Wilmot Raceway
Carson Macedo admits he hasn’t been himself over the past few weeks. A frightening crash at Knoxville in early June left him rattled both physically and mentally.
He and his Jason Johnson Racing team stayed dedicated. Macedo battled pain. A large supporting cast kept his spirits up. Since the incident, his finishes in the next nine races were solid with eight top 10s but not quite on the championship level he showed early in the season.
And heading into the 10th race after Knoxville, Macedo was beginning to feel like himself again. The result was a revitalizing triumph at Wilmot Raceway on Saturday night. Macedo rolled by Donny Schatz shortly before the halfway point of the Federated Auto Parts Larry Hillerud Memorial Badger 40 and held off multiple challengers on his way to Victory Lane for the second straight year at the Wisconsin oval.
The Wilmot win moved Macedo up to four World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car triumphs this season and 32 for his career. The Lemoore, CA native joined David Gravel as the only driver with multiple checkered flags at Wilmot. And most importantly, the win served as a much needed confidence boost. A reminder to Macedo and the entire team of their capabilities as they pursue a championship.
“I’m just thankful more than anything,” Macedo said. “It’s been a tough few weeks. I’ve had a lot of really good people reach out and be supporters. When you’re young you think you’re invincible, but the other week kind of knocked me back a little bit, that wreck. I feel like my guys have never given up on me – Philip Dietz, Clyde Knipp, Nate Repetz. They’ve been trying to give me the best car they possibly can. I just haven’t been 100% right.
“Coming into this week, I worked out all week and was just in a much better mind and place in my head. I felt pretty good about our chances. We were fast early in the night. I felt like we had a really good Heat Race. We were outstanding in the Dash, and they just delivered again in the Feature. These guys did an incredible job.”
When the green flag waved on the 40-lap main event, Macedo was on the pole, but it was Donny Schatz powering into the lead around Macedo’s outside.
While Schatz was the one who grabbed the early lead, Macedo refused to let him pull away. Macedo kept the Albaugh #41 a few car lengths behind Schatz. As the two entered traffic, Macedo was forced to fend off a challenge in the form of a charging Bill Balog. “The North Pole Nightmare” slid Macedo for the runner-up spot, but he was able to cross Balog over.
Balog’s challenge forced Macedo to elevate his game. Only a few laps after he’d briefly slipped to third, Macedo closed right back up to Schatz’ tail tank as they navigated slower cars. On lap 16, Schatz left an opening on the top side, and Macedo promptly took advantage. He ripped the cushion right around the Tony Stewart/Curb Agajanian Racing #15.
After taking the lead, Macedo began to put some distance between himself and Schatz. Then Schatz slipped back a spot as Balog maneuvered by him for second.
A restart that came a lap beyond the halfway point gave Macedo a close moment as Balog got a strong restart. He attempted a slider but couldn’t clear Macedo. The #17B drifted up and above the cushion causing him to lose some spots and gift Brad Sweet the runner-up position.
“I was most nervous with Bill. I knew he wants to win really bad and was willing to throw a flyer to try and win the race,” Macedo said of the restart. “I kind of spun a little bit off the bottom and could hear him behind me. I went to the top thinking I’ll get a run, and he threw a big bomb and I just barely snuck around him.”
NOS Energy Drink Feature (40 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[1]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet[4]; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[10]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz[2]; 5. 9-Kasey Kahne[6]; 6. 2-David Gravel[7]; 7. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[11]; 8. 17B-Bill Balog[5]; 9. 5-Spencer Bayston[8]; 10. 83-James McFadden[12]; 11. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[9]; 12. 1S-Logan Schuchart[15]; 13. 1A-Jacob Allen[3]; 14. 20G-Noah Gass[21]; 15. 71M-Caden Englehart[24]; 16. 3N-Jake Neuman[20]; 17. 23-Russel Borland[22]; 18. 6-Bill Rose[16]; 19. (DNF) 87A-Austin Hartmann[18]; 20. (DNF) 7S-Robbie Price[14]; 21. (DNF) 68-Dave Uttech[23]; 22. (DNF) 7N-Darin Naida[13]; 23. (DNF) 49J-Josh Schneiderman[17]; 24. (DNF) 16TH-Hunter Schuerenberg[19]
MicroLite Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 20G-Noah Gass[1]; 2. 23-Russel Borland[4]; 3. 68-Dave Uttech[2]; 4. 71M-Caden Englehart[5]; 5. 10V-Matt VanderVere[3]; 6. 14T-Tim Estenson[7]; 7. 26R-Preston Ruh[9]; 8. 16-Anthony Knierim[8]; 9. 34-Kevin Hinich[12]; 10. 43-Jereme Schroeder[6]; 11. 16THH-Kevin Newton[11]; 12. 70-Chris Klemko[10]
Toyota Dash (8 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[2]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz[1]; 3. 1A-Jacob Allen[4]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet[3]; 5. 17B-Bill Balog[7]; 6. 9-Kasey Kahne[8]; 7. 2-David Gravel[5]; 8. 5-Spencer Bayston[6]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 17B-Bill Balog[1]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet[2]; 3. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[3]; 4. 7N-Darin Naida[4]; 5. 49J-Josh Schneiderman[6]; 6. 68-Dave Uttech[5]; 7. 43-Jereme Schroeder[7]; 8. (DNS) 70-Chris Klemko
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[2]; 2. 2-David Gravel[1]; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[4]; 4. 7S-Robbie Price[3]; 5. 87A-Austin Hartmann[5]; 6. 10V-Matt VanderVere[7]; 7. 14T-Tim Estenson[6]; 8. 16THH-Kevin Newton[8]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 1A-Jacob Allen[1]; 2. 5-Spencer Bayston[2]; 3. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[3]; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart[5]; 5. 16TH-Hunter Schuerenberg[6]; 6. 23-Russel Borland[8]; 7. 16-Anthony Knierim[7]; 8. (DNF) 20G-Noah Gass[4]
Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 15-Donny Schatz[2]; 2. 9-Kasey Kahne[1]; 3. 83-James McFadden[3]; 4. 6-Bill Rose[4]; 5. 3N-Jake Neuman[5]; 6. 71M-Caden Englehart[6]; 7. 26R-Preston Ruh[7]; 8. 34-Kevin Hinich[8]
Qualifying: 1. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:12.199[27]; 2. 2-David Gravel, 00:12.210[5]; 3. 1A-Jacob Allen, 00:12.219[28]; 4. 9-Kasey Kahne, 00:12.220[29]; 5. 49-Brad Sweet, 00:12.222[8]; 6. 41-Carson Macedo, 00:12.238[17]; 7. 5-Spencer Bayston, 00:12.240[15]; 8. 15-Donny Schatz, 00:12.246[6]; 9. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 00:12.261[25]; 10. 7S-Robbie Price, 00:12.272[23]; 11. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 00:12.279[26]; 12. 83-James McFadden, 00:12.361[31]; 13. 7N-Darin Naida, 00:12.387[21]; 14. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 00:12.412[30]; 15. 20G-Noah Gass, 00:12.461[11]; 16. 6-Bill Rose, 00:12.517[19]; 17. 68-Dave Uttech, 00:12.520[18]; 18. 87A-Austin Hartmann, 00:12.554[9]; 19. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 00:12.574[2]; 20. 3N-Jake Neuman, 00:12.634[13]; 21. 49J-Josh Schneiderman, 00:12.639[3]; 22. 14T-Tim Estenson, 00:12.692[14]; 23. 16TH-Hunter Schuerenberg, 00:12.716[1]; 24. 71M-Caden Englehart, 00:12.785[7]; 25. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 00:12.866[24]; 26. 10V-Matt VanderVere, 00:12.895[4]; 27. 16-Anthony Knierim, 00:12.912[32]; 28. 26R-Preston Ruh, 00:12.979[16]; 29. 70-Chris Klemko, 00:13.006[10]; 30. 16THH-Kevin Newton, 00:13.007[12]; 31. 23-Russel Borland, 00:13.028[22]; 32. 34-Kevin Hinich, 00:13.415[20]
Motor Heat: 1. 23-Russel Borland[4]; 2. 26R-Preston Ruh[22]; 3. 1A-Jacob Allen[1]; 4. 20G-Noah Gass[7]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[10]; 6. 7N-Darin Naida[17]; 7. 15-Donny Schatz[24]; 8. 43-Jereme Schroeder[26]; 9. 49-Brad Sweet[29]; 10. 49J-Josh Schneiderman[25]; 11. 83-James McFadden[16]; 12. 1S-Logan Schuchart[27]; 13. 87A-Austin Hartmann[9]; 14. 2-David Gravel[8]; 15. 17B-Bill Balog[2]; 16. 3N-Jake Neuman[18]; 17. 10V-Matt VanderVere[31]; 18. 41-Carson Macedo[15]; 19. 16THH-Kevin Newton[19]; 20. 14T-Tim Estenson[6]; 21. 68-Dave Uttech[30]; 22. 16-Anthony Knierim[14]; 23. 7S-Robbie Price[20]; 24. 6-Bill Rose[21]; 25. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[32]; 26. (DNS) 5-Spencer Bayston; 27. (DNS) 71M-Caden Englehart; 28. (DNS) 34-Kevin Hinich; 29. (DNS) 9-Kasey Kahne; 30. (DNS) 70-Chris Klemko; 31. (DNS) 18-Giovanni Scelzi; 32. (DNS) 16TH-Hunter Schuerenberg
Hot Laps: 1. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:12.296[27]; 2. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 00:12.301[25]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo, 00:12.308[17]; 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 00:12.314[30]; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen, 00:12.351[28]; 6. 9-Kasey Kahne, 00:12.425[29]; 7. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 00:12.487[26]; 8. 7S-Robbie Price, 00:12.547[23]; 9. 83-James McFadden, 00:12.585[31]; 10. 5-Spencer Bayston, 00:12.626[15]; 11. 7N-Darin Naida, 00:12.629[21]; 12. 49-Brad Sweet, 00:12.693[8]; 13. 2-David Gravel, 00:12.737[5]; 14. 14T-Tim Estenson, 00:12.822[14]; 15. 49J-Josh Schneiderman, 00:12.830[3]; 16. 68-Dave Uttech, 00:12.862[18]; 17. 6-Bill Rose, 00:12.879[19]; 18. 20G-Noah Gass, 00:12.894[11]; 19. 15-Donny Schatz, 00:12.987[6]; 20. 16TH-Hunter Schuerenberg, 00:13.021[1]; 21. 23-Russel Borland, 00:13.028[22]; 22. 3N-Jake Neuman, 00:13.050[13]; 23. 16THH-Kevin Newton, 00:13.075[12]; 24. 10V-Matt VanderVere, 00:13.125[4]; 25. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 00:13.148[24]; 26. 70-Chris Klemko, 00:13.206[10]; 27. 71M-Caden Englehart, 00:13.213[7]; 28. 26R-Preston Ruh, 00:13.252[16]; 29. 87A-Austin Hartmann, 00:13.274[9]; 30. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 00:13.324[2]; 31. 16-Anthony Knierim, 00:13.589[32]; 32. 34-Kevin Hinich, 00:13.809[20]