PETERSEN MEDIA
A big weekend of racing at Kings Speedway in Hanford, CA saw Cole Macedo shine aboard the Tarlton Motorsports No. 21 car. Charging from 13th to 3rd in Friday’s Cotton Classic, Macedo picked up a pair of third place finishes in Saturday’s Tribute To Morrie Williams Twin 20’s event and earned the overall Championship in part to his efforts.
“I really feel like we had the fastest car all weekend,” Cole Macedo said. “Friday night I just didn’t get us timed in well, but the guys gave me a great car and we were able to race our way through the field.”
With 28 cars checked in on Friday for the Cotton Classic with the Sprint Car Challenge Tour, Macedo timed the Tarlton and Son Inc./Complete Parts and Equipment Solutions/Executive Auto Sales backed No. 21 in 13th fastest in time trials.
Lining up in the second row of his heat race, a fourth place finish locked him into the 30-leap feature, however he had his work cut out as he rolled off the starting grid from the 13th starting spot.
On a freshly manicured Kings Speedway surface that raced well all night long, Macedo went to work in front of the contingent on hand for the annual event. A couple of strong laps saw Macedo race into sixth on the fourth lap as he was a quickly showing himself to be a factor on this night.
Once in sixth, the moves didn’t quite come as easy as he settled in and continued to work around the Kings Speedway surface. As traffic came into play during the final 10-laps of the race, Macedo was again able to make moves. Moving into fifth on lap 21, Macedo was into third on the 24th lap, and then raced into third with five to go as he chased after second Dominic Gorden.
Holding down the final spot on the podium, Macedo capped off a strong 13th to 3rd charge as he and the Tarlton Motorsports team turned their attention to 410ci action on Saturday.
Getting off to a much better start on Saturday night, the Lemoore, CA driver timed in fifth fastest in time trials before finishing second in his heat race. Locking into the Dash, Macedo raced to the win from his front row starting position and put himself on the pole of the first 20-lap feature event of the night.
When the green flag flew on the first 20-lapper of the night, Macedo jumped out to the early lead as he felt pressure from Justin Sanders. The ever changing Kings Speedway surface made it tricky to be the race leader and as he continued to search for the best line, Sanders was able to find it first and power to lead on the 10th lap.
Continuing to run in second, a late restart saw Macedo try to make a daring move to reclaim the top spot, but it resulted in him losing a spot as Dominic Scelzi snuck by and dropped him to a third place finish.
With the lead lap finishers inverted for the second feature event, Macedo rolled off the starting grid from the 15th starting position with another 20 laps to run.
Just as he did on Friday night, Macedo was able to slice and dice his way forward as he chased after not only the win, but the overall event title. Working his way forward, a fantastic restart saw him jump from 15th to seventh on the seventh lap.
Back under green flag action, he proved to still be able to race forward as he continued his march towards the front. Into fifth on the 10th lap, he kept racing hard as he move into third on the 17th lap, where he went on to finish.
With his second third place finish of the night, Macedo was also awarded the Tribute to Morrie Williams overall Championship.
“Saturday night, it was tricky with how the track was changing and it was better to be in second in that first feature,” Macedo added. “I tried a few things but Justin Sanders was able to find something first and get by me. I tried to be a hero on the last restart, and it let Scelzi get by. We ended up third, and then charged to third in the inverted race, so really, it was a great weekend overall.”
Tarlton Motorsports would like to thank Tarlton and Son Inc., Complete Parts & Equipment Solutions, Executive Auto Sales, Durst, Tarlton Estate and Asset Management, Bandy and Associates, FK Shocks, FK Rod Ends, Willwood Brakes, Vortex Wings, and High Performance Lubricants for their support.
BY THE NUMBERS: Races: 53, Wins: 4, Top 5’s: 28, Top 10’s: 33.
ON TAP: Macedo will be in Tulare, CA this Saturday night doing double duty as he will battle with the Sprint Car Challenge Tour and Northern Auto Racing Club.
STAY CONNECTED: Stay connected with Tarlton Motorsports by following @Tarlton_Racing on Twitter, or becoming a fan on facebook at www.facebook.com/tarltonracing21.