CHICO, Calif. — The second night of the 68th Gold Cup Race of Champions saw the return of a familiar face to victory lane at Silver Dollar Speedway.
Completing a California sweep of the split-field preliminary programs, Carson Macedo stood on top at the quarter-mile for the third time in his career. He’s won all three of his Gold Cup prelims with a different team — Tarlton Racing in 2014, Kyle Larson Racing in 2019 and Jason Johnson Racing in 2022.
To secure Friday’s Feature win — unofficially his 12th with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series in 2022 — Macedo was forced to fight off a resurgent Jacob Allen, who presented a career-best Silver Dollar Speedway effort.
Macedo led the opening 15 laps from the pole, but seventh-starting Jacob Allen quickly found himself in contention aboard the Shark Racing, Pells Tire Service, Low-E Insulation No. 1A. The Hanover, Pa., native, who had amassed a stunning average finish of 24th through his first 12 starts in Chico, drove by Macedo on the low-line and led laps 16-18.
The Jason Johnson Racing, Albaugh No. 41 rebounded on the ensuing restart, however, and ripped command of the lead back from Allen as he throttled the tricky cushion. From there, the 26-year-old star easily ran off into lap traffic and won Friday’s preliminary by 2.117-seconds.
“I didn’t expect that honestly,” Macedo said. “He was so good on the bottom, I was taken aback for a minute. These big mufflers are so quiet that you kind of hear things and don’t know where they’re coming from really. I had to get back into the seat and rip the top really hard. I’m glad it paid off and I’m excited knowing that we can improve tomorrow and make this thing better.”
An added element in the moment is that Macedo earned his first-career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win right here at Silver Dollar Speedway almost eight years to the day. It also marks the first win for Jason Johnson Racing at the track.
“This place is special to me and always will be,” Macedo added. “I got my first World of Outlaws win here and now I gave Jason Johnson Racing their first win here. I know how much Philip has wanted to win here, so I’m excited I can finally give them that. Hopefully we can be up here when it counts tomorrow.”
Jacob Allen (1a) battles Carson Macedo at Silver Dollar Speedway. (Devin Mayo photo)
Finishing second after leading three laps past halfway was Jacob Allen.
“Man, I’ve ran second to Carson like two or three times lately,” Allen added. “We just need to get a little bit better and I need to capitalize some more. Our decision-making has been awesome, though, and I think that is showing in our results. It’s not easy going against the best in the world every night, but we’re doing it.”
Closing out the podium in his first appearance at Silver Dollar Speedway was Spencer Bayston.
“I knew my first time here would be tough and technical, but wow it was in a big way,” Bayston noted. “I didn’t feel too good around the bottom, but it was so touchy up top, I biked so many times. I’m happy with our first outing here. This year is all about learning and experiencing these tracks. Excited to see what we can do tomorrow.”
Shane Golobic finished fourth-from-eighth to secure high point honors and lock-in for tomorrow’s $25,000-to-win Gold Cup finale. The usual pilot of the NOS Energy Drink No. 17w, Golobic hopped in the Kevin Kozlowski-owned, Paul Silva-wrenched No. 57w and nearly completed a perfect night in Chico.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo [1][$10,000]; 2. 1A-Jacob Allen [7][$6,000]; 3. 5-Spencer Bayston [4][$3,500]; 4. 57W-Shane Golobic [8][$2,800]; 5. 22-Ryan Bernal [10][$2,500]; 6. 38B-Blake Carrick [3][$2,300]; 7. 2-David Gravel [22][$2,200]; 8. 2XM-Max Mittry [2][$2,100]; 9. 83JR-Kerry Madsen [9][$2,050]; 10. 88N-DJ Netto [17][$2,000]; 11. 15-Donny Schatz [13][$1,600]; 12. 24-Chase Johnson [11][$1,400]; 13. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [6][$1,200]; 14. 11K-Kraig Kinser [16][$1,100]; 15. 7S-Robbie Price [5][$1,050]; 16. 88-Austin McCarl [12][$1,000]; 17. 42X-Tim Kaeding [14][$1,000]; 18. 5B-Colby Copeland [15][$1,000]; 19. 45-Jake Morgan [19][$1,000]; 20. 2S-Jayce Steinberg [24][$1,000]; 21. 19T-Tucker LaCaze [20][$1,000]; 22. 21M-Michael Ing [23][$1,000]; 23. 51-Shane Hopkins [18][$1,000]; 24. 21S-Jesse Schlotfeldt [21][$1,000]
Keyword: Macedo Shows The Way At Chico