The World of Outlaw Nos Energy Drink Sprint Car Series came to Texarkana 67 Speedway Friday night for night one of two with the Sprint Cars. It was the first time in series history that the tour visited the facility and held the annual Jason Johnson Classic.
The series previously competed last Saturday night at the Belle Clair Fairgrounds Park Speedway, which saw Michael “Buddy” Kofoid take home the victory for the 16th time this season and looked to extend his win count to 17 tonight.
The race was a wild one and featured numerous incidents, but the checkered flag went to Carson Macedo, who was piloting the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 classic paint scheme to victory lane in a thriller over David Gravel.
“The trophy is going to be with me forever, that thing is so cool,” Carson Macedo told Dirtvision in victory lane. “We drew the eighth in the dash and I didn’t know if we were going to be able to get it done tonight, to be honest with you. In the beginning of the race, I felt like I was trying to be smart and trying to be patient. I knew it was 41-laps and that’s a long time. I knew a lot would change. I got an extremely good restart the one time when I got to the lead, and I thought, man, two really good racecar drivers in front of me with Logan (Schuhart) and David (Gravel), and I didn’t think I would get the opportunity to get it.
“Unfortunate luck for the 1S (Schuhart), but the lap car wrecking didn’t leave him very much option. He tried throttling up around him and ended up not too good for him. It gave me an opportunity. Phil (Dietz, Crew Chief) made some adjustments on the red and gave me a couple of tips on what I should do different. Obviously, it worked pretty good there.
“First time I went to the top of (Turns) 3 and 4, I thought, man, that was a huge run. If I could get close enough to break momentum, and that’s what we were able to do. Hats off to Phil Dietz. What a cool deal to win this race is really special to me. Jason Johnson built this team from the ground up, and all of his family is here, his mom and dad, his son Jaxx. To be able to get on the wing with him (Jaxx) was really special. I couldn’t believe it. When I crossed the start/finish line, I was super pumped.”
39 Sprint Cars competed in the Jason Johnson Classic.
Feature Race Recap – 41-Laps – $20,000 To Win
Thanks to his dash victory, Sheldon Haudenschild started on the pole with Cole Macedo on the outside pole. Cole Macedo took the lead using the high line to his advantage. Meanwhile, the first yellow of the night flew on the second lap for Kofoid after making contact with Haudenschild in Turns 3 and 4 while racing for the second position. Kofoid hit the left-rear of Haudenschild, which sent him spinning up toward the wall.
Macedo brought the field to green with a great restart out of Turn 4. Logan Schuchart quickly moved into the second position off the restart. As Schuchart was closing in on the race leader, Cole Macedo, the second caution slowed the field on Lap 8 for Brenham Crouch, who was slow on the frontstretch due to no brakes on his car.
The race went green once more with Cole Macedo trying to fend off Schuchart. Schuchart continued to pressure Cole Macedo for the top spot for numerous laps, but couldn’t make the pass work to take the lead. Eventually, Gravel entered the picture along with Carson Macedo, all within 2.6 seconds of each other.
Schuchart finally grabbed the lead from Cole Macedo on Lap 27 in Turns 1 and 2 by using a slide job. After spinning earlier in the race, Kofoid worked his way back in the top five with less than 15 laps to go. A caution came out with 11 laps to go for Donny Schatz, who was stopped sideways in Turn 2.
For the restart, it was Schuchart on the inside and Gravel on the outside lane. Carson Macedo took the lead on the restart off Turn 2, but an immediate caution was flown for numerous cars involved in a wreck in Turn 4. There were six cars involved, which included Tyler Courtney, Spencer Bayston, Joe B. Miller, Bill Balog, Garet Williamson, and Howard Moore. During the caution flag, a right-rear tire was going down on Kofoid’s car, who was running in the fourth position at the time of caution. Kofoid stayed on the track.
Due to the caution flag coming out, Schuchart was still the leader prior to Carson Macedo taking the official lead, thus putting Schuchart at the top spot for the next restart.
A wild circumstance occurred at Lap 35 when Moore was stalled on the track and spun around in Turns 1 and 2. Meanwhile, race leader Schuchart attempted to go to the right side and wound up going upside down.
Unfortunately for Schuchart, he was unable to keep the lead since he was involved in the accident instead of spinning around to avoid the accident. This ultimately put Gravel as the race leader.
On the restart, Carson Macedo peeked at the leader, Gravel, and eventually took the lead with two laps to go off Turn 4 using the outside line. Carson Macedo would go on to win by 1.111 seconds over Gravel.
Heat Race Recaps – Top Five Transfer – 10 Laps A Piece
In Hot Laps, Gavel paced the session with a time of 12.894 seconds. For qualifying, Gravel again was the quickest in Flight A with a time of 12.429 seconds, while Kofoid was the fastest in Flight B with a lap of 12.456 seconds.
Heat 1 – Gravel had the pole for the first heat. The two-time Sprint Car champion got out to a great start, but his quick pace was slowed for a red flag displayed on Lap 4 for a major flip in Turns 1 and 2. The car was Steven Snyder Jr who went upside down. Dirtvision replay shows Snyder Jr. got up on the cushion and went over. Snyder Jr. was okay as he exited the car.
As the field got ready to go back to green, Brady Baker got on the cushion and lost a lot of spots. Gravel went on to win the heat race and was followed by Cole Macedo, Schatz, Bayston, and B. Miller in the top five.
Heat 2 – Courtney had the pole for the second heat. Courtney got the victory with no issues and was followed by Carson Macedo, Rees Moran, Crouch, and Chris Windom for the transfers.
Heat 3 – Kofoid would have the pole for the third heat and was unchallenged for the majority of the heat race before he got to lap traffic with two laps to go. This allowed Haudenschild, who was in the second position, to close in on Kofoid, but Haudenschild was unable to catch Kofoid, and Kofoid went on to claim the heat victory. Haudenschild, Balog, Williamson, and Skylar Gee were the transfers.
Heat 4 – Brady Bacon had the top spot for the fourth and final heat of the evening with Logan Schuchart on the outside pole. Schuchart jumped to the lead at the start of the green-flag and never looked back since he went on to win the heat race. Emerson Axsom, Brent Marks, Bacon, and Landon Crawley rounded out the transfers.
As the checkered flag flew, the caution was also displayed for Riley Goodno, who was stopped on the backstretch. However, Schuchart had already taken the checkered flag and determined the heat race winner.
In the Toyota Racing Dash to determine the pole position for the main event, the victory went to Haudenschild.
Bryce Lucius won the Last Chance Showdown with Blake Hahn, Moore, and Ashton Torgerson taking transfer spots.
For those who missed the feature, you can watch the highlights below.
Official Race Results Following Night 1 at Texarkana 67 Speedway
- Carson Macedo
- David Gravel
- Sheldon Haudenschild
- Cole Macedo
- Michael Kofoid
- Brent Marks
- Emerson Axsom
- Ashton Torggerson
- Chris Windom
- Brady Bacon
- Tyler Courtney
- Donny Schatz
- Garet Williamson
- Spencer Bayston
- Bill Balog
- Blake Hahn
- Logan Schuchart
- Skylar Gee
- Landon Crawley
- Bryce Lucius
- Howard Moore, DNF
- Joe B. Miller, DNF
- Rees Moran, DNF
- Brenham Crouch, DNF
Up Next – Night 2 of the World of Outlaws Nos Energy Drink Sprint Car Series takes place Saturday night, live on Dirtvision.
