ON STAGE NEAR MOUNT RUSHMORE: CARSON AND THE TEAM OVERCOME ADVERSITY – TWICE – AFTER SHREDDING TWO RIGHT REAR TIRES TO COME HOME WITH A SEVENTH PLACE FINISH AT BLACK HILLS SPEEDWAY

RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA (August 29, 2021) – With no rest for the weary, team owner and crew chief Philip Dietz led the JJR #41 team westward after Friday night’s action was completed in Nebraska as they headed to Rapid City, South Dakota to race at Black Hills Speedway in the Rushmore Outlaw Showdown. The stop in the state where Gutzon Borglum created his fantastic and iconic mountain sculpture of four United States presidents – George Washington (1st president), Abraham Lincoln (16th president), Thomas Jefferson (3rd president), and Theodore Roosevelt (26th president) – is an important stop along the way as the NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series’ tour navigates towards the West Coast for the first time since 2019. Black Hills Speedway is a big half-mile oval off Route 44 in Outlaw country, located just east of the Black Hills National Forest. After two consecutive podium finishes, Carson Macedo was looking to defend his place in the winner’s circle as he won the last WoO race here in 2019 when he was driving the Kyle Larson Racing (KLR) #2. On Sunday, there were only 19 drivers signed into the pits ready to get rolling and put on a show in South Dakota.

With a single group for time trials in Slick Woody’s Qualifying, Carson Macedo would be the last driver out onto the track in the Jonestown KOA/Meyers Constructors/AutoMeter #41 Maxim for his two laps at speed. Back on August 24, 2019, David Gravel aboard the JJR #41 established the one-lap track record with a time of 14.824 seconds. When it was Carson’s turn to roll onto the track, his Kistler Engines power came to life and the ponies were at full stride when he took the green flag. The seconds were passing by quickly on the stopwatch that was measuring his performance. He kept his right foot planted and when he crossed the timing stripe after lap one the clock read 15.492 seconds, which catapulted him to third on the speed charts. The determined driver was looking to maximize his efforts the next time around in search of any time savings he could find. Lap two came in slightly slower at 15.513 seconds. The faster of his two laps would be his marker for the remainder of the night as he was third quick overall at Black Hills Speedway. Donny Schatz was the quickest overall with a lap of 15.414 seconds.

World of Outlaws timing and scoring officials were hard at work putting together the starting lineups for the two 8-lap Drydene Heat Races. Carson’s time trial qualifying effort position the Tarlton and Son/Complete Parts & Equipment Solutions/Engler Machine & Tool #41 Maxim on the outside of the front row beside Donny Schatz in the first and fastest heat race by time trial results. David Gravel and Jacob Allen made up row two, with James McFadden and Kasey Kahne in row three. Zach Patterson, Adam Speckman. Shad Petersen, and Bill Deay filled in the remaining two rows. The top two headed to the dash with the remaining finishers vying for their spot in the Drydene Qualifier race that is part of the format when there is less than 21 cars entered. Donny Schatz took advantage of his pole position starting spot and drove into the lead as the field took the green. David Gravel followed him on the low side and moved into the runner-up position with Macedo running in the third spot. Over the next few laps, Gravel put some distance between himself and the forty-one, but Carson started to put together a series of good laps to close the gap. With two laps to go, Macedo caught him and made the pass for position two diving low and coming out of turn four with the spot. But Gravel fought back and used the lap car of Shad Peterson as a pick forcing Macedo to the high side. Gravel made it work and took the position back. Macedo was stalking him down the backstretch and made one last attempt entering turn three to no avail. Schatz took the win over Gravel, Macedo, and Allen, with Kahne rounding out the top five.

His third place finish relegating him to the 8-lap Drydene Qualifier race, where he would start on the front row with Brad Sweet. The top two finishers would line up fifth and sixth in the dash with the remaining finishing positions setting the driver’s starting spot in the feature. Brad Sweet wasted no time driving into the lead at the start of the race as Macedo was battling for position with Brock Zearfoss. The two talented drivers almost made contact in turn two, but Macedo exited with control of the second spot. The event went non-stop with Sweet taking the win over Macedo and Zearfoss with Jacob Allen and Kasey Kahne completing the top five.

With his runner-up finish, Carson Macedo earned a starting spot in the 6-lap DirtVision Fast Pass Dash. Sheldon Haudenschild and Donny Schatz were perched in row one. David Gravel and Logan Schuchart made up row two. Brad Sweet and Carson Macedo followed in row three. The green flag waved overhead with Schatz taking the lead over Haudenschild. Sixth starting Macedo was on the move and wheeled the Albaugh – Your Alternative /Factory Kahne Shocks/BR Motorsports #41 into position four ahead of David Gravel and Brad Sweet. He raced up on the rear nerf bar of Logan Schuchart momentarily, but settled back into the fourth spot. Donny Schatz raced to the win over Sheldon Haudenschild, as Schuchart, Macedo, Sweet and Gravel completed the finishing order.

The field was set for the 25-lap NOS Energy Drink Rushmore Outlaw Showdown feature at Black Hills Speedway. While there was a lot of hard work behind them, challenges still lied ahead if they wanted to etch their name in the history books as the winner of the 2021 edition of the Rushmore Outlaw Showdown. Nate Repetz made the final air pressure adjustments in the tires, Clyde Knipp went over and tightened each of the bolts, while Philip Dietz made one final adjustment to the fueling. Carson Macedo climbed aboard the Dissolvalloy Downhole Revolution/Wilwood Racing/RaceDiecast.com #41 Maxim and strapped in for racing action. He would get rolling from the outside of row two with Logan Schuchart by his side for the start. After the initial start was waved off when the caution flew for Kevin Ingle who sat backwards in turn one, Sheldon Haudenschild raced into the lead over Donny Schatz when they got restarted. Carson moved into third ahead of David Gravel who raced up two position on the opening lap. With two laps in the books another caution flew for Kevin Ingle who spun to slow the action sending him pit side for the remainder of the night. It was Haudenschild, Schatz, Macedo, Gravel, and Sweet bringing them back up to speed in the single file restart. Carson maintained the third position over the first 10 laps of the race. On lap 11, the yellow flag was thrown as Macedo shredded his right rear tire after presumably hitting some debris and rolling to a stop in turn two. He headed to the work area where the JJR crew quickly changed the tire. He rejoined the field at the tail end of the lead lap competitors. Back to green! Haudenschild led Schatz and Gravel with Macedo blasting his way back up to eighth when they got back up to speed. Tire issues continued though as with 9 laps to go Kasey Kahne, Brad Sweet and James McFadden all experienced tire issues sending the to the work area. All of them were able to rejoin the field. Carson would restart sixth. With Haudenschild still leading when they came back to the green flag, Macedo moved into the top five. He was fast and looking to salvage a great finish after some early adversity. But with 5 laps to go, another shredded right rear tire on the forty-one sent Macedo back to the work area for another fresh Hoosier Racing Tire. He again rejoined the field at the tail end of the lead lap. When they got back up to speed, Haudenschild maintained the lead over Schatz and Gravel. With 2 laps to go, something seemed to break on James McFadden’s #9 and he flipped hard in turn three in a high speed crash. Thankfully he was ok. The restart order would be Haudenschild, Schatz, Gravel, Schuchart, and Brock Zearfoss with Carson back up to sixth. A green-white-checkered finish was in order as they raced for the money. Haudenschild protected the top spot and led the remaining distance to take the victory over Schatz, Gravel, Schuchart and Brad Sweet, who passed both Macedo and Zearfoss on the final circuit. Carson brought home a respectable seventh place finish. A good run for the forty-one in light of all of the adversity they overcame to get there!

Carson Macedo Salvages a Seventh Place Finish in the Rushmore Outlaw Showdown at Black Hills Speedway! Photo Credit: Chuck Stowe

Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT); Tarlton and Son Inc.; Complete Parts & Equipment Solutions; Albaugh – Your Alternative, Saich Family; Border International; Dissolvalloy Downhole Revolution; Jonestown KOA; Durst Inc.; Maxim Racing; The Boyd Family; Liquid Trucking; Meyers Constructors Inc.; Tiger Towing; Pro Powder Coating (PPC); Waco Metal; High Performance Lubricants, LLC; Kistler Engines; Team Jack Foundation; Mark Burch Motorsports; All Pro Auto Reconditioning; K1 Race Gear; AutoMeter; Bandy & Associates Accountancy Corporation; Bell Racing USA; Blackbeard LTD; BR Motorsports; Brown & Miller Racing Solutions (BMRS); Buckwalter Trucking, LLC; C&R Racing; Chalk Stix Torsion Bars; Crow Enterprizes; Engler Machine & Tool, Inc.; Factory Kahne (FK Shocks); Fibreworks Composites; FK Rod Ends; Fuel Safe Racing Cells; Greber Racing Components; Hoosier Racing Tire; ISC Racers Tape; Jansen Transportation; KSE Racing Products; Larry Davis Farms; Logo Daddy Graphics; Mr. Jim’s Racing; MSD Performance; RaceDiecast.com; Sam I Am; Schoenfeld Headers; Smith Titanium; T-FAB Custom Metal Fabrication; Vortex Racing Products; Walker Performance Filtration; Weld Wheels; Wilwood Racing; and Winters Performance Products.

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.