Carson Macedo Takes Jason Johnson’s No. 41 Back To Victory Lane At Knoxville Raceway

Story By: BRYAN HULBERT / ASCS – KNOXVILLE, IA – There was not a fan left sitting on the closing lap of Friday’s A-Feature at Knoxville Raceway as the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 raced to victory on Night 2 of the 28th annual Knoxville 360 Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank with California’s Carson Macedo behind the wheel.

Macedo’s first career win at the famed half-mile oval, the win is also Carson’s first with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by Sawblade.com.

“There at the end, I was just counting down the laps but I’m just so happy for this team. For Bobbi and Jaxx. For Philip and all these guys,” said Carson as he was joined by Jaxx Johnson on the top podium step.

“My car was awesome, just anywhere I went even if I slide across the middle, I could still make speed so we just have to build on it and hopefully stay this speed for tomorrow night.”

Battling three wide on the opening lap, Cole Duncan won out over Carson Macedo and Wayne Johnson. Caution on Lap 3 for AJ Moeller, just as Macedo got the run for the lead, the restart saw Macedo slip back as seventh starting Joey Saldana grabbed the lead after restarting third.

Moving away from the field, Saldana enjoyed several car lengths as Macedo worked back to the runner-up spot on Lap 6.

Rolling up on slower traffic with the race nine laps complete, Saldana was met with a wall of slower cars. All but stopped entering the first and second turn the following lap, the Rudeen Racing No. 26 had to slide high, leaving the low line open as Carson Macedo took over the top spot.

Hitting the cushion after the pass, the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 rolled away as Joey Saldana worked to hold onto second as slower traffic again brought the battle to his back bumper in the form of Terry McCarl. Nearly making contact in the final two laps trying to work the slide off the fourth turn, Saldana was able to keep pace over the Searsboro Telephone Co. No. 24.

With clean air and a deep cushion to run on, Carson Macedo raced to the win by 2.546 seconds.

“My car was so stable,” stated Carson. “I could just run right over the cushion, turn off, and still be fast. I don’t know how they do that, but they made my car really good, so I just had to do the job I was hired to do but I can’t say enough for what an honor it is to drive this racecar. To be standing on the same stage Jason did; this wasn’t the 410 Nationals, but man. Jason was a hell of a driver so to fill that seat is definitely an honor.”

Joey Saldana held onto second, and with that, has earned the pole in Saturday’s $15,000 to win A-Feature. Terry McCarl in third will start Saturday’s championship event from the same position. Tim Kaeding grabbed fourth with Knoxville 360 Nationals Rookie, Giovanni Scelzi, completing the top five and earning the right of Saturday’s front row.

Cole Duncan slipped back to finish sixth with Brooke Tatnell seventh after starting 11th. Harli White in eighth was trailed by Wayne Johnson with Johnny Herrera making the top-ten.

The 28th annual Knoxville 360 Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank concludes on Saturday, August 4 with Hot Laps getting underway at 6:45 P.M. (CDT). The 305cid Sprint Cars will join the card. For more information on Knoxville Raceway, and everything taking place during the Knoxville Nationals, log onto http://www.knoxvilleraceway.com.

For other news, notes, and information on the American Sprint Car Series, from the National Tour to any of the Regional Tours that make up the nearly 150 races across the ASCS Nation in 2018, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com, follow on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter (@LucasOilASCS).

Race Results:

Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour
Knoxville Raceway – Knoxville, Iowa
28th 360 Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank
Friday, August 3, 2018 – Night 2

Car Count: 48
Event Count: 91

Heat Races (Top 4 in each Heat Race advance to the A-Feature)

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Scottie McDonald, [1]; 2. 20-A.J. Moeller, [3]; 3. 3-Nate VanHaaften, [6]; 4. 5H-Sammy Walsh, [2]; 5. 7-Carson McCarl, [5]; 6. 2M-Matt Moro, [4]; 7. 1-Travis Rilat, [8]; 8. 13JM-Jordan Martens, [7]; 9. 86-Tony Bruce Jr, [9]; 10. 1A-John Anderson, [10]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 44-Chris Martin, [1]; 2. 41-Carson Macedo, [4]; 3. 14T-Brooke Tatnell, [3]; 4. 26-Joey Saldana, [6]; 5. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, [7]; 6. 10H-Chad Kemenah, [2]; 7. 23-Seth Bergman, [5]; 8. 63-Geoff Ensign, [8]; 9. 07-Michael Bookout, [10]; 10. (DNF) 26S-Dalton Steed, [9]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 53D-Jack Dover, [3]; 2. 71-Giovanni Scelzi, [6]; 3. 8L-Tom Lenz, [2]; 4. 35-Skylar Prochaska, [1]; 5. 44S-Trey Starks, [5]; 6. 13-Mark Dobmeier, [9]; 7. 11-Roger Crockett, [8]; 8. 56N-Davey Heskin, [7]; 9. 25-Dylan Peterson, [4]; 10. 49-Scott Kreutter, [10]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 45X-Johnny Herrera, [3]; 2. 94-Jeff Swindell, [1]; 3. 24-Terry McCarl, [6]; 4. 12N-Cole Duncan, [4]; 5. 40-Clint Garner, [7]; 6. 2-Bill Balog, [5]; 7. 17-Mitchell Faccinto, [8]; 8. 17B-Ryan Bickett, [9]; 9. (DNF) 13M-Josh Higday, [2]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington, [1]; 2. 2C-Wayne Johnson, [5]; 3. 3K-Tim Kaeding, [6]; 4. 17W-Harli White, [4]; 5. 17H-Jared Horstman, [7]; 6. 52-Blake Hahn, [9]; 7. 1B-Jac Haudenschild, [3]; 8. 77X-Alex Hill, [8]; 9. (DNF) 21AU-Jordyn Brazier, [2]

Hoosier Tire C-Feature (Top 4 advance to the B-Feature)

C Feature (10 Laps): 1. 21AU-Jordyn Brazier, [3]; 2. 25-Dylan Peterson, [1]; 3. 86-Tony Bruce Jr, [4]; 4. 07-Michael Bookout, [7]; 5. 49-Scott Kreutter, [8]; 6. 1A-John Anderson, [6]; 7. (DNF) 26S-Dalton Steed, [5]; 8. (DNF) 13M-Josh Higday, [2]

BMRS B-Feature (Top 4 advance to the A-Feature)

B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 44S-Trey Starks, [3]; 2. 7-Carson McCarl, [1]; 3. 2-Bill Balog, [4]; 4. 23-Seth Bergman, [2]; 5. 10H-Chad Kemenah, [7]; 6. 2M-Matt Moro, [5]; 7. 40-Clint Garner, [11]; 8. 56N-Davey Heskin, [10]; 9. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, [9]; 10. 11-Roger Crockett, [15]; 11. 1B-Jac Haudenschild, [6]; 12. 63-Geoff Ensign, [14]; 13. 17H-Jared Horstman, [12]; 14. 25-Dylan Peterson, [22]; 15. 13-Mark Dobmeier, [18]; 16. 86-Tony Bruce Jr, [23]; 17. 07-Michael Bookout, [24]; 18. 52-Blake Hahn, [20]; 19. 17-Mitchell Faccinto, [16]; 20. 13JM-Jordan Martens, [8]; 21. 77X-Alex Hill, [17]; 22. (DNF) 21AU-Jordyn Brazier, [21]; 23. (DNF) 1-Travis Rilat, [13]; 24. (DNF) 17B-Ryan Bickett, [19]

Protect the Harvest A-Feature

A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo, [2]; 2. 26-Joey Saldana, [7]; 3. 24-Terry McCarl, [5]; 4. 3K-Tim Kaeding, [4]; 5. 71-Giovanni Scelzi, [6]; 6. 12N-Cole Duncan, [1]; 7. 14T-Brooke Tatnell, [11]; 8. 17W-Harli White, [9]; 9. 2C-Wayne Johnson, [3]; 10. 45X-Johnny Herrera, [13]; 11. 44S-Trey Starks, [21]; 12. 7-Carson McCarl, [22]; 13. 94-Jeff Swindell, [19]; 14. 53D-Jack Dover, [12]; 15. 5H-Sammy Walsh, [14]; 16. 23-Seth Bergman, [24]; 17. 2-Bill Balog, [23]; 18. 3-Nate VanHaaften, [8]; 19. 95-Matt Covington, [20]; 20. 20-A.J. Moeller, [10]; 21. 44-Chris Martin, [17]; 22. 88-Scottie McDonald, [16]; 23. 35-Skylar Prochaska, [18]; 24. (DNF) 8L-Tom Lenz, [15]

Lap Leader(s): Cole Duncan 1-3; Joey Saldana 4-10; Carson Macedo 11-20;
CP-Carrillo Hard Charger: Trey Starks +10
FSR High Point Driver: N/A
Provisional(s): N/A

Saturday’s 28th Annual Knoxville 360 Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank Lineups

A-Feature

Lineup A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 26-Joey Saldana; 2. 71-Giovanni Scelzi; 3. 24-Terry McCarl; 4. 21-Brian Brown; 5. 27-Greg Hodnett; 6. 3K-Tim Kaeding; 7. 41-Carson Macedo; 8. 21K-Thomas Kennedy; 9. 5J-Jamie Ball; 10. 33M-Mason Daniel; 11. 3S-Sammy Swindell; 12. 2C-Wayne Johnson; 13. 3-Nate VanHaaften; 14. 53-Joe Beaver; 15. 28-Scott Bogucki; 16. 7-Carson McCarl; 17. 12N-Cole Duncan; 18. 83-Cory Eliason; 19. 41S-Dominic Scelzi; 20. 44S-Trey Starks

B-Feature

Lineup B Feature (15 Laps): 1. 17WX-Shane Golobic; 2. 9-Ryan Giles; 3. 14T-Brooke Tatnell; 4. 17W-Harli White; 5. 45X-Johnny Herrera; 6. 7C-John Carney II; 7. 14-Tony Stewart; 8. 53D-Jack Dover; 9. 23-Seth Bergman; 10. 2-Bill Balog; 11. 7W-Tasker Phillips; 12. 09-Matt Juhl; 13. 20-A.J. Moeller; 14. 99-Skylar Gee; 15. 4J-Lee Grosz; 16. 5H-Sammy Walsh; 17. 55-Mckenna Hasse; 18. 94-Jeff Swindell; 19. 18-Ryan Roberts; 20. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr

C-Feature

Lineup C Feature (12 Laps): 1. 28C-Jonathan Cornell; 2. 44-Chris Martin; 3. 88-Scottie McDonald; 4. 95-Matt Covington; 5. 13V-Seth Brahmer; 6. 2M-Matt Moro; 7. 8L-Tom Lenz; 8. 23D-Devon Dobie; 9. 4-Jon Agan; 10. 22H-Randy Hannagan; 11. 35-Skylar Prochaska; 12. 10H-Chad Kemenah; 13. 70-Calvin Landis; 14. 76-Brad Comegys; 15. 25-Dylan Peterson; 16. 1B-Jac Haudenschild; 17. 02-Don Droud Jr; 18. 40-Clint Garner; 19. 47X-Dylan Westbrook; 20. 7M-Chance Morton

D-Feature

Lineup D Feature (10 Laps): 1. 3P-Sawyer Phillips; 2. 35L-Cody Ledger; 3. 56N-Davey Heskin; 4. 75-Tyler Blank; 5. 17H-Jared Horstman; 6. 15-Christian Bowman; 7. 11-Roger Crockett; 8. 21AU-Jordyn Brazier; 9. 63-Geoff Ensign; 10. 24N-Nathan Mills; 11. 98-Chris Masters; 12. 2X-Tucker Doughty; 13. 13JM-Jordan Martens; 14. 57-Billy Butler; 15. 22M-Shawn Murray; 16. 29-Willie Croft; 17. 13-Mark Dobmeier; 18. 17-Mitchell Faccinto; 19. 1-Travis Rilat; 20. 2K-Kevin Ingle

E-Feature

Lineup E Feature (8 Laps): 1. 86-Tony Bruce Jr; 2. 13M-Josh Higday; 3. 52-Blake Hahn; 4. 57B-Bobby Butler; 5. 77X-Alex Hill; 6. 07-Michael Bookout; 7. 17X-Josh Baughman; 8. 17B-Ryan Bickett; 9. 26S-Dalton Steed; 10. 1A-John Anderson; 11. 49-Scott Kreutter