MECHANICSBURG, Pa. – Carson Macedo put his Philip Dietz-prepared machine where he needed to all night long Friday to score one of the more rewarding victories for any young racer with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.
The 24-year-old led all 25 laps in nonstop fashion during night one of the Morgan Cup on his way to his first Outlaw-sanctioned win at Williams Grove Speedway, a place that takes some drivers an entire career to figure out.
On Friday, all Macedo had to do was keep his No. 41 Jason Johnson Racing sprint car clean and the $10,000 winner’s check was his. He had to hold off a last-corner charge from Lance Dewease, who nearly completed a Hail Mary slide job that would’ve given him his elusive 100th win at the half-mile dirt oval.
“Never in a million years would I think, after my first two years on the Outlaw tour, that I’d say I’d look forward to coming to the Grove,” Macedo said, alluding to Dietz’s package as a crew chief, “I can tell you, as long as I’m driving this thing, I’ll look forward to coming here for a very long time.”
Macedo gave Dietz’s No. 41 five Williams Grove wins in its past 11 starts, dating back to David Gravel’s run of success at the track in 2019.
The latest victory started with Macedo going fifth in the second flight of qualifying at 16.843 seconds, nearly three tenths off Sheldon Haudenschild’s leading mark.
What propelled Macedo throughout the rest of the night was going from third to second in his heat race, which included Haudenschild, Gravel, two-time defending series champion Brad Sweet, Logan Schuchart, and Tim Shaffer. That runner-up effort put Macedo in the dash, where he then drew second and eventually wrestled the lead away from Dewease to earn the pole for the main event.
Five laps in, Macedo built a lead that measured three-quarters of a straightaway. By lap seven, he entered traffic, and that’s when Dewease started to close in – the dirty air from lapped cars affecting Macedo’s corner entries.
Dewease drove under Macedo in turn two on lap 14, but every time the track’s all-time winner tried to make something happen, Macedo overpowered him with superior corner exit speed.
“It’s incredible to maneuver and get around,” Macedo said. “I don’t know how [Dietz] does it. He’s fun to work with. Obviously he’s elevated me this year. Night in and night out we’ve been more consistent and really, I think, we’re hitting our stride. I’m looking forward to tomorrow night.”
Macedo’s lead grew to more than a second once more, then Dewease made one last charge, making up ground by driving his No. 69k hard into turn three and letting it glide through the corner. That sequence is Dewease’s bread and butter at Williams Grove, and he nearly took that familiar route to victory when he attempted a last-corner slide job.
Like Dewease’s previous tries, though, Macedo made his money with strong-enough runs around the top to counter the wily veteran.
“It was really close,” Macedo said. “He came to my inside, and I didn’t think I was going to clear him at first. I wanted to win so bad. I was going to crash before I lost the race. I held it wide open, as close to the fence as I could to get around him there.”
Dewease, meanwhile, just couldn’t generate the drive off that he needed to stand above the rest and finally secure the milestone victory.
“We’re not very good yet,” Dewease said. “We’ll see. The place is very hard. It’s very hard to pass. It’s been that way for about a year now. You still have to time good. We’ve been doing that good everywhere. We’ll try to put ourselves in position tomorrow.”
Brent Marks, in his family-owned No. 19m, crossed third ahead of James McFadden and Aaron Reutzel.
Kerry Madsen finished sixth in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing No. 14, with Gravel, Donny Schatz, Haudenschild and Kyle Larson closing the top 10.
Friday’s race gave the touring World of Outlaws stars two wins in two races over the Pennsylvania Posse, with Saturday’s Morgan Cup finale at Williams Grove still to come.
To view complete race results, advance to the next page.