FOR ELOY: Carson Macedo Tops River Cities Thriller for 40th Career Victory
The Jason Johnson Racing driver holds on to win on the night the World of Outlaws honored Eloy Gutierrez
GRAND FORKS, ND (August 23, 2024) – There looked to be no stopping Carson Macedo on Friday night at River Cities Speedway.
The Californian lined up sixth for the 40-lap finale with a stacked five names ahead in the lineup, but it didn’t matter. None of them would get in Macedo’s way on his charge toward Victory Lane.
Macedo moved the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 wherever he wanted to march forward. After starting on row three, he snatched the lead from Michael “Buddy” Kofoid on Lap 19. A fierce battle ensued for the next few laps before Macedo secured the spot. He then picked his way through heavy traffic and survived Kofoid’s final surge to grab the win.
An emotional celebration followed as the evening was all about honoring Eloy Gutierrez who passed away on Monday. Gutierrez helped implement the use of electronic timing and scoring, evolving Sprint Car racing to a new level. He dedicated many years of his life to the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars. But most importantly, he was one of the kindest humans to ever grace the racing community. Gutierrez treated everyone he met with kindness and as a friend.
“I just want to give a huge shoutout to Eloy,” Macedo said. “We miss him very much. It just sucks not having him here. He was a guy that was a friend to you no matter who you were. You felt like Eloy was your best friend because he made it a point to make you feel that way every time you saw him. I know we’re going to miss him very much.”
Macedo’s win bumped his career tally up to 40 with The Greatest Show on Dirt. He became the 21st driver in Series history to reach the milestone. The victory was his second at River Cities, making him the eighth with at least a pair of checkered flags at the Fargo, ND bullring. River Cities also became the 10th track where he’s won at least twice with the World of Outlaws.
Macedo might’ve made the drive to the front look easy, but it by no means was a simple cruise to the lead on the exciting quarter mile that is River Cities Speedway.
When the green flag dropped on the 40-lapper, it was second starting Kofoid getting the jump on the pole sitter Haudenschild to lead the first lap. Kofoid established command in the early going as the Roth Motorsports No. 83 pulled ahead of the field.
It didn’t take long for Macedo to begin charging, and right before the halfway point of the race he grabbed second when Haudenschild got tripped up on the cushion in Turns 1 and 2. Right after Macedo secured the spot the yellow flag flew for the first time.
The caution set up a pivotal restart as Kofoid opted for the bottom and gave Macedo the top for the double-file formation. Macedo took advantage by ripping by Kofoid in Turns 1 and 2 when the green flag brought the action back to life.
Kofoid fought back a few laps later as he got a strong run down the back straightaway and slid Macedo into Turn 3. Then during the next lap Macedo returned the favor as he pulled off a Turn 3 slider to regain the lead.
The laps clicked away quickly in the second half of the race. Kofoid and Haudenschild gave it everything they had in their hopes to catch Macedo, but it simply wasn’t enough. Both closed in on the final lap, but Macedo held on comfortably on his way to his fifth World of Outlaws victory of the season.
“I started to kind of second guess what I was doing there at the end,” Macedo admitted. “I started to kind of second guess what I was doing there at the end. I was starting to get a little free up top in (Turns) 3 and 4, but if I got my wing back a little bit, I’d get tight other places. I kind of found a happy medium there and moved around just enough. I could see him (Kofoid) exiting to my inside off of (Turn) 4 a little bit, so I tried the bottom. It was really slick on entry, but it was really center off, so I could see where he was using that and making up a little bit of ground. It was slick up top in (Turns) 3 and 4 as well.”
Buddy Kofoid settled for runner-up after leading 19 laps. It gave the Penngrove, CA native 13 podiums for the year with the World of Outlaws. After how the restart unfolded, Kofoid found himself second guessing his choice to take the bottom groove on the racetrack.
“I knew I obviously took the lead on the top on the initial start,” Kofoid said. “But it had been almost 20 laps since to where I figured the middle had kind of slicked up just enough to where I could take off on the bottom. But I just needed to be on the outside on the restart. Carson and the 41 guys did a good job. To be honest I felt like I could still pace them in their dirty air. There were times I felt like I was faster. Everyone is just hauling ass here. They did a good job. I just made a mistake, and it cost me.”
Rounding out the top three in the Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing No. 17 was Sheldon Haudenschild. The hunger continues to grow for a River Cities victory for the team NOS Energy Drink driver as he looks for his first win at the quarter mile.
“We kind of got going there towards the end,” Haudenschild explained. “We were just kind of hanging on there at the beginning and tried to burn some fuel off and just get rolling. (Kyle) Ripper and the boys did a great job all night. I rolled the bottom good there the last two laps or so and kind of got my nose and really threaded the needle with the one lapper. I really wanted to get a win for Eloy, but we’ve got tomorrow and we’ll keep fighting.”
Giovanni Scelzi and Donny Schatz completed the top five.
Tim Estenson earned the KSE Racing Hard Charger with a 24th to 16th drive.
Sheldon Haudenschild claimed his sixth Simpson Quick Time of 2024 and the 35th of his career in Sea Foam Qualifying.
NOS Energy Drink Heats One, Three, and Four belonged to Sheldon Haudenschild, Bill Balog, and Buddy Kofoid. Milton Hershey School Heat Two went to Logan Schuchart.
The Toyota Racing Dash was won by Sheldon Haudenschild.
Scott Bogucki topped the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Justin Henderson.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars make their only appearance at West Fargo, ND’s Red River Valley Speedway on Saturday, August 24. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.
FEATURE RESULTS:
NOS Energy Drink Feature (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-Garet Williamson[8]; 9. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[9]; 10. 17B-Bill Balog[5]; 11. 64-Andy Pake[13]; 12. 13-Mark Dobmeier[10]; 13. 6-Max Guilford[19]; 14. 7S-Landon Crawley[16]; 15. 70-Kraig Kinser[22]; 16. 14T-Tim Estenson[24]; 17. 24T-Christopher Thram[15]; 18. 17GP-Justin Henderson[12]; 19. 17Z-Zach Omdahl[18]; 20. 8-Jack Croaker[14]; 21. 10-Scott Bogucki[21]; 22. 11M-Brendan Mullen[17]; 23. 26-Blake Egeland[20]; 24. O-Nick Omdahl[23]