BARBERVILLE, Fla. — Carson Macedo kicked off the new World of Outlaws NOS Energy sprint car series season Wednesday night with a walk in the park.
After winning the eight-car dash, the popular Californian rolled around Volusia Speedway Park like he owned the big half-mile, easily besting defending series champion David Gravel and NASCAR hero Kyle Larson in the 25-lap finale.
“I heard David a couple of times, but it was never loud like he was right alongside me,” summed up the elated winner. “It was a smooth race and makes me want to lead all 25 laps more often.”
Gravel, who started sixth, jumped to fourth on the initial break and stood third behind Macedo’s front row companion, Buddy Kofoid, when the first yellow flew on lap six when Sam Hafertepe and Christopher Bell both slowed. Bell, wheeling the Kreitz No. 69k, returned to action but Hafertepe was out for the night.
Gravel then blew around Kofoid on the restart but while he could close on the leader at times, he never got a solid shot at the lead.
Behind them, 10th-starting Larson had been mowing down cars steadily, despite his car smoking noticeably, and was sixth when the first yellow slowed his progress momentarily.
The Finley Farms No. 57 quit smoking under the caution and the return to green saw him advance to fourth by lap 10 and begin working Kofoid for third.
Up front, Macedo hit lapped traffic on lap 11, something which usually gives the runner-up a shot at the leader, but the lapped cars actually helped Macedo.
“I felt really solid in traffic and I think that was the key to winning tonight,” summed up Macedo. Some observers might argue that Macedo missing a lapped car that got sideways in front of him off turn two with 10 to go might have been key to the victory as well.
The night’s second yellow and resulting red came on lap 23, with Kofoid getting high in turn four, bouncing out in traffic and flipping. He landed between the turn and the flagstand with a severely crumpled wing but the Roth No. 83 was able to be pushed off rather than towed.
With order restored, Macedo got a big jump on the green and scooted away from Gravel and Larson. Logan Schuchart was fourth, ahead of Volusia master Brad Sweet, who came all the way from 16th.
Brian Brown led a second five that included Tyler Courtney, B-main winner Donny Schatz, Anthony Macri and Justin Peck.
“I didn’t get a good restart and hit the corner too shallow which made me tight,” tipped Gravel. “The track started to take rubber in places and we weren’t our best. But we’ll be better tomorrow night.”
Larson also said he was tight with the wing back and lamented the fact that Kofoid crashed, as they had been having a great battle to that point.
Emerson Axsom turned fast time in Flight One, with his lap of 13.449 holding up overall as Brown topped Flight Two over Bell and Larson at 13.476 seconds.
The finish:
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]
