Carson Macedo won the prelim for the High Bank Nationals at Huset's Saturday (Trent Gower Photo) (Video Highlights from DirtVision.com)
The Jason Johnson Racing pilot wins his fourth race in the last six and is the high point man for Sunday
BRANDON, SD (August 31, 2024) - There’s no driver hotter on the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car tour than Carson Macedo.
He and Jason Johnson Racing rolled into BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals presented by Menards weekend with three victories in the last four races. A seventh place run on Friday at Huset’s Speedway cooled them off slightly, but their fire reignited in a big way on Saturday night.
Macedo started eighth for the 35-lap NOS Energy Drink Feature and pieced together a fierce charge to the front. The Lemoore, CA native punctuated the drive with a slider on Chase Randall with only two laps remaining. Randall tried to return the favor as they wheeled toward the white flag, but Macedo kept his foot in the gas and narrowly drove around the slider to hold on and make his way to Victory Lane.
“Hats off to this race team – Philip Dietz, Adam Zimmerman, and Robby McQuinn – they’ve been working really hard,” Macedo said. “It feels good to have a lot of speed here. That was fun, hard racing late in the race. No points on the line, just good, hard, authentic racing. Hats off to this race team.
“It feels good to have speed here. When you start eighth and drive by everybody to get the win, it makes you have a lot of confidence going into a night like tomorrow where it pays a hundred grand.”
A fourth win in the last six races puts Macedo at 42 for his career and into a four-way tie for 18th all-time, and two of the others are a pair of current full-time World of Outlaws competitors. The trio tied with him is Andy Hillenburg, Logan Schuchart, and Sheldon Haudenschild. His seventh victory of 2024 already equals his 2023 total. It also set Macedo up as the high point man entering Sunday’s $100,000-to-win High Bank Nationals finale.
Randall led the field to green thanks to Hunter Schuerenberg giving him the one in the Toyota Racing Revenge Redraw. But it was Schuerenberg, who was handed the two in the Redraw, powering around Randall’s outside to lead the first lap.
Schuerenberg paced the opening four circuits aboard the TKS Motorsports No. 2KS, and then a caution and the resulting restart shook things up at the front.
Randall used a great start to throw a slider and clear Schuerenberg to take over the top spot. Schuerenberg stayed within striking distance as Randall quickly neared the tail of the field, but a yellow with 25 laps remaining just as traffic was getting thick served up some welcome clean air to Randall and the Krull Racing team.
As the second half of the 35-lapper unfolded, Randall pulled away and started to slice his way through traffic. The 19-year-old looked like a veteran as he continued to put more cars between himself and Schuerenberg. Even when Macedo took second on Lap 23, he couldn’t seem to cut much into the gap.
But then a yellow flag for a spinning Schuerenberg set up an eight-lap dash to the finish and put the hottest driver in the sport right on Randall’s tail as he pursued his first Series victory.
Randall wasn’t rattled when the green lights brought the action back to life as he powered ahead on the low side of Turn 4 as Macedo looked to get a launch on the top. Randall built a sizeable lead over Macedo on the first lap back under green.
But little by little Macedo cut into the margin. Randall struggled to pick his way through lappers as the race fell to five laps to go, and Macedo closed in on his tail tank on Lap 33. The door opened with two rotations remaining as Macedo launched a slide job in Turns 1 and 2 that cleared Randall. Down the back straightaway Randall looked to cross him over. He threw a slider of his own, but Macedo made a daring move to drive back by him on the cushion, narrowly slipping by.
It proved to be the winning move as he drove away comfortably on the final lap to claim another checkered flag.
“That caution helped a lot,” Macedo admitted. “I don’t think we would’ve ever got to him if we wouldn’t have had that restart there. I actually tried to fire off on the cushion there on the restart, and it was really bad, gave up a lot of time. He got a sizeable lead, and I thought, ‘Man, it’s going to be tough to get him.’
“And then we got to lap traffic really quick there. And then the lapped cars were kind of all over the place. I felt like I was in the cat-bird seat. When he (Randall) went the wrong way, I was there to see what the difference was. Sometimes it’s better to be running second in that situation. He was having a real hard time getting off (Turn) 4 even coming to the traffic. He really had a hard time there. One of the lappers kind of got beside him and took some of the air off his wing. He struggled off of (Turn) 4, and I was able to get just enough of a run and really didn’t know if I was going to clear him or not but kind of grabbed a little bit of that grip on the bottom, and it shot me across.”
While slightly disappointed to lose out on his first World of Outlaws win late, Randall kept his head high after the race with the runner-up finish. It was only his second night in the Krull No. 14, and he’s happy with the quick chemistry they’ve found especially with a six-figure payday on the line Sunday.
“I don’t know if I could’ve done a little too much,” Randall said about the closing laps. “I feel like anywhere I would’ve went he would’ve been the other way. It’s just how the cars fell tonight. I can’t say enough about this team. Just a short notice to come to this weekend. They’re great guys, awesome people and have my back 100-percent. We’re really excited with a good run. They deserve it.”
Rounding out the podium was Donny Schatz, completing a strong rebound after a crash on Friday night. The 10-time champion put together a complete event with the Tony Stewart/Curb Agajanian Racing No. 15 and slotted himself third in points for Sunday’s big finale.
“All in all the guys did a great job,” Schatz said. “A big positive over last night. The Carquest guys, everybody helped dig us out of a big hole to put us in a good spot for tomorrow. So, now we go back and discuss what we need to do for tomorrow and go from there.”
Michael “Buddy” Kofoid and Bill Balog completed the top five.
Kofoid got to fourth from 17th to earn the KSE Racing Hard Charger.
Emerson Axsom grabbed his first career Simpson Quick Time in Sea Foam Qualifying.
NOS Energy Drink Heats One, Three, and Four belonged to Donny Schatz, Chase Randall, and Scott Bogucki. Milton Hershey School Heat Two went to Kaleb Johnson.
Scott Winters won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Scott Bogucki.
UP NEXT: All the focus for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars shifts to the $100,000-to-win finale of the BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals presented by Menards on Sunday, Sept. 1. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.
Billion Automotive Huset’s High Banks Nationals presented by Menard’s
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series
Huset’s Speedway
Brandon, South Dakota
Saturday, August 30, 2024
Sea Foam Qualifying Flight A
1. 27-Emerson Axsom, 11.103[4]
2. 41-Carson Macedo, 11.107[1]
3. 5-Ryan Timms, 11.108[17]
4. 55-Kerry Madsen, 11.130[11]
5. 24T-Christopher Thram, 11.180[3]
6. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 11.195[14]
7. 15-Donny Schatz, 11.197[20]
8. 22K-Kaleb Johnson, 11.208[9]
9. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 11.216[13]
10. 23W-Scott Winters, 11.229[8]
11. 17GP-Justin Henderson, 11.251[6]
12. 13-Mark Dobmeier, 11.259[10]
13. 83-Michael Kofoid, 11.270[21]
14. 3-Tim Kaeding, 11.284[5]
15. 64-Andy Pake, 11.314[2]
16. 3J-Dusty Zomer, 11.320[18]
17. 7S-Landon Crawley, 11.344[12]
18. 16-Brooke Tatnell, 11.355[16]
19. 88-Austin McCarl, 11.388[15]
20. 80P-Jacob Peterson, 11.505[7]
21. G5-Gage Pulkrabek, 11.571[19]
Sea Foam Qualifying Flight B
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 11.163[1]
2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 11.181[11]
3. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 11.222[3]
4. 17B-Bill Balog, 11.262[8]
5. 2KS-Hunter Schuerenberg, 11.325[14]
6. 23-Garet Williamson, 11.366[15]
7. 14H-Chase Randall, 11.367[13]
8. 10-Scott Bogucki, 11.395[4]
9. 2-David Gravel, 11.405[10]
10. 22-Riley Goodno, 11.408[12]
11. O9-Matt Juhl, 11.482[20]
12. 14T-Tim Estenson, 11.563[6]
13. 70-Kraig Kinser, 11.589[17]
14. 44-Chris Martin, 11.592[9]
15. 83S-Sam Henderson, 11.646[16]
16. 11M-Brendan Mullen, 11.647[18]
17. 74N-Luke Nellis, 11.649[5]
18. 8-Jacob Hughes, 11.675[19]
19. 10J-Justin Jacobsma, 11.728[2]
20. 17D-Ryan Bickett, 12.120[7]
Heat Race #1 (10 Laps)
1. 15-Donny Schatz[1]
2. 24T-Christopher Thram[2]
3. 27-Emerson Axsom[4]
4. 83-Michael Kofoid[7]
5. 5-Ryan Timms[3]
6. 1S-Logan Schuchart[5]
7. 7S-Landon Crawley[9]
8. 17GP-Justin Henderson[6]
9. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[11]
10. 64-Andy Pake[8]
11. 88-Austin McCarl[10]
Milton Hershey School Heat Race #2 (10 Laps)
1. 22K-Kaleb Johnson[1]
2. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[2]
3. 41-Carson Macedo[4]
4. 55-Kerry Madsen[3]
5. 16-Brooke Tatnell[9]
6. 23W-Scott Winters[5]
7. 3-Tim Kaeding[7]
8. 3J-Dusty Zomer[8]
9. 80P-Jacob Peterson[10]
10. 13-Mark Dobmeier[6]
Heat Race #3 (10 Laps)
1. 14H-Chase Randall[1]
2. 2KS-Hunter Schuerenberg[2]
3. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[3]
4. 87-Aaron Reutzel[4]
5. 2-David Gravel[5]
6. 83S-Sam Henderson[8]
7. O9-Matt Juhl[6]
8. 70-Kraig Kinser[7]
9. 74N-Luke Nellis[9]
10. 10J-Justin Jacobsma[10]
Heat Race #4 (10 Laps)
1. 10-Scott Bogucki[1]
2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[4]
3. 23-Garet Williamson[2]
4. 17B-Bill Balog[3]
5. 22-Riley Goodno[5]
6. 14T-Tim Estenson[6]
7. 44-Chris Martin[7]
8. 8-Jacob Hughes[9]
9. 11M-Brendan Mullen[8]
10. 17D-Ryan Bickett[10]
C-Main (10 Laps)
1. 11M-Brendan Mullen[2]
2. 74N-Luke Nellis[4]
3. 80P-Jacob Peterson[5]
4. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[7]
5. 17D-Ryan Bickett[8]
6. 10J-Justin Jacobsma[6]
7. 64-Andy Pake[3]
8. 13-Mark Dobmeier[1]
9. 88-Austin McCarl[9]
MicroLite Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps)
1. 23W-Scott Winters[1]
2. 16-Brooke Tatnell[3]
3. 17GP-Justin Henderson[5]
4. 3-Tim Kaeding[7]
5. 83S-Sam Henderson[6]
6. 7S-Landon Crawley[9]
7. 14T-Tim Estenson[2]
8. 3J-Dusty Zomer[11]
9. 44-Chris Martin[8]
10. 70-Kraig Kinser[10]
11. 74N-Luke Nellis[14]
12. O9-Matt Juhl[4]
13. 8-Jacob Hughes[12]
14. 11M-Brendan Mullen[13]
NOS Energy Drink Feature (35 Laps)
1. 41-Carson Macedo[8]
2. 14H-Chase Randall[1]
3. 15-Donny Schatz[4]
4. 83-Michael Kofoid[17]
5. 17B-Bill Balog[16]
6. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[10]
7. 1S-Logan Schuchart[19]
8. 2-David Gravel[18]
9. 23-Garet Williamson[14]
10. 55-Kerry Madsen[13]
11. 5-Ryan Timms[15]
12. 27-Emerson Axsom[6]
13. 3-Tim Kaeding[24]
14. 87-Aaron Reutzel[12]
15. 22-Riley Goodno[20]
16. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[7]
17. 22K-Kaleb Johnson[9]
18. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[11]
19. 17GP-Justin Henderson[23]
20. 16-Brooke Tatnell[22]
21. 24T-Christopher Thram[5]
22. 23W-Scott Winters[21]
23. 2KS-Hunter Schuerenberg[2]
24. 10-Scott Bogucki[3]