Carson Macedo, JJR Close Out All Star Sprints Southern Tour With Victory Thursday At Volusia
Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – BARBERVILLE, FL – Lemoore, California’s Carson Macedo was perfect on Thursday night at Volusia Speedway Park, helping the All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 close out the inaugural Sugarlands Shine Southern Tour presented by Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts with a non-stop, wire-to-wire victory.
The DIRTcar Nationals win, scoring Macedo a $6,000 top prize, bumped his All Star win total to seven over the course of his young career, each of which accomplished at different facilities.
“This team did an amazing job tonight and I’m super thrilled with how things are going,” Carson Macedo said, driver of the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41. “We were able to put ourselves in great positions during the entire program and we really executed. I’m just super grateful to be a part of this race team. To come out of the box and win the second night out is pretty incredible.”
Starting from the outside-pole position, the lead was Macedo’s right from the start, cruising the outside groove all the way around Volusia’s half-mile. Relatively unchallenged for most of the 25-lap program, Macedo’s first distraction occurred on lap 11 when a slower car forced the Californian to take evasive action. The slight hiccup allowed Wednesday night winner, Logan Schuchart, to close in on the former All Star turned Outlaw, actually pulling even with Macedo on turn 14. Despite Schuchart’s attempt to overthrow, Macedo escaped unschathed, eventually racing ahead to a lengthy advantage.
Macedo’s only other close call was also in the form of lapped traffic, this time forced to deal with a four-pack of slower cars in the closing circuits. Despite the massive roadblock, Macedo never faltered, ultimately weaving through the potential mess to separate himself from a fast closing Logan Schuchart and Brad Sweet.
“I just kinda told myself to be patient and don’t do anything dumb,” Macedo explained pertaining to the traffic jam with four to go. “I knew what I had to do, but I didn’t want to get hung up because I knew Logan (Schuchart) was behind me. Luckily for me, the lapped cars really didn’t interfere because I don’t think they knew where the best groove was. It all worked out great and I’m thrilled for this team.”
Logan Schuchart held on to finish second, followed by Brad Sweet, David Gravel, and Danny Dietrich.
The All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will return to competition on Friday and Saturday, April 9-10, when the Series visits Attica Raceway Park in Attica, Ohio, for the Core and Main Spring Nationals. The two-day program, awarding $5,000 and $6,000, respectively, will also activate the 2021 All Star Circuit of Champions point championship.
For those who can not make the journey to Attica for the Spring Nationals, FloRacing, the official media partner and live broadcast provider of the All Star Circuit of Champions, has you covered. Each and every event on the 2021 All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 schedule will be broadcast live exclusively at www.floracing.com.
Contingency Awards/Results: Volusia Speedway Park – February 4, 2021:
Event: Sugarlands Shine Southern Tour presented by Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts | DIRTcar Nationals
Entries: 32
C&R Racing Warm-Ups: Donny Schatz | 13.417
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: David Gravel | 13.229
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Logan Schuchart
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Danny Dietrich
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Kasey Kahne
Mobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: Donny Schatz
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash #1 Winner: Brad Sweet
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash #2 Winner: Carson Macedo
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Parker Price-Miller
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Mason Daniel
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Carson Macedo
Hercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Gio Scelzi (+9)
Sugarlands Shine Lap 21 Leader: Carson Macedo
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.234; 2. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 13.343; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.353; 4. 12N-Joey Saldana, 13.371; 5. 19-Parker Price-Miller, 13.396; 6. 33M-Mason Daniel, 13.423; 7. 26-Cory Eliason, 13.486; 8. 101-Kerry Madsen, 13.526
Group (B)
1. 5-Brent Marks, 13.416; 2. 3C-Cale Conley, 13.471; 3. 11-Ian Madsen, 13.558; 4. 48-Danny Dietrich, 13.567; 5. 13-Justin Peck, 13.575; 6. 39M-Anthony Macri, 13.582; 7. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 13.713; 8. 27c-Craig Pellegrini, NT
Group (C)
1. 2-David Gravel, 13.229; 2. 21-Brian Brown, 13.257; 3. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.326; 4. 9-Kasey Kahne, 13.379; 5. 72-Tim Shaffer, 13.446; 6. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 13.508; 7. 11C-Joe Conway, 16.148; 8. 15B-Zach Hampton, 99.240
Group (D)
1. 41-Carson Macedo, 13.281; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 13.320; 3. 83-Aaron Reutzel, 13.339; 4. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.361; 5. 18-Gio Scelzi, 13.415; 6. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 13.480; 7. 17B-Steve Buckwalter, 13.721; 8. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 99.320
Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 1S-Logan Schuchart [2]; 2. 12N-Joey Saldana [1]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [4]; 4. 101-Kerry Madsen [8]; 5. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [3]; 6. 19-Parker Price-Miller [5]; 7. 26-Cory Eliason [7]; 8. 33M-Mason Daniel [6]
Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 48-Danny Dietrich [1]; 2. 11-Ian Madsen [2]; 3. 5-Brent Marks [4]; 4. 39M-Anthony Macri [6]; 5. 2C-Wayne Johnson [7]; 6. 3C-Cale Conley [3]; 7. 13-Justin Peck [5]
Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 9-Kasey Kahne [1]; 2. 1A-Jacob Allen [2]; 3. 2-David Gravel [4]; 4. 21-Brian Brown [3]; 5. 72-Tim Shaffer [5]; 6. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [6]; 7. 15B-Zach Hampton [8]; 8. 11C-Joe Conway [7]
Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 15-Donny Schatz [1]; 2. 83-Aaron Reutzel [2]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo [4]; 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [8]; 5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [6]; 6. 18-Gio Scelzi [5]; 7. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [3]; 8. 17B-Steve Buckwalter [7]
Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 49-Brad Sweet [1]; 2. 48-Danny Dietrich [3]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [2]; 4. 21-Brian Brown [5]; 5. 5-Brent Marks [4]
Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 41-Carson Macedo [2]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart [1]; 3. 2-David Gravel [3]; 4. 1A-Jacob Allen [5]; 5. 9-Kasey Kahne [4]
B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 19-Parker Price-Miller [2]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [1]; 3. 26-Cory Eliason [6]; 4. 18-Gio Scelzi [3]; 5. 33M-Mason Daniel [9]; 6. 13-Justin Peck [7]; 7. 3C-Cale Conley [4]; 8. 17B-Steve Buckwalter [10]; 9. 15B-Zach Hampton [8]; 10. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [5]; 11. 11C-Joe Conway [11]
A-Main (25 Laps)
1. 41-Carson Macedo [2]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart [4]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [1]; 4. 2-David Gravel [6]; 5. 48-Danny Dietrich [3]; 6. 1A-Jacob Allen [8]; 7. 15-Donny Schatz [5]; 8. 12N-Joey Saldana [12]; 9. 9-Kasey Kahne [10]; 10. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [16]; 11. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [17]; 12. 5-Brent Marks [9]; 13. 101-Kerry Madsen [14]; 14. 72-Tim Shaffer [18]; 15. 18-Gio Scelzi [24]; 16. 83-Aaron Reutzel [11]; 17. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [19]; 18. 21-Brian Brown [7]; 19. 11-Ian Madsen [13]; 20. 26-Cory Eliason [23]; 21. 19-Parker Price-Miller [21]; 22. 39M-Anthony Macri [15]; 23. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [22]; 24. 2C-Wayne Johnson [20] Lap Leaders: Carson Macedo (1-25)