was ok, but his night of competition was over. Using this as an opportunity to refuel the cars, officials called an “Open Red” as the crews headed out on the track. Philip and the JJR #41 team checked with their driver and just added fuel to their fast hotrod.

It would be Carson Macedo leading David Gravel, Cole Macedo, Cale Thomas, and Donny Schatz when they went back racing. This time they were able to circle Fremont four more times, but on lap 14 the red flag was back out when Zane DeVault got up over Trey Jacobs right rear Hoosier Racing Tire as he flipped in turn three. He, too, was ok.

They would try this again as the engine re-fired. The green flag was back out again with Carson racing out to the lead when they got back up to speed ahead of Gravel and his brother Cole Macedo. Another four laps completed, another race interruption. The yellow flag was now out on lap 18 for Brandon Spithaler who spun in front of the leaders. There was no change at the front of the pack as the top three in the running order was the same. But now in fourth was 18th starting Bill Balog who had charged through the field with Donny Schatz running in fifth.

Race officials determined it would be single file restarts from here on out as Carson stomped on the gas to start the race again. He had the Albaugh – Your Alternative speed machine moving as he started to put a lot of space between himself and the second place running Gravel. When Carson reached the back of the field again he meticulous moved around them up high, down low, or through the middle. Wherever the opening was he took advantage of it.

Carson had built a comfortable lead over David Gravel with the white flag waving. But that gap would be eliminated when the final caution flag of the night flew for the #68 of Tyler Gunn who was stopped outside of turn four. It would be a green-white-checkered restart with Carson Macedo having to fend off the current World of Outlaws point leader, David Gravel, and his brother Cole Macedo if he wanted to win. The driver of the JJR #41 pedaled down and led the field back into turn one. Carson was poised and raced clean lines the remaining two laps, leading wire-to-wire, to earn his second win of the season. He crossed the finish line ahead of David Gravel, Cole Macedo, Bill Balog and Buddy Kofoid who rounded out the top five. The team’s consistency continued and culminated in that elusive second win of the season and Carson’s 37th career series victory.

The victorious driver of the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 entry shared” I am just really proud of this race team. It feels really good to get a win. It’s been a little while. It’s definitely not easy to win these World of Outlaws races, so you’ve got to cherish them when you get them.” He continued, “We hadn’t won in a little while, but we’d been really consistent and really close. We had nights where we almost won, lost on the last lap, things like that. I knew that we had the potential in us. We just had to put it all together. I feel like tonight we did.” Another great run for Macedo and the forty-one!

Leading Wire-to-Wire at Fremont Speedway on Memorial Day in the Rick Ferkel Tribute! 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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