By Richie Murray
Tulare, California (November 20, 2024)………Sometimes, when you feel like you’re down and out, the one thing you really need to keep you going is a little boost.
Carson Macedo knows the feeling after a frantic late-race sequence saw him leading on one lap, then thinking his race was over the next lap before getting hit by another car, then charging his way back to the front and into victory lane during Wednesday night’s USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship feature event at Tulare, California’s Thunderbowl Raceway.
The ringer Macedo (Lemoore, Calif.) persevered through came during a three-lap span late in the going of the 30-lap main event at the 1/3-mile dirt oval. However, for the first 25 circuits, Macedo was in full control in what was his first appearance of the series season aboard his Dyson Motorsport/Complete Parts & Equipment – Tarlton & Son – Empire/King/Speedway Toyota, an Australian based team with a car built by a New Zealand based chassis company.
As Macedo rounded turns three and four along the inside berm with five laps remaining, his car inexplicably, and suddenly, stalled. As he began to coast, the lapped car of Dane Culver banged into the back end of Macedo’s car. As flame flickered from the headers, miraculously, Macedo’s car regained power and continued on its merry way.
“Before the race started, it was kind of spitting and sputtering,” Macedo revealed. “I was nervous that something wasn’t going right. Then we fired off and it felt good, and then the lap before that, I actually lifted on the bottom and it just died. I came around the next lap and thought, ‘man, maybe that was just a weird deal,’ then it did it again really badly. I actually didn’t get refired until the guy behind me ran into the back of me!”
When the yellow flag was displayed a split second later, the moment was not all lost for Macedo. The caution was deemed an inadvertent yellow, thus, according to Section 1406, Part I of the USAC National Midget rulebook, “a car that an inadvertent yellow is displayed for will be positioned in order of positions lost.”
As Jacob Denney scooted underneath Macedo for the lead in turn four on lap 26, Denney became the new leader while Macedo was relegated back to second, which is where he was running when the yellow was displayed.
On the ensuing restart, Macedo wound it up on the high line, and on lap 27, used his momentum off turn four to slingshot under Denney entering turn one. Macedo’s first attempt was unsuccessful as he slid in front of Denney on the entry to turn one, but was unable to make the move stick as Denney darted back under Macedo off turn two. However, on lap 28, Macedo reloaded and stuck the move on the second try, then raced away over the final 3.5 laps to victory by a 1.178 second margin.
“When he went to the lead, I thought, if he’s running the top, I’m going to be in trouble, especially in one and two, but he cheated it down there and I was able to get a run,” Macedo recalled. “I knew he was going to the bottom in three and four, so I just figured I’m not going to win if I follow him down there. I might as well give it everything I’ve got and it worked out.”
For car owner Sean Dyson, it’s the third year in a row his team has won a USAC National Midget feature with the first two coming at California’s Merced Speedway with Macedo in 2022 and Spencer Bayston in 2023.
“I really had to get up on the wheel and earn that win,” Macedo explained. “I was excited there after the race. I know these races are hard to win, and it just felt really special racing with my buddy Sean Dyson. He ships this car all the way over from Australia. It’s a lot of money and a lot of work and a lot of effort, so it feels good to reward him with a win.”
Crossing the finish line behind Macedo on this night at Tulare for the series’ first visit since 2010 were runner-up Jacob Denney and third-place finisher Cannon McIntosh while Corey Day came home fourth and Logan Seavey rounded out the top-five.
Not that Macedo needed any more motivation, but seeing his name in a mid-pack tier in an online picking contest provided him some extra ammo going into the night. When all was said and done, Macedo swept the night at Tulare where he had won his most recent visit this past September with the World of Outlaws. This time, he was twice victorious, winning both the Kings of Thunder 360 Sprint Car feature followed by the USAC National Midget main.
“I had some motivation going into tonight,” Macedo pointed out after his second career USAC National Midget score. “I was looking at the pool and saw I was in group C and I thought man, I’ve got to get up in the seat. I know these midget guys are really good, especially the guys who run them all year long and are really comfortable in these cars. It felt good to be comfortable tonight. This track is a little bigger, so I can move around and run it more like a winged sprint car.”
Jacob Denney (Galloway, Ohio) turned in his best result of the year, leading two laps late en route to a runner-up result in his Tom Malloy/Trench Shoring – Rodela Specialty Fabrication – Race for Chase/LynK/Ed Pink Toyota. With it, the Ohioan earned his best finish of the USAC National Midget season.
Cannon McIntosh (Bixby, Okla.) raced his way to a third-place finish, thus marking his eighth podium result in his last nine USAC National Midget feature starts in his Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/GearWrench – Mobil 1 – TRD/LynK/Speedway Toyota.
Dane Culver’s first career USAC National Midget feature start went superbly. After starting 24th, the Riverside, California racer advanced his way up to a 15th place finish. The +9 performance made him the evening’s hard charger.
Corey Day (Clovis, Calif.) put on a show in his 11th to 4th feature run. The two-time Trophy Cup champ at Tulare picked up where he left off following a second place result in his most recent USAC National Midget start at Ventura (Calif.) Raceway in 2023. For that, he was the recipient of the Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night.
Tanner Carrick (Lincoln, Calif.) set fast time and a new track record during Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying. His lap of 15.344 seconds surpassed the former USAC National Midget record at Tulare of 15.628 set by Bryan Clauson in 2010. It was Carrick’s fourth career fast time with the series, three of which have come in his home state of California during the month of November.
Zach Daum (Pocahontas, Ill.) performed likewise, setting a new eight lap Tulare track record for USAC National Midgets with a time of 2:07.597. Of the 24 drivers on hand, he was the lone driver who also competed in the series’ only other visit to Tulare back in 2010.
Throughout the night, one driver got upside down. Tyler Courtney, making his first series start in two years, got into the berm between turns three and four while running 16th, sending him flipping three times before coming to a rest on lap 11 of the feature. The 2019 USAC National Midget champion was able to walk away.
Also of note, of the 24 drivers signed in at Tulare, 18 had previously won at least one USAC National Midget feature. With 75 percent of the field being a feature winner, it ranks among the most successful gathering for an event in series history.
USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: November 20, 2024 – Thunderbowl Raceway – Tulare, California – 1/3-Mile Dirt Oval
HONEST ABE ROOFING QUALIFYING: 1. Tanner Carrick, 98, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.344 (New Track Record); 2. Justin Grant, 2, RMS-15.417; 3. Tanner Thorson, 25m, Malloy-15.580; 4. Daison Pursley, 86, CBI-15.585; 5. Logan Seavey, 57, Abacus-15.614; 6. Carson Macedo, 99AU, Dyson-15.632; 7. Jacob Denney, 25, Malloy-15.698; 8. Corey Day, 4, Kahne-15.701; 9. Drake Edwards, 3p, Petty-15.720; 10. Emerson Axsom, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.731; 11. Kale Drake, 97K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.738; 12. Buddy Kofoid, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.755; 13. Zach Wigal, 89, CBI-15.771; 14. Ryan Timms, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.801; 15. Zach Daum, 31B, Beilman-15.805; 16. Tyler Courtney, 23c, Silva-15.816; 17. Cannon McIntosh, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.854; 18. Jake Andreotti, 00, Davis-15.913; 19. Gavin Miller, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.946; 20. Karter Sarff, 31, Beilman-15.948; 21. Austin Torgerson, 88A, Mounce/Stout-16.200; 22. Chase McDermand, 8w, Ford-16.265; 23. Hayden Reinbold, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-16.352; 24. Dane Culver, 50, Knuckles Up-16.384.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Zach Wigal, 2. Jacob Denney, 3. Tyler Courtney, 4. Emerson Axsom, 5. Tanner Carrick, 6. Chase McDermand, 7. Daison Pursley, 8. Gavin Miller. 2:10.237
ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Cannon McIntosh, 2. Ryan Timms, 3. Corey Day, 4. Justin Grant, 5. Logan Seavey, 6. Kale Drake, 7. Hayden Reinbold, 8. Karter Sarff. NT
T.J. FORGED / CAR IQ THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Zach Daum, 2. Tanner Thorson, 3. Buddy Kofoid, 4. Carson Macedo, 5. Drake Edwards, 6. Jake Andreotti, 7. Dane Culver, 8. Austin Torgerson. 2:07.597 (New Track Record)
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Carson Macedo (2), 2. Jacob Denney (1), 3. Cannon McIntosh (9), 4. Corey Day (11), 5. Logan Seavey (3), 6. Tanner Thorson (4), 7. Tanner Carrick (6), 8. Buddy Kofoid (15), 9. Justin Grant (5), 10. Ryan Timms (16), 11. Daison Pursley (10), 12. Zach Daum (8), 13. Gavin Miller (19), 14. Zach Wigal (7), 15. Dane Culver (24), 16. Kale Drake (14), 17. Drake Edwards (12), 18. Hayden Reinbold (23), 19. Jake Andreotti (18), 20. Tyler Courtney (17), 21. Chase McDermand (22), 22. Emerson Axsom (13), 23. Karter Sarff (20), 24. Austin Torgerson (21). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-25 Carson Macedo, Laps 26-27 Jacob Denney, Laps 28-30 Carson Macedo.
**Tyler Courtney flipped on lap 11 of the feature.
USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Daison Pursley-1290, 2-Cannon McIntosh-1229, 3-Ryan Timms-1116, 4-Logan Seavey-1116, 5-Zach Daum-1083, 6-Jacob Denney-1042, 7-Justin Grant-1019, 8-Gavin Miller-984, 9-Zach Wigal-905, 10-Kale Drake-887.
USAC NATIONAL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Daison Pursley-199, 2-Logan Seavey-195, 3-Robert Ballou-149, 4-Justin Grant-145, 5-Kyle Cummins-131, 6-C.J. Leary-131, 7-Chase Stockon-126, 8-Matt Westfall-121, 9-Brady Bacon-120, 10-Kevin Thomas Jr.-107.
NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: November 22-23, 2024 – Merced Speedway – Merced, California – 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval – Midget Madness
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Dirt Draft Hot Laps Fastest Driver: Daison Pursley (15.589)
Honest Abe Roofing Fast Qualifier: Tanner Carrick (15.344)
Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: Zach Wigal
Rod End Supply Second Heat Winner: Cannon McIntosh
T.J. Forged / Car IQ Third Heat Winner: Zach Daum
Hard Charger: Dane Culver (24th to 15th)
Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night: Corey Day