WILMOT, Wis. — Jason Johnson Racing’s latest act is proof that you can’t keep a good team down.
Last week, the Albaugh No. 41 team suffered their first DNF of the season when Carson Macedo flipped wildly at Cedar Lake Speedway. It was a moment of frustration as they tumbled down the point standings at a crucial time of the season.
This week, on the other side of Wisconsin, Macedo and the JJR No. 41 were untouchable. The car was perfect, and the driving was impeccable. The Lemoore, Calif., native led the 38 final laps of the Larry Hillerud Memorial Badger 40 at Wilmot Raceway and rode off into the sunset with an impressive margin of victory at 3.706 seconds.
A seventh win of the season brings the 26-year-old closer to Brad Sweet and Sheldon Haudenschild in what is shaping up to be a historic title fight.
“Philip Dietz, Clyde Knipp, and Nate Repetz gave me probably my best car of the year tonight,” Macedo mentioned. “I felt like I could handle lap traffic anywhere from the top to the bottom, and never miss a beat. I hope we can keep clicking off these wins. I’m really confident right now, and this is a good time to feel good with all the money on the line this month.”
Stealing command of the lead on lap three, Macedo mastered the third and final restart of the race with a turn three slider on Donny Schatz. Along with a fiery James McFadden, the 10-time champion kept the young buck on his toes throughout the opening half of the 40-lapper, but Macedo turned up the wick and left them all in his dust by the time the cross flags flew.
“I tried to pace myself and run a smart race this time,” Macedo added. “I’ve been leading here at the white flag before and spun out. That was embarrassing. I was trying my best to make no mistakes. I thought I saw a blue nose wing [McFadden] at the end, but caught my breath when I realized how big the lead was.”
Although Saturday’s show was the 10th appearance at Wilmot (WI) by The Greatest Show on Dirt, it was the first labeled as the Larry Hillerud Memorial. The Wisconsin staple was a vital member of SLS Promotions, the team behind the Badger 40, and sadly lost his life last month.
“Larry was incredible man,” Macedo noted. “He had these tracks on point every time we rolled into town, and man he loved the sport so much. I hate that he’s not here. It’s sad to realize that, but it’s also an honor to win this race in his honor.”
For the third time in three weeks, McFadden was a runner-up finisher with the World of Outlaws.
“We’ve got speed, but we’ve got to get this thing in victory lane,” McFadden said. “I was behind the eight-ball from the start of that one. You just can’t let guys like these get ahead of you, it makes your job too hard. We’re close and this is where we need to be. We’ve got some really big races coming up and hopefully we can get that win.”
After controlling the opening two laps, former Wilmot winner Schatz rounded out the podium in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, Ford Performance, Advance Auto Parts No. 15.
“We’ve got some work to do,” Schatz admitted. “We had a chance and led some laps in the beginning, but then those guys just flat-out drove away from us. We were too free near the end, and we haven’t been battling that much. We’ve got a big stretch coming up, and now is the time to figure it out.”
Zach Raidart powered to the high side of turn four on the white flag lap to take the lead in the 20-lap AutoMeter/Wisconsin WingLESS Sprint feature.
The finish:
Feature (40 Laps) – 1. 41-Carson Macedo [5][$10,000]; 2. 83-James McFadden [2][$6,000]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [3][$3,500]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet [6][$2,800]; 5. 2-David Gravel [9][$2,500]; 6. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [12][$2,300]; 7. 73-Scotty Thiel [1][$2,200]; 8. 9-Kasey Kahne [7][$2,100]; 9. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [14][$2,050]; 10. 1A-Jacob Allen [15][$2,000]; 11. 11K-Kraig Kinser [13][$1,600]; 12. 20G-Noah Gass [21][$1,400]; 13. 3N-Jake Neuman [18][$1,200]; 14. 1S-Logan Schuchart [10][$1,100]; 15. 6-Bill Rose [16][$1,050]; 16. 5J-Jeremy Schultz [24][$1,000]; 17. 23-Russel Borland [20][$1,000]; 18. 10V-Matt Vandervere [22][$1,000]; 19. 25-Danny Schlafer [19][$1,000]; 20. 68-Dave Uttech [17][$1,000]; 21. 5-Spencer Bayston [4][$1,000]; 22. 7S-Robbie Price [8][$1,000]; 23. 79-Blake Nimee [11][$1,000]; 24. 4B-Scott Biertzer [23][$1,000].