By T.J Buffenbarger
ROSSBURG, Ohio (July 14, 2023) – Carson Macedo used slower traffic to his advantage and held off a late race challenge from Brad Sweet to win the Knight Before the Kings Royal Friday at Eldora Speedway. Macedo from Lemoore, California, was able to maintain distance between himself and Sweet through slower traffic until five laps to go when Sweet was able to slide by Macedo in turns one and two. Macedo was able to counter on the other end of the racetrack to maintain the lead and drove away over the final five laps for the victory.
After the race Macedo said Sweet’s challenge caught him off guard and made him sit up in the driver’s seat.
“I’d slid myself in three and four I knew I lost a lot of time off of four but I didn’t think he would slide me right then,” said Macedo of Sweet’s challenge. “I felt like my you know my run off before wasn’t that bad and he must have been fairly close before that. I was looking over the board I could see the last one and down and he slipped me it just woke me back up.”
The win was Macedo’s ninth feature victory of the 2023 season and fifth on the World of Outlaws tour. Friday was Macedo’s third appearance on the Eldora podium after a pair of second place finishes during the two nights of racing during the Eldora Million.
Macedo took the lead at the initial start with Giovanni Scelzi behind him. On lap three the red flag appeared when Tyler Courtney flipped hard in turns one and two. Courtney was able to exit the car under his own power.
Macedo drove to the lead during the restart while Sweet was able to overtake Scelzi for second.
On lap 13 Macedo started to overtake slower traffic and allowed Sweet to close in. Sweet was able to close in one lap later, but Macedo was able to clear a slower car that eventually held up Sweet and opened some breathing room.
Sweet started to chip away at Macedo’s advantage and made his move with five laps to go when Macedo was boxed in behind slower cars going into turn one to take the lead. Macedo was able to counter on the other end of the racetrack to maintain the top position.
Macedo was able to stretch his advantage to 0.585 seconds at the finish. Sweet, Scelzi, Rico Abreu, and David Gravel rounded out the top five.
Afterwards Sweet was complimentary of Macedo for holding off his challenge for the top position.
“Carson ran a really good pace there,” said Sweet. “I was up on the wheel trying to make a move and he was working hard to get by the lap cars. I got one run there and had my chance and just didn’t quite get it done. (Macedo) got back to my inside and I wasn’t sure what he was going to do in the three so I tried to slow down to try to get back to his inside. I figured he was going to short slide to the cushion and I would have to lift so I just tried to get back to the inside there.”
Logan Schuchart was the fastest qualifying in Flight A and fastest overall as the only driver to turn a lap in the twelve second bracket with a 12.934 second lap. Lance Dewease was fastest in Flight B qualifying with a lap of 13.337 second lap.
Sweet, Rico Abreu, Sheldon Haudenschild, and Macedo won heat races.
Zach Hampton and Cody Maroske won the pair of non-qualifiers races. Dylan Cisney won the D-Main while Landon Myers won the C-Main. Daryn Pittman won the Last Chance Showdown.
Knight Before the Kings Royal
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series
Eldora Speedway
Rossburg, Ohio
Saturday, July 14, 2023
Qualifying Flight A
1. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 12.934[4]
2. 24-Rico Abreu, 13.064[5]
3. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.201[26]
4. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 13.227[7]
5. 55P-Daryn Pittman, 13.249[22]
6. 21-Brian Brown, 13.261[18]
7. 8-Aaron Reutzel, 13.285[28]
8. 2-David Gravel, 13.307[34]
9. 83JR-Michael Kofoid, 13.320[12]
10. 19-Brent Marks, 13.330[9]
11. 21T-Cole Macedo, 13.388[15]
12. 25-Lachlan McHugh, 13.419[21]
13. 11-Cory Eliason, 13.424[31]
14. 21H-Brady Bacon, 13.430[20]
15. 83-James McFadden, 13.435[24]
16. 20G-Noah Gass, 13.450[25]
17. 48-Danny Dietrich, 13.476[23]
18. 26-Zeb Wise, 13.512[14]
19. 45-Tim Shaffer, 13.532[10]
20. 19L-CJ Leary, 13.578[33]
21. 35-Zach Hampton, 13.613[29]
22. 6-Bill Rose, 13.619[1]
23. 35B-Austin Bishop, 13.685[13]
24. 4-Chris Windom, 13.696[32]
25. 55T-McKenna Haase, 13.699[11]
26. 97-JJ Hickle, 13.711[8]
27. 25R-Jordan Ryan, 13.740[27]
28. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.744[3]
29. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.760
30. 6X-Frank Rodgers, 13.760[2]
31. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 13.778[17]
32. 29-Carl Bowser, 13.801[19]
33. 67-Justin Whittall, 13.881[30]
34. 11C-Kory Crabtree, 13.887[16]
35. 3-Denny Peebles, 14.176[6]
Qualifying Flight B
1. 39M-Lance Dewease, 13.337[3]
2. 41-Carson Macedo, 13.381[32]
3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.382[2]
4. 5-Spencer Bayston, 13.406[22]
5. 17B-Bill Balog, 13.408[10]
6. 9P-Parker Price Miller, 13.447[6]
7. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.487[17]
8. 9-Kasey Kahne, 13.504[16]
9. 13-Justin Peck, 13.513[31]
10. 42-Sye Lynch, 13.514[20]
11. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 13.532[28]
12. 39-Hunter Schuerenberg, 13.535[4]
13. 71-Shane Stewart, 13.535[19]
14. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.552[1]
15. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 13.565[23]
16. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.592[29]
17. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 13.597[25]
18. 1M-Landon Myers, 13.670[5]
19. 11T-TJ Stutts, 13.686[8]
20. 55-Kerry Madsen, 13.703[18]
21. 101-Cody Maroske, 13.763[9]
22. 99-Skylar Gee, 13.808[13]
23. 5T-Travis Philo, 13.809[24]
24. 11N-Harli White, 13.822[7]
25. 5C-Dylan Cisney, 13.829[21]
26. 20B-Cody Bova, 13.838[26]
27. 7S-Robbie Price, 13.856[27]
28. 17AU-Jamie Veal, 13.899[12]
29. 4S-Tyler Street, 13.941[33]
30. 19W-Trent Pigdon, 13.982[11]
31. 52-Blake Hahn, 14.031[15]
32. 46-Michael Bauer, 14.093[14]
33. 15M-Mitch Harble, 14.303[30]
Non-Qualifier A (8 Laps)
1. 35-Zach Hampton[1]
2. 4-Chris Windom[4]
3. 6-Bill Rose[2]
4. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[10]
5. 97-JJ Hickle[6]
6. W20-Greg Wilson[8]
7. 35B-Austin Bishop[3]
8. 67-Justin Whittall[12]
9. 29-Carl Bowser[11]
10. 25R-Jordan Ryan[7]
11. 55T-McKenna Haase[5]
12. 3-Denny Peebles[14]
13. 6X-Frank Rodgers[9]
14. 11C-Kory Crabtree[13]
(First four finishers transferred to the heat races)
Non-Qualifier B (8 Laps)
1. 101-Cody Maroske[1]
2. 99-Skylar Gee[2]
3. 7S-Robbie Price[7]
4. 11N-Harli White[4]
5. 4S-Tyler Street[9]
6. 52-Blake Hahn[10]
7. 5C-Dylan Cisney[5]
8. 20B-Cody Bova[6]
9. 15M-Mitch Harble[12]
10. 46-Michael Bauer[11]
DNS: 5T-Travis Philo
DNS: 17AU-Jamie Veal
DNS: 19W-Trent Pigdon
(First four finishers transferred to the heat races)
Case No1 Engine Oil Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 49-Brad Sweet[2]
2. 1S-Logan Schuchart[1]
3. 8-Aaron Reutzel[4]
4. 83JR-Michael Kofoid[5]
5. 21T-Cole Macedo[6]
6. 55P-Daryn Pittman[3]
7. 11-Cory Eliason[7]
8. 48-Danny Dietrich[9]
9. 35-Zach Hampton[11]
10. 6-Bill Rose[12]
11. 83-James McFadden[8]
12. 45-Tim Shaffer[10]
(First five finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 24-Rico Abreu[1]
2. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[2]
3. 21-Brian Brown[3]
4. 2-David Gravel[4]
5. 19-Brent Marks[5]
6. 21H-Brady Bacon[7]
7. 25-Lachlan McHugh[6]
8. 26-Zeb Wise[9]
9. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[12]
10. 19L-CJ Leary[10]
11. 20G-Noah Gass[8]
12. 4-Chris Windom[11]
(First five finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[2]
2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[6]
3. 13-Justin Peck[5]
4. 1A-Jacob Allen[4]
5. 17B-Bill Balog[3]
6. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[8]
7. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[9]
8. 101-Cody Maroske[11]
9. 71-Shane Stewart[7]
10. 39M-Lance Dewease[1]
11. 7S-Robbie Price[12]
12. 11T-TJ Stutts[10]
(First five finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #4 (8 Laps)
1. 41-Carson Macedo[1]
2. 5-Spencer Bayston[2]
3. 9P-Parker Price Miller[3]
4. 15-Donny Schatz[8]
5. 9-Kasey Kahne[4]
6. 39-Hunter Schuerenberg[6]
7. 11K-Kraig Kinser[7]
8. 55-Kerry Madsen[10]
9. 42-Sye Lynch[5]
10. 1M-Landon Myers[9]
11. 99-Skylar Gee[11]
12. 11N-Harli White[12]
(First five finishers transferred to the A-Main)
D-Main (8 Laps)
1. 5C-Dylan Cisney[2]
2. 35B-Austin Bishop[1]
3. 67-Justin Whittall[3]
4. 20B-Cody Bova[4]
5. 25R-Jordan Ryan[7]
6. 46-Michael Bauer[8]
7. 55T-McKenna Haase[9]
8. 3-Denny Peebles[11]
9. 6X-Frank Rodgers[13]
10. 15M-Mitch Harble[6]
DNS: 29-Carl Bowser
DNS: 5T-Travis Philo
DNS: 17AU-Jamie Veal
DNS: 11C-Kory Crabtree
DNS: 19W-Trent Pigdon
(First two finishers transferred to the B-Main)
C-Main (10 Laps)
1. 1M-Landon Myers[2]
2. 6-Bill Rose[1]
3. 19L-CJ Leary[3]
4. 7S-Robbie Price[4]
5. 45-Tim Shaffer[9]
6. 99-Skylar Gee[6]
7. 11N-Harli White[10]
8. 20G-Noah Gass[7]
9. 4-Chris Windom[11]
10. 52-Blake Hahn[15]
11. 5C-Dylan Cisney[16]
12. 11T-TJ Stutts[8]
13. W20-Greg Wilson[14]
14. 35B-Austin Bishop[17]
15. 97-JJ Hickle[12]
16. 83-James McFadden[5]
17. 4S-Tyler Street[13]
(First two finishers transferred to the B-Main)
Toyota Dash (6 Laps)
1. 41-Carson Macedo[1]
2. 49-Brad Sweet[3]
3. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[2]
4. 5-Spencer Bayston[4]
5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[6]
6. 24-Rico Abreu[8]
7. 1S-Logan Schuchart[7]
8. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[5]
(Finish determined the first eight starting positions for the A-Main)
MicroLite Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps)
1. 55P-Daryn Pittman[1]
2. 39M-Lance Dewease[2]
3. 21H-Brady Bacon[3]
4. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[4]
5. 26-Zeb Wise[11]
6. 25-Lachlan McHugh[7]
7. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[15]
8. 11-Cory Eliason[5]
9. 35-Zach Hampton[13]
10. 71-Shane Stewart[16]
11. 101-Cody Maroske[12]
12. 55-Kerry Madsen[14]
13. 6-Bill Rose[19]
14. 42-Sye Lynch[17]
15. 48-Danny Dietrich[9]
16. 11K-Kraig Kinser[10]
17. 39-Hunter Schuerenberg[6]
18. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[8]
19. 1M-Landon Myers[18]
(First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps)
1. 41-Carson Macedo[1]
2. 49-Brad Sweet[2]
3. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[3]
4. 24-Rico Abreu[6]
5. 2-David Gravel[15]
6. 13-Justin Peck[10]
7. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[5]
8. 5-Spencer Bayston[4]
9. 83-James McFadden[25]
10. 19-Brent Marks[19]
11. 1S-Logan Schuchart[7]
12. 21-Brian Brown[11]
13. 83JR-Michael Kofoid[13]
14. 21H-Brady Bacon[23]
15. 21T-Cole Macedo[17]
16. 15-Donny Schatz[16]
17. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[24]
18. 1A-Jacob Allen[14]
19. 55P-Daryn Pittman[21]
20. 9-Kasey Kahne[20]
21. 17B-Bill Balog[18]
22. 8-Aaron Reutzel[9]
23. 39M-Lance Dewease[22]
24. 9P-Parker Price Miller[12]
25. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[8]
Lap Leaders: Sweet 1-30