JACKSON, Minn. — Carson Macedo was not going to be denied on Saturday night during the 44th annual AGCO Jackson Nationals hosted by Jackson Motorplex.
Macedo was leading the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series preliminary feature earlier in the day, but a last-lap pass dropped him to a runner-up result.
Approximately seven hours later he left no doubt, leading the final 19 laps of the 35-lap feature to garner the $25,000 top prize. The margin of victory was 2.757 seconds and only four drivers finished within 10 seconds of Macedo.
“Man, it stung earlier, but that felt good,” he said after scoring his second career World of Outlaws victory at Jackson Motorplex. “A little bit of redemption on the one that counts. This one pays a little bit more money. We’re pretty happy about that.”
Macedo methodically moved forward from his eighth starting position, advancing to third place on lap and into second place on lap nine. He then tracked down polesitter Jacob Allen in traffic.
The duo swapped the lead twice on lap 16 with Allen officially staying in front as they crossed the line, but Macedo took the top spot for good on the ensuing lap. Allen stayed close and pulled even with Macedo on lap 20 before Macedo pulled away during the final dozen laps.
“I knew once I charged that hard on Brad (Sweet) and was able to get by him and then very quickly get by (James) McFadden that I was really good,” Macedo said. “I paced Jacob. I thought he was extremely good as well. I kept seeing him to my inside. I was just trying to make smart decisions. I was trying to make smart decisions in the first race earlier today, too, and sometimes it doesn’t work out.
“They did an incredible job there with the track prep. I thought it was amazing. There was two lanes, very, very wide, top, bottom. You could go anywhere to pass lapped cars. Hats off to Tod Quiring and the whole track crew. They did a great job.”
Allen’s second-place showing marked his second podium of the day at Jackson Motorplex.
“I felt like the bottom on the start of the race was good down in one and two,” he said after leading the first 16 laps. “It just seems like this track gets around the top in one and two. I just tried to get that pace going there. I felt my pace was really good, but I just lost the race. That’s the way it goes.”
David Gravel posted a third-place result thanks to a mid-race charge.
“I felt we had a pretty good car,” he said. “Jacob moved up at the right time and really got me in dirty air and was able to have (McFadden) pass me. I hit the berm on the restart and lost two spots and fell back to fifth. I battled Brad for most of the race. I think at the end we had just as good of a car as anybody, but a little too late.”
McFadden placed fourth and Spencer Bayston was fifth.
Allen set quick time during qualifying to kick off the competition before Tim Kaeding, McFadden, Noah Gass and Brian Brown each won a heat race. Allen captured the King of the Hill with Sheldon Haudenschild winning the Last Chance Showdown. Haudenschild was also the Hard Charger Award winner after maneuvering from 21st to 10 th in the main event.
Macedo wasn’t the only driver to deliver a dominating victory on Saturday evening. Scott Brandt led all but the opening lap of the 20-lap PIRTEK Upper Midwest Renegades Sprint Car Series feature.
Jake Kouba rallied from seventh into the runner-up position within the first six laps. He focused on the top groove while Brandt hugged the bottom lane, maintaining a lead of approximately one and a half seconds before Kouba made up ground in the closing laps to finish second by only 0.948 seconds.
Jon Lewerer, who led the first lap of the race, rounded out the podium. Johnny Parsons III finished fourth and Mike Mueller ended fifth.
The finish:
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo (8); 2. 1A-Jacob Allen (1); 3. 2-David Gravel (2); 4. 83-James McFadden (4); 5. 5-Spencer Bayston (7); 6. 15-Donny Schatz (6); 7. 18-Giovanni Scelzi (5); 8. 49-Brad Sweet (3); 9. 39M-Anthony Macri (14); 10. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild (21); 11. 1S-Logan Schuchart (9); 12. 24-Rico Abreu (10); 13. 83JR-Kerry Madsen (15); 14. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss (19); 15. 20G-Noah Gass (12); 16. 21-Brian Brown (11); 17. 7S-Robbie Price (17); 18. 22-Riley Goodno (23); 19. 1AU-Marcus Dumesny (22); 20. 10-Matt Juhl (13); 21. 11K-Kraig Kinser (24); 22. 24T-Christopher Thram (20); 23. 3-Tim Kaeding (16); 24. 17X-Kevin Thomas Jr (18).
Keyword: Macedo Secures $25,000 Jackson Nationals