By Alex Nieten
BARBERVILLE, FL (February 5, 2025) – Less than two months ago Carson Macedo sat in a hospital with a broken leg. But on Wednesday night, that wouldn’t stop him from driving to victory and collecting a gator.
The injury derailed his plans of racing in Australia. Instead of staying sharp behind the wheel, Macedo had to focus on recovery. He and his Jason Johnson Racing crew were among the championship favorites entering 2025. He had to make sure he was ready for the start of the season. Not only did he do so, he made sure he came out at the top of his game. In fact, the only way you’d know he was in pain was a slight limp as he emerged from the Albaugh No. 41 in Victory Lane.
The Lemoore, CA native put together a strong 25 laps around Barberville, FL’s Volusia Speedway Park to claim the first race of the 2025 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car season. Aside from a couple close calls in lapped traffic, Macedo couldn’t be slowed. He held off the defending World of Outlaws champion in David Gravel and a former NASCAR Cup champion in Kyle Larson to get the job done. That broken leg wouldn’t stop him. All it could prevent was Macedo doing a wing dance as he opted to walk in front of the car and wave the checkered flag.
“It’s really, really cool,” Macedo said of the win. “It’s been a humbling few weeks for me with the experience of breaking my leg and not knowing if I was going to be ready to come here or not and be 100-percent. To come here night one and win is super emotional. It was a long journey I feel like to get back here. Getting around on crutches was tough and just plays with your head a little bit.
“The engine was missing a little bit in Qualifying, but we were still able to come back and lay down a really good lap. We just executed from there. Philip Dietz, Adam Zimmerman, and Robby McQuinn worked really hard and gave me a great race car.”
While Wednesday’s Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals race only accounted for show-up points, it still served as a statement by Macedo and the JJR crew. They want that World of Outlaws title. They finished third in points for three straight seasons from 2021 through 2023. They climbed to second last year. They want to make that final step to fulfill the main goal the “Ragin’ Cajun had in mind when he formed Jason Johnson Racing.
And while Macedo overcame the obstacle, it didn’t happen without a little pain. The 28-year-old battled through some discomfort that’ll continue to have to fight through. But he proved he could as he chases a title.
“During the green flag stuff I didn’t think about it quite as much,” Macedo said of his leg. “But when the red (flag) came out, it was beating. It had a heartbeat bigger, I felt like, than the one in my chest just from being bent like that and fatigue, I think, from pressing the brake so much.”
The win was the 48th of Macedo’s career with The Greatest Show on Dirt. He’s now at three Series triumphs at “The World’s Fastest Half Mile,” putting it in a tie as the second winningest on his résumé. It was his fifth overall at Volusia as he also topped a pair of All Star Circuit of Champions (ASCoC) races (2021 & 2023).
David Gravel chased Macedo to the checkered. The 2024 Series champion methodically picked his way forward from sixth to the runner-up spot, notching his 260th career top three with The Greatest Show on Dirt.
“Really happy with that run,” Gravel said. “The pill draw kind of killed our night, but we didn’t give up and kept fighting and had a great start to the Feature. I was able to get by Buddy, and I felt like we were just as good or better than Carson at one point. Then I got really close to him at one point and got super tight and couldn’t get around the corner very well when it was really congested there. I felt like when it was time to pounce, I just didn’t feel right there, but for most stages of the race, the car felt great.”
Rounding out the podium was Kyle Larson. After missing the Toyota Dash, the Elk Grove, CA native wheeled from 10th to third in the Silva Motorsports No. 57. It was his third top three at Volusia as he continues to chase his first victory at the Florida oval.
“I think the biggest thing for us moving forward was starting on the outside lane,” Larson explained. “Starting 10th, I was able to get to sixth pretty quickly. Then (Christopher) Bell fell out. Carson, I was hoping he was going to choose the top and he did, and it worked out to where I got right to four. I had a good car.”
Logan Schuchart and Brad Sweet completed the top five.
A 21st to eighth run gave Donny Schatz his fourth consecutive KSE Racing Hard Charger dating back to last season.
Emerson Axsom claimed the first Simpson Quick Time of the year.
NOS Energy Drink Heats belonged to Emerson Axsom, Logan Schuchart, Brian Brown, and Christopher Bell.
The SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to Carson Macedo.
Macedo also topped the Toyota Dash.
Donny Schatz won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Buddy Kofoid.
UP NEXT: Night two of the Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park will mark the first official points night of the 2025 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car season on Thursday, Feb. 6. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, watch every lap all season long on DIRTVision.
For the entire 2025 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car schedule, CLICK HERE.
FEATURE RESULTS:
NOS Energy Drink Feature (25 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[1]; 2. 2-David Gravel[6]; 3. 57-Kyle Larson[10]; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart[3]; 5. 49-Brad Sweet[16]; 6. 21-Brian Brown[8]; 7. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[12]; 8. 15-Donny Schatz[21]; 9. 39M-Anthony Macri[14]; 10. 26-Justin Peck[5]; 11. 71-Parker Price Miller[11]; 12. 10-Ryan Timms[18]; 13. 24D-Danny Sams III[9]; 14. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[26]; 15. 9-Kasey Kahne[22]; 16. 69K-Christopher Bell[4]; 17. 16T-Brady Bacon[20]; 18. 23-Garet Williamson[15]; 19. 88-Austin McCarl[24]; 20. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[25]; 21. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[13]; 22. 7S-Chris Windom[27]; 23. 13-Daison Pursley[17]; 24. 83-Michael Kofoid[2]; 25. 27-Emerson Axsom[7]; 26. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[19]; 27. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[23]
MicroLite Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 15-Donny Schatz[2]; 2. 9-Kasey Kahne[1]; 3. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[4]; 4. 88-Austin McCarl[3]; 5. 48-Danny Dietrich[6]; 6. 1A-Jacob Allen[8]; 7. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[14]; 8. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[10]; 9. 11T-TJ Stutts[5]; 10. 12X-Kameron Key[11]; 11. 12S-Adyn Schmidt[7]; 12. 44-Chris Martin[17]; 13. 5-Brenham Crouch[16]; 14. 32-Bryce Lucius[12]; 15. 17GP-Landon Crawley[9]; 16. 64-Andy Pake[15]; 17. 97UK-Ryan Harrison[18]; 18. 15K-Creed Kemenah[19]; 19. 6G-Bryan Gossel[13]
C Feature (10 Laps): 1. 97UK-Ryan Harrison[1]; 2. 15K-Creed Kemenah[2]; 3. 16TH-Kevin Newton[4]; 4. 2C-Cole Macedo[6]; 5. 34-Sterling Cling[3]; 6. 99-Skylar Gee[9]; 7. 16G-Austyn Gossel[7]; 8. 88J-Joey Amantea[13]; 9. 6-Zach Hampton[14]; 10. 0-Glenn Styres[12]; 11. 28-Conner Morrell[5]; 12. 17B-Bill Balog[8]; 13. 36-Jason Martin[10]; 14. 7S-Chris Windom[11]; 15. 77T-Tyeller Powless[15]
Toyota Dash (6 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[1]; 2. 83-Michael Kofoid[2]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart[3]; 4. 69K-Christopher Bell[6]; 5. 26-Justin Peck[4]; 6. 2-David Gravel[7]; 7. 27-Emerson Axsom[5]; 8. 21-Brian Brown[8]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 27-Emerson Axsom[1]; 2. 26-Justin Peck[2]; 3. 24D-Danny Sams III[4]; 4. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[6]; 5. 13-Daison Pursley[3]; 6. 9-Kasey Kahne[5]; 7. 11T-TJ Stutts[7]; 8. 17GP-Landon Crawley[9]; 9. 6G-Bryan Gossel[11]; 10. 97UK-Ryan Harrison[10]; 11. 28-Conner Morrell[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart[1]; 2. 83-Michael Kofoid[2]; 3. 71-Parker Price Miller[4]; 4. 23-Garet Williamson[3]; 5. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[5]; 6. 88-Austin McCarl[9]; 7. 12S-Adyn Schmidt[6]; 8. 12X-Kameron Key[7]; 9. 64-Andy Pake[8]; 10. 34-Sterling Cling[11]; 11. 16G-Austyn Gossel[10]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown[1]; 2. 2-David Gravel[4]; 3. 57-Kyle Larson[2]; 4. 39M-Anthony Macri[3]; 5. 10-Ryan Timms[6]; 6. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[8]; 7. 1A-Jacob Allen[7]; 8. 32-Bryce Lucius[10]; 9. 5-Brenham Crouch[9]; 10. 15K-Creed Kemenah[11]; 11. 15-Donny Schatz[5]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 69K-Christopher Bell[1]; 2. 41-Carson Macedo[2]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[4]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet[8]; 5. 16T-Brady Bacon[3]; 6. 48-Danny Dietrich[6]; 7. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[5]; 8. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[9]; 9. 44-Chris Martin[7]; 10. 16TH-Kevin Newton[11]; 11. 2C-Cole Macedo[10]
Qualifying A (2 Laps): 1. 27-Emerson Axsom, 00:13.449[7]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 00:13.555[25]; 3. 26-Justin Peck, 00:13.591[17]; 4. 83-Michael Kofoid, 00:13.642[16]; 5. 13-Daison Pursley, 00:13.660[2]; 6. 23-Garet Williamson, 00:13.668[11]; 7. 24D-Danny Sams III, 00:13.669[22]; 8. 71-Parker Price Miller, 00:13.678[4]; 9. 9-Kasey Kahne, 00:13.770[23]; 10. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 00:13.770[24]; 11. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 00:13.819[8]; 12. 12S-Adyn Schmidt, 00:13.834[9]; 13. 11T-TJ Stutts, 00:13.873[15]; 14. 12X-Kameron Key, 00:13.875[14]; 15. 28-Conner Morrell, 00:13.879[6]; 16. 64-Andy Pake, 00:13.925[20]; 17. 17GP-Landon Crawley, 00:13.937[18]; 18. 88-Austin McCarl, 00:13.946[3]; 19. 97UK-Ryan Harrison, 00:13.952[26]; 20. 16G-Austyn Gossel, 00:13.960[12]; 21. 34-Sterling Cling, 00:14.001[21]; 22. 99-Skylar Gee, 00:14.015[5]; 23. 36-Jason Martin, 00:14.028[1]; 24. 16TH-Kevin Newton, 00:14.033[19]; 25. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:14.414[10]; 26. 7S-Chris Windom, 01:00.000[13]
Qualifying B (2 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 00:13.476[1]; 2. 69K-Christopher Bell, 00:13.481[2]; 3. 57-Kyle Larson, 00:13.532[21]; 4. 41-Carson Macedo, 00:13.592[3]; 5. 39M-Anthony Macri, 00:13.652[15]; 6. 16T-Brady Bacon, 00:13.654[14]; 7. 2-David Gravel, 00:13.681[8]; 8. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 00:13.701[18]; 9. 15-Donny Schatz, 00:13.740[4]; 10. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 00:13.740[17]; 11. 10-Ryan Timms, 00:13.749[16]; 12. 48-Danny Dietrich, 00:13.756[13]; 13. 1A-Jacob Allen, 00:13.814[9]; 14. 44-Chris Martin, 00:13.830[23]; 15. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 00:13.847[20]; 16. 49-Brad Sweet, 00:13.887[11]; 17. 5-Brenham Crouch, 00:13.936[26]; 18. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 00:13.943[24]; 19. 32-Bryce Lucius, 00:14.003[6]; 20. 2C-Cole Macedo, 00:14.069[19]; 21. 6G-Bryan Gossel, 00:14.097[5]; 22. 15K-Creed Kemenah, 00:14.148[22]; 23. 0-Glenn Styres, 00:14.181[12]; 24. 88J-Joey Amantea, 00:14.539[7]; 25. 77T-Tyeller Powless, 01:00.000[10]; 26. 6-Zach Hampton, 01:00.100[25]
Non-Qualifier (8 Laps): 1. 6G-Bryan Gossel[2]; 2. 34-Sterling Cling[1]; 3. 15K-Creed Kemenah[4]; 4. 16TH-Kevin Newton[7]; 5. 17B-Bill Balog[9]; 6. 99-Skylar Gee[3]; 7. 36-Jason Martin[5]; 8. 7S-Chris Windom[11]; 9. 0-Glenn Styres[6]; 10. 88J-Joey Amantea[8]; 11. 6-Zach Hampton[12]; 12. 77T-Tyeller Powless[10]