Carson Macedo won the $75,000 Williams Grove National Open on Saturday (Trent Gower Photo) (Video Highlights from DirtVision.com)
A National Open title continues the recent hot stretch for Carson Macedo and Jason Johnson Racing
MECHANICSBURG, PA (October 5, 2024) - What a difference a handful of hours makes for Carson Macedo.
After fog postponed the remainder of Friday’s program, Saturday at Williams Grove Speedway began with he and the Jason Johnson Racing crew requiring a provisional to start the prelim Feature for the WEIS Markets National Open presented by Sage Fruit.
Macedo was able to salvage the evening by advancing from 25th to 12th to earn the KSE Racing Hard Charger. But it was still a subpar showing from the championship caliber crew.
Fast forward a few hours to a fresh start, and Macedo and the JJR crew brought out their A-game when it mattered most. They topped the charts in Flight B of Sea Foam Qualifying, won their Heat Race, and moved from third to second in the Toyota Dash to secure a front row starting spot. Then in the main event, Macedo secured the lead on Lap 8 with a pass on Anthony Macri and survived a late charge from Sheldon Haudenschild for his second National Open title worth $75,000.
“Man, hats off to Philip Dietz (crew chief). That was incredible,” Macedo said. “The first half of that race was unbelievable. I’ve never had a car that was that good here. It just could basically go anywhere that Anthony wasn’t and make more speed. I just like I was really stuck and really maneuverable. Hats off to Philip, Robby McQuinn, and Adam Zimmerman. They’ve worked their tails off. They came back from a rough night last night and the day show. We came back and won the National Open. That’s pretty special.
“It means a lot to be standing up here. I never thought I’d be a two-time National Open champion. The first time I came here I was so bad, so to win the National Open twice is pretty incredible.”
Adding the 62nd National Open to his 2021 title in the crown jewel, Macedo became the 14th different driver with multiple victories in the event and first from the state of California. He’s now up to 10 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car wins in 2024, marking his third double-digit win season. His third Series win at Williams Grove is the 45th overall of his career with The Greatest Show on Dirt. It’s also been a nice, little lucrative stretch for Macedo as he adds the $75,000 to the $83,000 he scored at the Dennis Roth Classic two weeks ago.
Macri sat as the pole-sitter for the 40 lapper, and the “Concrete Kid” pulled ahead early when the green flag flew.
But Macedo didn’t let him get far as he stayed within striking distance and searched all over the track for a little extra speed. No matter where he moved the #41, his ride was fast. Macedo completed an early slider for the lead that Macri crossed over. But the next one on Lap 8 stuck as Macri couldn’t find the momentum to slip back ahead of Macedo.
“I think my car was just so maneuverable,” Macedo said. “It seemed like he was maybe not quite as maneuverable. It maybe seemed like I was going really hard early in the race, but I just knew track position was going to be so important. I knew I couldn’t let it slip. I needed to get to the lead as quick as I could and kind of pace my own race. It’s crazy the difference in how your car feels when you’re out front here.”
Once he got the top spot, Macedo was off to the races for a while. The Lemoore, CA driver took off and settled into a rhythm at the front of the pack. It wasn’t until lapped traffic became a bigger issue that the result looked in doubt.
The 28-year-old got a little held up and allowed Haudenschild to close in during the final laps. Haudenschild had the NOS Energy Drink No. 17 glued to Macedo by the time the white flag waved. He looked for a run as they made their final trip down the back straightaway, but he couldn’t quite locate the speed necessary as Macedo narrowly claimed the “Natty O” for the second time.
“Late in the race the top was really far around,” Macedo said. “There were some grip strips that I was able to kind of catch and drive through most of the race, and those started going away at the end. Traffic was all running the bottom. I just didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to go down there and follow them. I got to Chad Trout there and just was struggling. I didn’t know what to do in (Turns) 1 and 2. Sheldon kind of showed me a nose down there on the bottom, and I moved down for a lap or two. Then we took the white (flag), and I was so nervous to run down in there and follow him and end up in no man’s land off of (Turn) 2 and get passed going into (Turn) 3. So, I moved up a lane and luckily got off Turn 2. Once I got off Turn 2 okay, I knew I was going to be okay.”
Haudenschild earned a nice $30,000 payday with the Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing crew for finishing runner-up – his best National Open outing. He needed just a little more time and perhaps some slightly better track position when the race was winding down.
“I think we were really good there at the beginning,” Haudenschild explained. “We made some changes after that red. I wasn’t very comfortable with my fuel load. Once it got burnt off, I had to work on J-Mac (James McFadden) there again. Once I got by him, I felt really good. I felt like I could move around in (Turns) 1 and 2 and (Turns) 3 and 4. Once I moved up in (Turs) 3 and 4, I could make a lot of straightaway speed.”
Rounding out the National Open podium was Brad Sweet in the Kasey Kahne Racing No. 49 after wheeling from 12th. The five-time Series World of Outlaws champion might’ve been in the battle for the National Open title had he started a tad closer to the front.
“We had a really good car,” Sweet said. “We came from 12th. I’m just disappointed because we had such a good car in the main event but kind of gave up so much track position with a bad start in the Heat. That one was on me. I just didn’t get going and over-slowed my entry into (Turn) 1 and missed the Dash. It’s really important to have track position here. But my guys rallied, and we had a really good car in the main event.”
James McFadden and Anthony Macri completed the top five.
Bill Balog grabbed the night’s KSE Racing Hard Charger with a massive 27th to ninth drive.
David Gravel scored his 10th Simpson Quick Time of 2024 and the 120th of his career in Sea Foam Qualifying.
NOS Energy Drink Heats One, Three, and Four belonged to David Gravel, Carson Macedo, and Sheldon Haudenschild. Milton Hershey School Heat Two went to Brian Brown.
Anthony Macri topped the Toyota Racing Dash.
Daryn Pittman won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Giovanni Scelzi.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars battle the PA Posse one last time in 2024 with $20,000 on the line on Saturday, Oct. 12 at Abbottstown, PA’s Lincoln Speedway. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.
FEATURE RESULTS:
NOS Energy Drink Feature (40 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[2]; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[5]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet[12]; 4. 83SR-James McFadden[6]; 5. 39M-Anthony Macri[1]; 6. 2-David Gravel[3]; 7. 19-Brent Marks[10]; 8. 13-Justin Peck[9]; 9. 17B-Bill Balog[27]; 10. 1S-Logan Schuchart[17]; 11. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[11]; 12. 15-Donny Schatz[16]; 13. 58-Chase Randall[15]; 14. 48-Danny Dietrich[24]; 15. 99-Skylar Gee[7]; 16. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[13]; 17. 11-TJ Stutts[14]; 18. 83-Michael Kofoid[25]; 19. 9-Kasey Kahne[20]; 20. 21-Brian Brown[8]; 21. 1X-Chad Trout[18]; 22. 7S-Landon Crawley[19]; 23. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[22]; 24. 27-Troy Wagaman Jr[28]; 25. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[23]; 26. 69K-Daryn Pittman[21]; 27. 2D-Chase Dietz[4]; 28. 8R-Freddie Rahmer[26]