As the Australian sprint car season enters its two biggest weeks of racing, Carson Macedo has barnstormed southeast Australia in Victoria, winning three consecutive features.
The Californian began his domination of the week leading into the Grand Annual Sprint Car Classic by winning the Doolan’s Heavy Haulage International at Avalon Raceway.
Cameron Waters, Aaron Reutzel, Marcus Dumesny and Jock Goodyer claimed the front row positions as the fastest qualifiers.
Goodyer had finished second to Luke Oldfield in the feature at Lismore Speedway on the journey from Toowoomba to Victoria for the end of January features.
A distinctive feature of the Avalon Sprintcar International allowed fans to vote for the final two starting positions in the A-main. Tate Frost secured one spot while Sheldon Haudenschild claimed the fan vote for 20th.
Goodyer, the reigning Australian champion, led the 35-lap feature initially but encountered a mechanical issue after 28 laps, paving the way for Dumesny and Waters to vie for top positions.
Several cautions provided drivers with opportunities to reset, causing the field to bunch up as they navigated through, with notable performances from hard-charger Frost and young talent Jy Corbet.
Overcoming early challenges, Macedo in the Dyson Motorsport entry emerged victorious, claiming the lead and a $10,000 payday. Dumesny secured second-place after a brief stint in the lead and Waters secured the third spot on the podium.
James McFadden retired while in third position, while Jamie Veal’s chances ended when he spun while in fourth position.
The following day, Macedo joined the 360 ranks at Simpson Speedway to claim his second feature for the weekend.
He backed up the following night in the Australian Allstars 360 series at Premier, winning his third consecutive feature.
The evening featured a two-heat format, treating fans to a second round of heats where the quickest drivers began from the rear.
The 20-lap A-main race commenced with Veal on the pole alongside Bendigo’s Rusty Hickman, setting the scene.
As the green flag dropped, Veal took an early lead, skillfully navigating through early lap traffic. The race saw noteworthy performances from Chase Randall and Daniel Pestka, who made impressive moves through the midpack in the opening laps.
A pivotal moment occurred with 11 laps to go when a caution provided Macedo the opportunity to stalk Veal over the final laps. Macedo strategically shadowed Veal for nearly 11 laps before orchestrating a decisive move on the final corner and securing victory in the third round of the Mainline DynoLog Dynamometers All Star Series.
Hickman, the current series leader, had actively pursued Veal for second place before ultimately falling to Macedo for a third-place finish.
With the Avalon President’s Cup rained-out, the sprint cars will contest the 30th annual King’s Challenge at Borderline Speedway, Mt. Gambier on Jan. 18 before journeying to Warrnambool for the three nights of the 51st Grand Annual Sprint Car Classic on Jan. 19-21.