CHICO, Calif. — Cole Macedo battled his way to an impressive Mini Gold Cup triumph at Silver Dollar Speedway.
Macedo recaptured the lead with only two laps remaining in a wild 40-lap NARC 410 sprint car finale that featured multiple lead changes. Macedo pocketed a stout $10,000 payday for this first victory at the quarter-mile oval driving the Tarlton & Son/Complete Parts and Equipment Solutions No. 21 Maxim.
“I worked really hard for that,” said Macedo. “The track was super demanding, and I’ve been in the gym all winter, and that prepared me for a race like this. I can’t say enough about this Tarlton Motorsports team: Drew (Warner, Crew Chief), Nate, Koby, Landon, Marv, and everyone who helps! We struggled this whole weekend and me and Drew kept putting our two cents into each other and put our best foot forward and he got me going really good there.”
The main event began with the Bates-Hamilton Racing No. 42x driven by Justyn Cox, putting the Lippert Construction Maxim to the point at the opening green flag. Unfortunately, three race stoppages occurred while he reigned supreme, keeping the competition close.
Chase Johnson maneuvered his Toyota of Marin, Walnut Creek, and Sunnyvale/Price Family Dealership No. 24 Maxim to the point after a lap eight restart to pace the field.
As the race developed, Johnson came under attack by a shadowing Macedo, but the leader managed to hold off the repeated challenges. But on the 31st circuit, Macedo finally overtook Johnson for the top spot.
Just when it looked like Macedo was going to cruise to the victory, Ryan Robinson, who started 18th, recovered from an early race tip-over to blast by Macedo.
But in a strange turn of events with the white flag waving, Robinson flipped violently down the back straightaway, giving the lead back to Macedo.
Macedo inherited the lead and held back the NOS Energy Drink/Matt Wood Racing entry wheeled by Shane Golobic, to claim his second career NARC 410 Sprint Car Series victory.
Caeden Steele, who was also involved in a mid-race accident wowed the crowd with his first career NARC podium in third. He was driving the BCCR Racing/Cen-Cal Demolition Services No. 121 Maxim.
The Vertullo Racing Starr Property Management/Air 1 Racing No. 83V Maxim of Dylan Bloomfield held on to fourth while the 2017 champ Bud Kaeding rallied to finish fifth in the Kaeding Performance Center/Alviso Rock No. 29 Maxim.
The finish:
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 21-Cole Macedo [12]; 2. 17W-Shane Golobic [13]; 3. 121-Caeden Steele [14]; 4. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield [10]; 5. 29-Bud Kaeding [9]; 6. 83T-Tanner Carrick [17]; 7. 7B-Sean Becker [22]; 8. 15-Nick Parker [16]; 9. 42X-Justyn Cox [1]; 10. 2K-Gauge Garcia [23]; 11. 16A-Ryan Robinson [18]; 12. 24-Chase Johnson [4]; 13. 2X-Justin Sanders [3]; 14. 88N-D.J. Netto [7]; 15. 92-Andy Forsberg [2]; 16. 68-Jayson Bright [21]; 17. 17-Kalib Henry [8]; 18. X1-Michael Faccinto [6]; 19. 21P-Robbie Price [20]; 20. 2XM-Max Mittry [5]; 21. 26-Billy Aton [11]; 22. 0-Tim Kaeding [15]; 23. 3-Kaleb Montgomery [19]; 24. 12-Jarrett Soares [24]