The Jason Johnson Racing driver took the win on a night when the World of Outlaws honored Eloy Gutierrez.
There seemed to be no stopping Carson Macedo Friday night at River Cities Speedway.
The Californian lined up in sixth place for the 40-lap race, with five drivers in the lead, but it didn’t matter: No one could get in Macedo’s way as he charged toward victory lane.
Macedo was able to maneuver wherever he wanted in the No. 41 Jason Johnson Racing car, starting from the third row before taking the lead from Michael “Buddy” Kofoid on lap 19. After a fierce battle over the next few laps, Macedo held on to the lead before edging his way through traffic and outlasting a final charge from Kofoid to take the win.
An emotional celebration followed, with the evening dedicated to remembering Eloy Gutierrez, who passed away on Monday. Mr. Gutierrez was instrumental in the introduction of electronic timing and scoring, taking sprint car racing to a new level. He dedicated his life to World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars for many years. But most importantly, he was one of the kindest people in the racing world. Gutierrez was kind to everyone he met and treated them like a friend.
“I want to say a huge thank you to Eloy,” Macedo said. “We miss him so much and it’s a shame he’s not here. He was a friend to everyone. Eloy was someone who made you feel like your best friend every time you met him and we’re going to miss him so much.”
Macedo’s win brought his career victory at The Greatest Show on Dirt to 40, making him the 21st driver in series history to reach that milestone. The win was his second at River Cities, making him just the eighth driver to take at least two checkered flags at the bullring in Fargo, North Dakota. River Cities also became the 10th track at which he has won at least two times in the World of Outlaws.
Macedo may have made his run to the top look easy, but coming out on top on River Cities Speedway’s exciting quarter mile was no easy feat.
When the green flag waved for the 40-lap race, Kofoid, who started second, led the first lap ahead of pole-sitter Haudenschild. Kofoid took control early on, and the No. 83 Ross Motorsports car led the way.
It didn’t take long for Macedo to begin his charge, and just before the halfway mark, he moved into second place when Haudenschild tripped on the cushions going into turns 1 and 2. Just after Macedo had secured his position, the first yellow flag was waved.
The caution set up a crucial restart as Kofoid chose to run bottom and Macedo chose to run top, resulting in a double-file formation. Macedo then made a beeline for Kofoid through turns one and two to take the lead as the green flag resumed the action.
Kofoid fought back a few laps later, making a strong run down the back straight and forcing Macedo to slide out of Turn 3. On the following lap, Macedo made a successful slider out of Turn 3 to retake the lead.
The laps flew by in the second half of the race. Kofoid and Haudenschild did their best to catch Macedo, but it wasn’t enough. They both caught up on him on the final lap, but Macedo held on easily to take his fifth World of Outlaws win of the season.
“I started to kind of rethink what I was doing at the end,” Macedo admitted. “I started to kind of rethink what I was doing at the end. In turns three and four, the top was starting to get a little free, but if you bring the wing back a little bit, it gets tighter in other places. So I found a good middle ground and moved in just enough. I saw him (Kofoid) go a little bit to the inside in turn four, so I tried the underside. It was really slippery on the entry, but I was really off-center, so I saw him use that to make up a little bit. It was still slippery on the top in turns three and four.”
Buddy Kofoid held on to second place after leading 19 laps. The Penngrove, California, native has 13 podium finishes this year with the World of Outlaws. Watching the restart unfold, Kofoid regretted his decision to run in the bottom groove of the track.
“I obviously had the lead at the first start,” Kofoid said, “but then about 20 laps later, it started to get slippery down the middle and I thought I could get out from under, but then I had to get to the outside on the restart. Carson and the 41 guys did a good job. To be honest, in their dirty air, I felt like I could still keep pace with them. There were times where I felt like I was faster. Everybody’s working hard out here. They did a good job. I just made a mistake and it cost me.”
Rounding out the top three was Sheldon Haudenschild in the Stenhouse Jr. Marshall Racing No. 17. The NOS Energy Drink team driver is looking for his first win at the quarter mile and his hunger for victory in River Cities is only growing.
“It started to pick up for me towards the end,” Haudenschild explained. “I just tried to hang in there at the beginning, burn some fuel and get going. (Kyle) Lipper and the guys did a great job all night. I got a good roll on the bottom the last couple of laps and just managed to finish the lap at my own pace. I wanted to win for Eloy, but there’s tomorrow and I’ll keep fighting.”
Giovanni Scelzi and Donny Schatz completed the top five.
Tim Estenson took the KSE Racing Hard Charger from 24th to 16th place.
Sheldon Haudenschild won his sixth Simpson Quick Time of 2024 and his 35th of his career in the Seafoam Qualifier.
NOS Energy Drink Heats 1, 3 and 4 were won by Sheldon Haudenschild, Bill Balog and Buddy Kofoid. Milton Hershey School Heat 2 was won by Logan Schuchart.
The Toyota Racing Dash was won by Sheldon Haudenschild.
Scott Bogucki won the Microlite Last Chance Showdown.
The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race was won by Justin Henderson.
NEXT TIME: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars will make their only appearance at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, North Dakota on Saturday, August 24. For tickets, click here.
If you can’t make it to the track, watch every lap live on DIRTVision.
Featured Results:
NOS Energy Drink Featured (40 laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo (6); 2. 83-Michael Kofoid (2); 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild (1); 4. 18-Giovanni Scelzi (3); 5. 15-Donny Schatz (11); 6. 2-David Gravel (7); 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart (4); 8. 23-Garrett Williamson (8); 9. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss (9); 10. 17B-Bill Balogh (5); 11. 64-Andy Peick (13); 12. 13-Mark Dobmeyer (10); 13. 6-Max Gilford (19); 14. 7S-Landon Crowley (16) 15. 70-Craig Kinser (22); 16. 14T-Tim Estenson (24); 17. 24T-Christopher Slam (15); 18. 17GP-Justin Henderson (12); 19. 17Z-Zach Omdahl (18); 20. 8-Jack Croker (14); 21. 10-Scott Bogacki (21); 22. 11M-Brendan Mullen (17); 23. 26-Blake Egeland (20); 24. O-Nick Omdahl (23)
Click here for complete results.
