Carson Macedo and Jaxx Johnson celebrate Carson's win aboard the Jason Johnson Racing #41 on Night #2 of the 360 Nationals (Paul Arch Photo)
by Bill Wright
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 3, 2018) – Carson Macedo will always remember his first win at Knoxville Raceway! Saturday night, aboard the Jason Johnson Racing #41, the Lemoore, California native brought home an emotional victory that had the crowd on its feet on Night #2 of the 28th Annual Knoxville 360 Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank. Joey Saldana earned the pole as high-point man for the weekend, while Gio Scelzi will start outside row one of Saturday night’s 360 Nationals finale. Rows two and three will be comprised of Terry McCarl, Brian Brown, Greg Hodnett and Tim Kaeding.
Cole Duncan led the field after the green flew in the 20-lap main event, ahead of Macedo, Terry McCarl, Wayne Johnson and Saldana. On lap two, both Saldana and Johnson squeaked by McCarl who got loose in turn two, but a circuit later, McCarl would lead Kaeding back by Johnson into fourth. A McCarl pass of Saldana for third was negated when AJ Moeller brought the only caution of the race with a spin in turn two.
Duncan led Macedo, Saldana, McCarl and Kaeding back to green. Saldana would get a run down the backstretch and slide by both Macedo and Duncan to take the lead. On lap six, Macedo would perform a slide job and take second, while McCarl would follow him into third on lap seven.
Saldana entered lapped traffic on lap eleven and Macedo closed. A slight slowdown by Saldana was enough for Macedo to make his winning move. While Macedo maneuvered lapped traffic well, McCarl reeled in Saldana in a battle for second. The two would make contact, but Saldana would maintain his second place standing behind McCarl, Kaeding and Scelzi. Duncan, Brooke Tatnell, Harli White, Johnson and Johnny Herrera rounded out the top ten. Nate Van Haaften set quick time over the 48-car field, while Scottie McDonald, Chris Martin, Jack dover, Herrera and Matt Covington won heats. Jordyn Brazier won the C main and Trey Starks claimed the B.
“There at the end, I was just counting down the laps,” said Macedo in Victory Lane with young Jaxx Johnson in his arms. “I’m so happy for this team…Bobbi, Jaxx and Philip (Dietz). My car was awesome anywhere I went. We’ve just got to build on it. Hopefully, we can keep this speed tomorrow night. My car was so stable, I could just run over the cushion and come off. I can’t say enough about what an honor it is to drive this racecar. To be standing on the same stage that Jason Johnson was…this wasn’t the 410 Nationals but to fill this seat is definitely an honor.”
“Honestly, I know Carson is a hell of a racecar driver, but I’d say he had a good co-pilot in Jason Johnson,” said Saldana, who will sit on the championship pole Saturday night. “They just did a great job all night. It’s hard to put a driver in someone else’s car and run well. They did something pretty extraordinary tonight. I felt like the Rudeen car was good tonight. We showed we had speed, but it just wasn’t meant to be. He just beat me. He put his car in the right spot and I didn’t. I’ve lost a few races that way here. You just try to learn from your mistakes and hopefully, we don’t do that tomorrow.”
“You always want to win, but you have to love it when this #41 car comes back out here and wins it,” said McCarl, who will start inside row two on Saturday night. “I’m a big fan of Carson Macedo too. Joey and I have been racing like that a long time. There was a little banging. He made a pretty bold move. I just have to thank my guys and Don Long. McKenna (Haase) ran this (Moyle) motor a few nights and they were kind enough to let me run it.”
The 28th Annual Knoxville 360 Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank concludes with the $15,000 to win finale Saturday night! The 305 sprint car class will also be in action. For more information, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
Results for Night #2 of the 28th Annual Knoxville 360 Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 3, Nate Van Haaften, Otley, IA (3), 16.507; 2. 26, Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN (1), 16.665; 3. 71, Gio Scelzi, Fresno, CA (8), 16.864; 4. 24, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (11), 16.893; 5. 3K, Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA (22), 16.901; 6. 7, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (20), 16.909; 7. 23, Seth Bergman, Snohomish, WA (19), 16.914; 8. 44S, Trey Starks, Puyallup, WA (29), 16.940; 9. 2, Bill Balog, Hartland, WI (9), 16.942; 10. 2C, Wayne Johnson, Tuttle, OK (14), 16.987; 11. 2M, Matt Moro, Polk City, IA (12), 16.999; 12. 41, Carson Macedo, Lemoore, CA (25), 17.011; 13. 25, Dylan Peterson, Hartford, SD (18), 17.107; 14. 12N, Cole Duncan, Lockbourne, OH (24), 17.121; 15. 17W, Harli White, Lindsay, OK (15), 17.152; 16. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (34), 17.161; 17. 14T, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (33), 17.201; 18. 53D, Jack Dover, Springfield, NE (44), 17.219; 19. 45X, Johnny Herrera, Albuquerque, NM (4), 17.238; 20. 1B, Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (10), 17.246; 21. 5H, Sammy Walsh, Orangeville, NSW, Aust. (32), 17.253; 22. 10H, Chad Kemenah, Alvada, OH (23), 17.253; 23. 8L, Tom Lenz, Marion, IA (30), 17.263; 24. 13M, Josh Higday, Des Moines, IA (21), 17.276; 25. 21AU, Jordyn Brazier, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (47), 17.299; 26. 88, Scottie McDonald, Porter, TX (38), 17.308; 27. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (17), 17.311; 28. 35, Skylar Prochaska, Lakefield, MN (13), 17.329; 29. 94, Jeff Swindell, Bartlett, TN (26), 17.354; 30. 95, Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK (46), 17.427; 31. 13JM, Jordan Martens, Sioux Falls, SD (16), 17.460; 32. 47X, Dylan Westbrook, Scotland, ONT, Can. (31), 17.507; 33. 56N, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (36), 17.526; 34. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (28), 17.539; 35. 17H, Jared Horstman, Cloverdale, OH (37), 17.565; 36. 1, Travis Rilat, Heath, TX (5), 17.584; 37. 63, Geoff Ensign, Sebastopol, CA (6), 17.599; 38. 11, Roger Crockett, Broken Arrow, OK (39), 17.636; 39. 17, Mitch Faccinto, Fresno, CA (41), 17.638; 40. 77X, Alex Hill, Six Nations, ONT, Can. (2), 17.677; 41. 86, Tony Bruce Jr., Owasso, OK (43), 17.681; 42. 26S, Dalton Steed, Midlothian, TX (7), 17.709; 43. 13, Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks, ND (42), 17.731; 44. 17B, Ryan Bickett, Ramona, SD (40), 17.882; 45. 52, Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, OK (45), 17.998; 46. 1A, John Anderson, Des Moines, IA (35), 18.409; 47. 07, Michael Bookout, Tulsa, OK (48), 19.015; DQ (Light at Scales) 49, Scott Kruetter, Alden, NY (27)
Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:22.9: 1. Scottie McDonald (1); 2. AJ Moeller (3); 3. Nate Van Haaften (6); 4. Sammy Walsh (2) / 5. Carson McCarl (5); 6. Matt Moro (4); 7. Travis Rilat (8); 8. Jordan Martens (7) / 9. Tony Bruce Jr. (9); 10. John Anderson (10)
Heat two (started), 8 Laps, 2:22.9: 1. Chris Martin (1); 2. Carson Macedo (4); 3. Brooke Tatnell (3); 4. Joey Saldana (6) / 5. Dylan Westbrook (7); 6. Chad Kemenah (2); 7. Seth Bergman (5); 8. Geoff Ensign (8) / 9. Michael Bookout (10); 10. Dalton Steed (9)
Heat three (started), 8 Laps, 2:25.0: 1. Jack Dover (3); 2. Gio Scelzi (6); 3. Tom Lenz (2); 4. Skylar Prochaska (1) / 5. Trey Starks (5); 6. Mark Dobmeier (9); 7. Roger Crockett (8); 8. Davey Heskin (7) / 9. Dylan Peterson (4); 10. Scott Kruetter (10);
Heat four (started), 8 Laps, 2:27.3: 1. Johnny Herrera (3); 2. Jeff Swindell (1); 3. Terry McCarl (6); 4. Cole Duncan (4) / 5. Clint Garner (7); 6. Bill Balog (5); 7. Mitch Faccinto (8); 8. Ryan Bickett (9) / 9. Josh Higday (2)
Heat five (started), 8 Laps, 2:29.5: 1. Matt Covington (1); 2. Wayne Johnson (5); 3. Tim Kaeding (6); 4. Harli White (4); 5. Jared Horstman (7); 6. Blake Hahn (9); 7. Jac Haudenschild (3); 8. Alex Hill (8); 9. Jordyn Brazier (2)
C main (started), 8 Laps, 2:34.4: 1. Jordyn Brazier (3); 2. Dylan Peterson (1); 3. Tony Bruce Jr. (2); 4. Michael Bookout (5); 5. Scott Kruetter (6); 6. John Anderson (4) DNS - 7. Dalton Steed (5); 8. Josh Higday (2)
B main (started), 12 Laps, 3:53.1: 1. Trey Starks (3); 2. Carson McCarl (1); 3. Bill Balog (4); 4. Seth Bergman (2) / 5. Chad Kemenah (7); 6. Matt Moro (5); 7. Clint Garner (11); 8. Davey Heskin (10); 9. Dylan Westbrook (9); 10. Roger Crockett (15); 11. Jac Haudenschild (6); 12. Geoff Ensign (14); 13. Jared Horstman (12); 14. Dylan Peterson (22); 15. Mark Dobmeier (18); 16. Tony Bruce Jr. (21); 17. Michael Bookout (23); 18. Blake Hahn (20); 19. Mitch Faccinto (16); 20. Jordan Martens (8); 21. Alex Hill (17); 22. Jordyn Brazier (19); 23. Travis Rilat (13) DNS - 24. Ryan Bickett
A main (started), 20 Laps, NT: 1. Carson Macedo (2); 2. Joey Saldana (7); 3. Terry McCarl (5); 4. Tim Kaeding (4); 5. Gio Scelzi (6); 6. Cole Duncan (1); 7. Brooke Tatnell (11); 8. Harli White (9); 9. Wayne Johnson (3); 10. Johnny Herrera (13); 11. Trey Starks (21); 12. Carson McCarl (22); 13. Jeff Swindell (19); 14. Jack Dover (12); 15. Sammy Walsh (14); 16. Seth Bergman (24); 17. Bill Balog (23); 18. Nate Van Haaften (8); 19. Matt Covington (20); 20. AJ Moeller (10); 21. Chris Martin (17); 22. Scottie McDonald (16); 23. Skylar Prochaska (18); 24. Tom Lenz (15). Lap Leaders: Duncan 1-3, Saldana 4-10, Macedo 11-20. Hard-charger: Starks.
Saturday’s 28th Annual Knoxville 360 Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank Lineups
A main
1 26 Joey Saldana 487
2 71 Gio Scelzi 485
3 24 Terry McCarl 484
4 21 Brian Brown 484
5 27 Greg Hodnett 482
6 3K Tim Kaeding 480
7 41 Carson Macedo 475
8 21K Thomas Kennedy 473
9 5J Jamie Ball 467
10 33M Mason Daniel 464
11 3S Sammy Swindell 463
12 2C Wayne Johnson 463
13 3 Nate Van Haaften 460
14 53 Joe Beaver 459
15 28 Scott Bogucki 456
16 7 Carson McCarl 456
17 12N Cole Duncan 455
18 83 Cory Eliason 455
19 41S Dominic Scelzi 454
20 44S Trey Starks 454
B main
1 17WX Shane Golobic 451
2 9 Ryan Giles 450
3 14T Brooke Tatnell 450
4 17W Harli White 449
5 45X Johnny Herrera 446
6 7C John Carney II 445
7 14 Tony Stewart 444
8 53D Jack Dover 440
9 23 Seth Bergman 440
10 2 Bill Balog 437
11 7W Tasker Phillips 435
12 09 Matt Juhl 431
13 20 AJ Moeller 429
14 99 Skylar Gee 427
15 4J Lee Grosz 426
16 5H Sammy Walsh 423
17 55 McKenna Haase 418
18 94 Jeff Swindell 417
19 18 Ryan Roberts 417
20 15H Sam Hafertepe Jr. 416
C main
1 28C Jonathan Cornell 412
2 44 Chris Martin 408
3 88 Scottie McDonald 408
4 95 Matt Covington 406
5 13V Seth Brahmer 406
6 2M Matt Moro 405
7 8L Tom Lenz 404
8 23D Devon Dobie 403
9 4 Jon Agan 395
10 22H Randy Hannagan 394
11 35 Skylar Prochaska 393
12 10H Chad Kemenah 385
13 70 Calvin Landis 385
14 76 Brad Comegys 376
15 25 Dylan Peterson 376
16 1B Jac Haudenschild 374
17 02 Don Droud Jr. 366
18 40 Clint Garner 360
19 47X Dylan Westbrook 360
20 7M Chance Morton 354
D main
1 3P Sawyer Phillips 352
2 35L Cody Ledger 352
3 56N Davey Heskin 351
4 75 Tyler Blank 348
5 17H Jared Horstman 346
6 15 Christian Bowman 345
7 11 Roger Crockett 340
8 21AU Jordyn Brazier 336
9 63 Geoff Ensign 335
10 24N Nathan Mills 335
11 98 Chris Masters 332
12 2X Tucker Doughty 331
13 13JM Jordan Martens 331
14 57 Billy Butler 327
15 22M Shawn Murray 325
16 29 Willie Croft 325
17 13 Mark Dobmeier 323
18 17 Mitch Faccinto 320
19 1 Travis Rilat 318
20 2K Kevin Ingle 316
E main
1 86 Tony Bruce Jr. 316
2 13M Josh Higday 316
3 52 Blake Hahn 313
4 57B Bobby Butler 312
5 77X Alex Hill 311
6 07 Michael Bookout 302
7 17X Josh Baughman 298
8 17B Ryan Bickett 297
9 26S Dalton Steed 279
10 1A John Anderson 273
11 49 Scott Kruetter 27