ZEROING IN AT KNOXVILLE: THE DRIVER OF THE ALBAUGH – YOUR ALTERNATIVE #41 DIGS IN AND UPS HIS PACE ON THE OPENING NIGHT OF THE PREMIER CHEVY DEALERS CLASH AT KNOXVILLE RACEWAY WITH A TOP TEN RUN
KNOXVILLE, IOWA (June 12, 2026) – For sprint car fans, any time they can make their way to central Iowa, particularly the small town of Knoxville, and there is a sprint car race – things are extremely good! When the sun is shining against a deep blue sky, well that is even better. Carson Macedo and the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series stars rolled back into this racing town on Friday for the third time this season to prepare for the opening night of the Premier Chevy Dealers Clash at Knoxville Raceway. For the California speed chauffeur and JJR #41 team this week kicked off on Tuesday night after passing 16 cars ending up with a respectable 8th place finish at the Eagle Nationals with the Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing Series. Everyone on the team was excited and ready to get back to work for the weekend in the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41 at “The Sprint Car Capital of the World” as they rolled into the pit area. There were 61 race teams unloaded and working on their speed chariots in preparation for the night of speed at Knoxville Raceway. Buckle up and smile because it is race day in the Hawkeye State!
After Race//Ready Hot Laps each driver turned their attention to Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying where they would get two laps out on the track with another driver to go as fast as they can. With greater than 38 cars the field split into two separate groups, Flight A and Flight B, to time against their specific group. Quicker is better in time trials. Carson buckled into his high speed office aboard the Albaugh – Your Alternative/Xtreme Body & Paint/Jansen Transportation #41 Maxim. He would be the 18th driver to push off in Flight B with two other cars out on the track racing against time too. Joe Beaver #10V and Chris Martin #44 were the other two speedsters to join him out on the big half-mile black gumbo clay oval. Carson pedaled down on the speed button calling for all the Kistler Engines ponies to be released to perform under his Prime Composite Innovations hood. When he exited out of turn four he saw the green flag waving. Carson dashed by the flagstand and moved quickly by the Dennis Albaugh Suite Tower in turn two before hustling down the back straightaway. He crossed the timing stripe to end his first timed lap in 15.610 seconds. Macedo kept his foot planted on the speed button throughout lap two hoping his efforts would be rewarded with a lower time. When he raced under the waving checkered flag to end his speed session lap two recorded in 15.670 seconds. The quicker of Carson’s two timed runs was good enough for sixth quick overall in Flight B with Brenham Crouch in the CJB #5 entry being the fastest driver in that group at 15.411 seconds. Logan Schuchart in the DuraMAX/Shark Racing #1s turned the quickest lap overall on the night out of Flight A at 15.020 seconds to earn the Simpson Quick Time Award.
World of Outlaws Timing and Scoring officials used each driver’s best lap time to assign them a starting position in one of the four 8-lap Heat Races. Carson qualifying journey would begin from the inside of row two pulling alongside Justin Henderson in the Sam McGhee & Associates #11 in Golf Cart Services Heat Race #4. Pacing from the front row was the lightning quick duo of Brent Marks #19 and Garet Williamson #23 with Chris Windom #7s and Jace Park #28 hungry and tucked in behind the first two rows in row three. Tyler Courtney #7BC and Matt Juhl #09 made up row four with Chase Randall #9R and Ashton Torgerson #51 together in row five. Giovanni Scelzi #77 rolled alone in row five after advancing through the non-qualifiers race.
Four miles of racing with only five transfer spots available out of each heat race with the top two finishers moving into the Toyota Dash. The “Open for Business” lights turned on when they reached the chalk stripe in turn four with polesitter Brent Marks in the McGrewBid.com #19 gunning it to get the party started out of turn four. He was the first driver to maneuver through the first set of turns with Garet Williamson and Carson Macedo making every effort to keep pace. Those three drivers were at the front followed by Justin Henderson and Tyler Courtney at the end of lap one.
They stayed in that order throughout the first half of the race before Henderson found some stickiness in the surface. The Tea, South Dakota driver starter to hit his marks around the bottom and close in quickly on the third place driver of the Albaugh – Your Alternative #41. On lap 6, Henderson made the pass for position and quickly set his sights on Williamson in the runner-up position. He would move into second place the next time by.
Brent Marks was in complete control out front with one lap to go when third place running Garet Williamson went up in smoke down the backstretch. When Justin Clark fluttered the checkered flag overhead at the end of the race, Marks raced across the finish line followed by Henderson with Carson wheeling the Tarlton and Son/T-FAB Custom Metal Fabrication/LogoDaddy #41 home in third place to lock into the feature. Tyler Courtney had a great race to finish fourth with Chris Windom securing the final transfer spot with his fifth place finish.
The air horn sounded throughout the pit area alerting the 24 race teams who made the A-Main field through qualifying, along with the Cole Macedo in the TwoC Racing entry who elected to use a provisional starting spot, to wrap up their work and start heading for the staging area for the opening night’s 25-lap Premier Chevy Dealers Clash feature event. Logan Schuchart #1s won the Toyota Dash to earn the pole position with Aaron Reutzel #87 starting to his outside in Ridge and Sons Racing #87 on the front row. Behind the lead duo in row two were Rico Abreu #24A and Justin Henderson #11 with Sheldon Haudenschild #18 and Kyle Larson #57 side-by-side in row three. Rolling together in row four were Brenham Crouch #5 and Brent Marks #19 ready to let it all hang out when the green flag waved.
Carson climbed into the Albaugh – Your Alternative/Bandy & Associates/Brown & Miller Racing Solutions (BMRS) #41 Maxim as Philip Dietz, Robby McQuinn, and Adam Zimmerman finished making last minute adjustments. He would get his chase for the money and points started from the outside of row six from the 12th starting position flanked by David Gravel #2 to his inside.
The colored lights around the inside of the track alternated in sync with the Musco lights as they danced and lit up the arena of speed when the drivers flared out in the World of Outlaws traditional and famous four-wide salute to the fans in the stands. These diehard fans were on their feet to show their appreciation as the drivers finalized their early race strategies from inside their cockpits. They all accelerated back into their spots as they got back into their nose-to-tail and side-by-side formation to start the race.
When the polesitter peaked out of turn four the next time he slammed the accelerator and took off down the long front straightaway with Reutzel and Abreu in tow through the first set of turns. Carson moved the Albaugh – Your Alternative entry into the ninth spot racing between Brenham Crouch and Kerry Madsen in positions eight through ten.
Aaron Reutzel was scored as the leader with one lap completed with Abreu, Schuchart, Marks, and Henderson making up the top five with a lot of the race remaining. Kyle Larson was running in sixth and gained one spot the next time by the flagstand. Austin McCarl #88 entered the mix racing with Crouch, Macedo, and Madsen for the position in the back half of the top ten.
On lap 4, the first caution flag dropped over the field when Kerry Madsen spun up over the inside berm in turn one. Aaron Reutzel was still out front followed by Abreu, Schuchart, Marks, and Larson. Carson would restart the race from the tenth spot in the running order.
The green flag was back out with Rico Abreu racing into the lead over Reutzel and Marks who made his way by Schuchart. Carson was still scored in tenth.
On lap 7, Kerry Madsen’s night worsened when he flipped hard in the first set of turns to stop the racing action under red flag conditions. He was ok.
When the engine fired again Rico Abreu was the race leader with Reutzel, Marks, Schuchart, Larson, and Haudenschild behind. Carson restarted from the outside of row five with 18 laps remaining. The green was back out with the driver of the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) #24 in command at the front of the pack. Fourth starting Logan Schuchart used the reset to race up to the runner-up position shuffling Marks back to fifth place. Carson advances up to seventh in the running order just behind David Gravel, but the next lap would get discarded back to ninth.
Macedo would fall back as far as eleventh place on lap 11 before getting into a torrid battle with fellow Californian Buddy Kofoid for the last spot in the top ten over the next 8 laps. The dual between these two was worth twice the price of admission with the driver of the Roth Motorsports/Toyota Racing #83 eventually signing the ownership paperwork for the spot on lap 19.
On lap 22, Rico Abreu was out front but when he exited turn two smoke billowed from under the hood of the CARQUEST #24 as he was off the pace with a blown engine. His night was over after he dominated most of the race. Logan Schuchart roared back and inherited the lead with Brent Marks and Sheldon Haudenschild moving into the runner-up spot and third place respectively followed by Reutzel and Gravel.
Brent Marks had a fast hotrod, and the next lap made the pass for the lead moving by Marks. It was a race to the checkers with Marks out front leading the race with one lap to go. He had the lead over Schuchart and Haudenschild with Gravel right behind them in fourth. Wheeling and dealing in the forty-one from tenth position, Carson continued to battle throughout the last half mile of racing. Brent Marks went on to collect the win at Knoxville Raceway on the opening night of the Premier Chevy Dealers Clash by just 0.437 seconds ahead of Sheldon Haudenschild in the runner-up spot with Logan Schuchart coming across the finish line in third as David Gravel and Aaron Reutzel completed the top five.
After finishing the race in tenth place, Carson pulled back into his pit stall and climbed out of his racecar to do an after action review of the race with Philip Dietz and his JJR team. Another good run for Macedo and the forty-one! It was the team’s 24 top ten this season with 30 races in the books (an 80% top ten success rate).
When the engines quieted around the Marion County Fairgrounds on Friday night, the team discussed their learnings and performance throughout the night in preparation for a return on Saturday night for the June finale of the Premier Chevy Dealers Clash at Knoxville Raceway on Saturday evening. If you cannot make it out to the track, tune into DIRTVision so you do not miss one ounce of the World of Outlaws action at Knoxville Raceway. #KnoxClashJune
Cruising on a Beautiful Evening on the Opening Night of the Premier Chevy Dealers Clash at Knoxville Raceway! Photo Credit: Tyler Carr
JJR’s Valued Sponsorship Partners for 2026: 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); 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; CASM Safety Products; Crow Enterprizes; CS Productions; Dale “Mickey” Snyder; Engler Machine & Tool, Inc.; Factory Kahne (FK Shocks); Fibreworks Composites; FK Rod Ends; Greber Racing Components (GRC); Hoosier Racing Tire; ISC Racers Tape; Jansen Transportation; K1 Race Gear; KSE Racing Products; LogoDaddy; Motor State Distributing; Mr. Jim’s Racing; Prime Composite Innovations; PWR Advanced Cooling Technology; Saldana Racing Products; Sam I Am; Schoenfeld Headers; Smiley’s Racing Products; 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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