PEVELY, Mo. — It took every ounce of muscle and smarts for Carson Macedo to maneuver his way to victory lane on Saturday night at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55.
The Lemoore, Calif., native officially led all 35 laps aboard the Jason Johnson Racing, Albaugh No. 41, but it was a wild rollercoaster ride at the tough-to-tame quarter-mile.
Macedo used a remarkable start to go from third-to-first, and then relied on some timely cautions, and every little bit of luck he had to avoid some harrowing moments throughout lap traffic.
Of course, he still had his competition to worry about, too. He split a three-wide moment with Logan Schuchart and Brad Sweet early on and survived a close call on the final circuit to win it by .523 seconds over Schuchart’s No. 1s.
“I feel like there was definitely some luck involved tonight,” a relieved Macedo said. “Guys were just bouncing all over the place and you didn’t know which direction they would do. I kept trying to enter as high as I could to turn across the ruts instead of trying to run against them. This is a track that has always had my number. I honestly thought I would be better here, but I’ve struggled quite a bit so this one feels good.”
Macedo’s first triumph at the Pevely, Mo., bullring marks the 20th of his World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series career. It also brings the JJR No. 41 to three victories on the 2022 season, making them the winningest team on tour thus far.
“I can’t say enough how thankful I am to be with this Jason Johnson Racing group,” Macedo added. “Actually living my dream and racing against the World of Outlaws every night never ceases to amaze me.”
It was a much-needed second-place run for Logan Schuchart marks a season-best finish for the DuraMAX, Drydene Performance Products No. 1s. The Hanover, Pa., native started pole position and actually snatched the lead back from Macedo on lap two before a caution relegated his move. He spent the majority of the 35-lapper trying to time restarts and capitalize in traffic, but never found the right moment to snooker Macedo.
“I thought we might have a shot him,” Schuchart said. “I can tell you we didn’t lose that one from a lack of effort. I was trying my absolute hardest to get that one. He just never gave me the right moment to capitalize on him. It’s been a tough year, so I’m happy to finally get my guys on the front stretch. We’re building some momentum and hopefully we can put this thing in victory lane where it belongs soon.”
Sweet added another layer to his championship pedigree by salvaging a third-place finish to collect his Series-best seventh podium and 13th consecutive top-10 run aboard the Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts No. 49.
“It was a tricky track with some rough spots tonight, Sweet noted. “I’m just happy to bring it home in third after so many close calls. It’s hard to dictate what the car was gonna do and I was just hanging on at times. Sometimes it’s about surviving these deals and we did that tonight.”
The finish:
Feature (35 Laps) – 1. 41-Carson Macedo [3][$10,000]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart [1][$6,000]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [4][$3,500]; 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [2][$2,800]; 5. 83-James McFadden [11][$2,500]; 6. 24-Rico Abreu [7][$2,300]; 7. 2-David Gravel [17][$2,200]; 8. 5-Spencer Bayston [5][$2,100]; 9. 15-Donny Schatz [6][$2,050]; 10. 1A-Jacob Allen [8][$2,000]; 11. 18-Giovanni Scelzi [15][$1,600]; 12. 19AZ-Tanner Thorson [22][$1,400]; 13. 11K-Kraig Kinser [10][$1,200]; 14. 24W-Garet Williamson [24][$1,100]; 15. 3-Ayrton Gennetten [20][$1,050]; 16. 7S-Jason Sides [16][$1,000]; 17. 9JR-Derek Hagar [12][$1,000]; 18. 73-Scotty Thiel [19][$1,000]; 19. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [9][$1,000]; 20. 83JR-Kerry Madsen [21][$1,000]; 21. 51B-Joe B-Miller [23][$1,000]; 22. 21-Brian Brown [18][$1,000]; 23. 8-Aaron Reutzel [13][$1,000]; 24. 15H-Sam Hafertepe [14][$1,000].