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Macedo steals win from Sweet at I-55

By Brian Walker, WOO Sprint Series PR (Pevley, MO) -- The check was all but written in Brad Sweet's name on Friday when Carson Macedo came out of nowhere, threw a slider from St. Louis, and pulled off an all-time stunner to steal the win on the Night Before the Ironman.

{HOTO CREDIT: Trent Gower

After controlling the first 29 laps at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55, "The Big Cat" appeared poised to complete a clean sweep of the evening and bank his third World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win of the 2022 season. The only problem is they don't pay you for the first 29 laps, they only pay you for those final few feet at the checkered flag and that belonged to Macedo's Jason Johnson Racing #41.

Capitalizing on bad positioning in lap traffic, Macedo chopped the gap down from 0.753-seconds at the white flag to virtually nothing when he went full send into turn three and committed to clearing the three-time and defending Series champion. It all worked out, though, as he hit the grip, slid across Sweet's nose, whipped it under the lapper, and crossed the checkered flag while most fans in attendance and those watching on DIRTVision were still trying to process what happened.

It was a move that electrified the Pevely, MO crowd, sent social media into a frenzy, amped up the #41 camp, and dejected the #49 team. There were the highest of highs, and lowest of lows, and the reasons why it's called The Greatest Show on Dirt.

"There was a little bit of luck involved there," Macedo acknowledged on Sweet being held up. "I saw him get caught up and then spin the tires down the backstretch and I knew there wasn't much grip up top where he was pointed. I had been doing it for much of the race where I'd run into turn three as hard as I possibly could to the center and find a little strip of grip with my right rear. That would get me to center off and from there I could just hope he was flustered and couldn't cross me."

The sensational victory gives Macedo eight in 2022, tying him with Sheldon Haudenschild as the winningest driver on tour. The 25-year-old now sits on 25 career World of Outlaws wins with 19 of those coming in the Jason Johnson Racing #41, tying him with David Gravel as the winningest driver in team history.

He's now won back-to-back World of Outlaws Features at I-55, and tomorrow chases a $20,000 payday with his first-career Ironman 55 title on the line.

"Beating Brad, a three-time champion and one of the best out here, like that feels really special," Macedo added. "That was a really great race. It's why we're here, to put on amazing shows like that for you fans. This place is tough, but it's a lot of fun. You really have to get your elbows up and get after it. Hopefully we can add an Ironman title tomorrow."

A heartbroken Brad Sweet, who led by as much as 3.379-seconds at halfway, was vocal on his last-lap traffic incident in Victory Lane. The battle cost him his third win of the season, but he did nail down his 16th podium and extended his championship lead over David Gravel.

"All you can do is hope the lappers race you with respect," said Sweet, expressing his displeasure. "I gave Marcus [Dumesny] plenty of room there and thought I would get more in return. You know he was the caution before that and he sput out by himself, and almost took us out too. Then he did that there on the last lap and I just don't think that is how you race people. It is what it is, though, and I could've made some different moves to not put myself in that position. It's unfortunate for us, but Carson did a great job. We'll be ready to get the Ironman title tomorrow."

Behind the mayhem up front was James McFadden with his seventh podium finish of the season in third place. The Alice Springs, NT, Australia native continues to show speed in the Roth Motorsports #83, building his momentum towards that long-awaited 99th World of Outlaws win for car owners Dennis & Teresa Roth.

"We kept it on all four wheels and that's kind of a win with how treacherous it is out there," McFadden kidded. "I thought I was going to bounce clear back into the trailer at one point. We had a really great car I think, but I lost too much time sliding back and forth with Sheldon [Haudenschild]. I love racing at the place, though. I reckon that the fans really had a lot of fun watching that one. We'll come back tomorrow ready for 55 more.

Rounding out the top-five on Friday night was two-time I-55 winner, Donny Schatz, in the fourth position aboard the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #15, and the 2018 Ironman 55 champion, Logan Schuchart, in fifth place in the Shark Racing #1S.

Closing the top-10 in Pevely, MO was David Gravel, of Watertown, CT, Sheldon Haudenschild, of Wooster, OH, Justin Peck, of Monrovia, IN, Lachlan McHugh of Gold Coast, QLD, Australia, and Marcus Dumesny, of Nelson, NSW, Australia.

UP NEXT (Sat) – The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series returns to Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, MO on Saturday, August 6. The Greatest Show on Dirt will be joined by the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series as the 14th annual Ironman 55 concludes. Fans can BUY TICKETS HERE, or watch every lap LIVE on DIRTVision.

RESULTS

A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[3]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet[1]; 3. 83-James McFadden[4]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz[2]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart[10]; 6. 2-David Gravel[12]; 7. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[6]; 8. 13-Justin Peck[5]; 9. 101-Lachlan McHugh[18]; 10. 1AU-Marcus Dumesny[7]; 11. 5-Spencer Bayston[17]; 12. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[21]; 13. 20G-Noah Gass[24]; 14. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[11]; 15. 35-Zach Hampton[9]; 16. 22S-Slater Helt[15]; 17. 6-Bill Rose[23]; 18. 51B-Joe B Miller[20]; 19. 7S-Robbie Price[13]; 20. 49J-Josh Schneiderman[19]; 21. 1A-Jacob Allen[16]; 22. 11K-Kraig Kinser[8]; 23. 83JR-Kerry Madsen[14]; 24. 25-JJ Hickle[22]

Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[3]; 2. 25-JJ Hickle[1]; 3. 6-Bill Rose[4]; 4. 20G-Noah Gass[6]; 5. 17C-Carson Short[10]; 6. 3N-Jake Neuman[7]; 7. 9-Kasey Kahne[16]; 8. 9JR-Derek Hagar[11]; 9. 50K-Kyle Bellm[14]; 10. 28-Jason Keith[13]; 11. 84-Brandon Hanks[15]; 12. 44-Cole Duncan[17]; 13. 23B-Brian Bell[9]; 14. 24-Rico Abreu[2]; 15. 1-Trevin Littleton[5]; 16. 8S-Steve Short[12]; 17. 7D-Marshall Skinner[18]; 18. 29-Brayton Lynch[8]; 19. 2K-Kevin Ingle[19]

DIRTVision FAST PASS Dash (6 Laps): 1. 49-Brad Sweet[2]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz[1]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo[8]; 4. 83-James McFadden[6]; 5. 13-Justin Peck[3]; 6. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[5]; 7. 1AU-Marcus Dumesny[7]; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1AU-Marcus Dumesny[2]; 2. 11K-Kraig Kinser[3]; 3. 35-Zach Hampton[1]; 4. 7S-Robbie Price[4]; 5. 5-Spencer Bayston[5]; 6. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[6]; 7. 3N-Jake Neuman[7]; 8. 9JR-Derek Hagar[8]; 9. 84-Brandon Hanks[9]; 10. 44-Cole Duncan[10]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[1]; 2. 13-Justin Peck[2]; 3. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[3]; 4. 22S-Slater Helt[7]; 5. 49J-Josh Schneiderman[5]; 6. 1-Trevin Littleton[9]; 7. 23B-Brian Bell[6]; 8. 28-Jason Keith[8]; 9. 25-JJ Hickle[4]; 10. 2K-Kevin Ingle[10]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 49-Brad Sweet[1]; 2. 83-James McFadden[2]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart[4]; 4. 83JR-Kerry Madsen[3]; 5. 101-Lachlan McHugh[6]; 6. 24-Rico Abreu[5]; 7. 20G-Noah Gass[9]; 8. 17C-Carson Short[8]; 9. 50K-Kyle Bellm[7]; 10. 7D-Marshall Skinner[10]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Donny Schatz[1]; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[3]; 3. 2-David Gravel[2]; 4. 1A-Jacob Allen[4]; 5. 51B-Joe B Miller[6]; 6. 6-Bill Rose[7]; 7. 29-Brayton Lynch[8]; 8. 8S-Steve Short[9]; 9. 9-Kasey Kahne[5]

Qualifying A (2 Laps): 1. 35-Zach Hampton, 00:10.545[3]; 2. 41-Carson Macedo, 00:10.560[6]; 3. 1AU-Marcus Dumesny, 00:10.576[8]; 4. 13-Justin Peck, 00:10.579[4]; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 00:10.615[18]; 6. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 00:10.621[10]; 7. 7S-Robbie Price, 00:10.668[14]; 8. 25-JJ Hickle, 00:10.704[5]; 9. 5-Spencer Bayston, 00:10.742[19]; 10. 49J-Josh Schneiderman, 00:10.743[2]; 11. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 00:10.814[16]; 12. 23B-Brian Bell, 00:10.823[12]; 13. 3N-Jake Neuman, 00:11.012[15]; 14. 22S-Slater Helt, 00:11.158[9]; 15. 9JR-Derek Hagar, 00:11.190[1]; 16. 28-Jason Keith, 00:11.202[7]; 17. 84-Brandon Hanks, 00:11.260[13]; 18. 1-Trevin Littleton, 00:11.262[17]; 19. 44-Cole Duncan, 00:11.310[11]; 20. 2K-Kevin Ingle, 00:11.310[20]

Qualifying B (2 Laps): 1. 49-Brad Sweet, 00:10.399[13]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz, 00:10.485[11]; 3. 83-James McFadden, 00:10.543[3]; 4. 2-David Gravel, 00:10.549[15]; 5. 83JR-Kerry Madsen, 00:10.614[12]; 6. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 00:10.625[6]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 00:10.636[4]; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen, 00:10.636[10]; 9. 24-Rico Abreu, 00:10.659[9]; 10. 9-Kasey Kahne, 00:10.782[17]; 11. 101-Lachlan McHugh, 00:10.796[18]; 12. 51B-Joe B Miller, 00:10.797[14]; 13. 50K-Kyle Bellm, 00:10.966[1]; 14. 6-Bill Rose, 00:11.023[8]; 15. 17C-Carson Short, 00:11.078[7]; 16. 29-Brayton Lynch, 00:11.207[5]; 17. 20G-Noah Gass, 00:11.276[16]; 18. 8S-Steve Short, 00:11.903[19]; 19. 7D-Marshall Skinner, 00:12.089[2]

NEW Championship Standings (After 46/77 Races) – 1. Brad Sweet (6,230); 2. David Gravel (-44); 3. Carson Macedo (-110); 4. Sheldon Haudenschild (-140); 5. Donny Schatz (-176); 6. Logan Schuchart (-190); 7. Spencer Bayston (-352); 8. James McFadden (-350); 9. Jacob Allen (-570); 10. Brock Zearfoss (-674).

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CHANCE CRUM EARNS ELUSIVE NATIONAL MIDGET VICTORY AT i-55

By Brian Walker, Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series PR (Pevely, MO) -- The wait is over. In his 43rd start across National Midget competition, Chance Crum finally earned his long-awaited trip to Victory Lane on Friday night at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55.

Earning his much-anticipated win with the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota, held in conjunction with POWRi, Crum was forced to deal with a ferocious Karter Sarff all throughout the 30-lap opening leg of Ironman weekend.

The Snohomish, WA native rolled from the pole position thanks to a six-car inversion drawn by high point man Michael Pickens, and he quickly took advantage of the good fortune. After leading the opening four laps aboard the Rudeen Racing #26, Crum soon lost control of the top spot when Sarff, of Mason City, IL, roared by to pace the fifth circuit.

Sarff, a young but experienced 19-year-old, opened up his lead to as large as 0.969-seconds on Lap 12 before a caution changed everything with Crum able to regroup and refocus. Once back green, the duo offered a thrilling bout for the lead as they swapped the top spot on several occasions while racing each other and racing the tricky and treacherous 1/3-mile surface.

Crum officially re-took the lead with the cross flags waving on Lap 15, and although he never relinquished it over the second half, he also never built a comfortable lead. The gap was no bigger than five-tenths of a second throughout the latter half and Sarff constantly kept the heat applied with both drivers chasing their first-career Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series win.

The slightest of bobbles on the final lap made it even closer at the checkered flag as Crum slipped high and Sarff nailed the bottom to create a drag race to the line - a race won by Crum at only 0.303-seconds over Sarff.

"This is really special," an elated Crum said in Victory Lane. "We've been so close this first National Midget win so many times, but we just haven't even been able to get the job done. It's kind of funny, because these track conditions are not my forte at all, either. It's a testament to my dad [Kevin Crum], my brother [Hunter Crum], and Trevor [Reed] and how hard they've been working to make this car better."

It's a largely fulfilling moment for the Crum family, who moved from Washington to Indiana last year in pursuit of a bigger slate in the motorsports world. It's also a payoff for Rudeen Racing, a nationally successful Sprint Car team that has entrusted Chance and his family with building the Midget division.

"Kevin and Monica Rudeen took a chance on me, and I can't thank them enough," Crum added. "We've been having a blast. It's been a ton of hard work, but I think we're starting to see it pay off. This new Series has been a joy to run and I'm thrilled to be out here competing against a field like this."

Accepting a bittersweet runner-up result was Karter Sarff in his family-owned #21K entry. It was bitter to lead 10 laps and lose the win but at the same time quite sweet to turn the corner and produce a career-best effort at the Pevely, MO 1/3-mile. The up-and-coming star is chomping at the bit to get back on track tomorrow in hopes of some redemption with $5,000 on the line.

"I'm definitely disappointed, but this is the best run I've ever had at Pevely, so I guess you could say were' improving," an optimistic Sarff said. "I think we had the car to win it tonight, but we'll have another chance to get it done tomorrow. Hopefully the track is somewhat similar and I can do a little better job on my part to get that win we deserve."

Rounding out the podium in third place was Auckland, NZ native Michael Pickens, who enjoyed a series of firsts on Friday night. It was his first-ever Xtreme Outlaw Midget race, his first-ever appearance at Missouri's I-55 Raceway, and his first-ever night driving for Dave Mac Dalby Motorsports.

"We got better and better as the long runs went on and the laps wound down," Pickens noted, who will return to his native country on Monday. "I owe a huge thanks to Dave Mac Dalby for the opportunity to get into equipment this nice. I really want to close out this trip with a win, so hopefully we can get it done tomorrow night."

Closing out the top-10 at I-55 was Brenham Crouch, Zach Daum, Kyle Jones, Jerry Coons Jr., Jacob Denney, Bryant Wiedeman, and Taylor Reimer.

MIDGETS RESULTS

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 26-Chance Crum[1]; 2. 21K-Karter Sarff[3]; 3. 08$-Michael Pickens[6]; 4. 97-Brenham Crouch[4]; 5. 9M-Zach Daum[9]; 6. 7U-Kyle Jones[2]; 7. 85-Jerry Coons Jr[16]; 8. 61-Jacob Denney[11]; 9. 01-Bryant Wiedeman[19]; 10. 25K-Taylor Reimer[15]; 11. 72J-Sam Johnson[20]; 12. 51B-Joe B Miller[13]; 13. 71K-Dominic Gorden[21]; 14. 21E-Emilio Hoover[8]; 15. 84-Jade Avedisian[10]; 16. 84X-Jesse Love[14]; 17. 77W-Joe Wirth[7]; 18. 19M-Ethan Mitchell[17]; 19. 40-Chase McDermand[5]; 20. 97A-Mitchell Davis[12]; 21. 17-Kevin Thomas Jr[18]

Last Chance Showdown (10 Laps): 1. 19M-Ethan Mitchell[1]; 2. 17-Kevin Thomas Jr[4]; 3. 01-Bryant Wiedeman[2]; 4. 72J-Sam Johnson[3]; 5. 71M-Cade Lewis[6]; 6. 71K-Dominic Gorden[8]; 7. 06-Rylan Gray[11]; 8. 97K-Ben Rhodes[7]; 9. 44-Branigan Roark[5]; 10. 7-Shannon McQueen[9]; 11. 50-Daniel Adler[14]; 12. 71E-Mariah Ede[10]; 13. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold[17]; 14. 5-Gavin Miller[15]; 15. 17B-Austin Barnhill[18]; 16. 7D-Michelle Decker[16]; 17. 5H-Scottie Gretzmacher[12]; 18. 17C-Devin Camfield[13]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7U-Kyle Jones[1]; 2. 26-Chance Crum[2]; 3. 9M-Zach Daum[3]; 4. 19M-Ethan Mitchell[5]; 5. 25K-Taylor Reimer[4]; 6. 97K-Ben Rhodes[8]; 7. 71E-Mariah Ede[6]; 8. 50-Daniel Adler[7]; 9. 17B-Austin Barnhill[9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 97-Brenham Crouch[2]; 2. 21K-Karter Sarff[3]; 3. 97A-Mitchell Davis[1]; 4. 85-Jerry Coons Jr[5]; 5. 84X-Jesse Love[4]; 6. 71M-Cade Lewis[6]; 7. 06-Rylan Gray[8]; 8. 5-Gavin Miller[9]; 9. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 40-Chase McDermand[4]; 2. 77W-Joe Wirth[2]; 3. 84-Jade Avedisian[3]; 4. 01-Bryant Wiedeman[1]; 5. 72J-Sam Johnson[5]; 6. 71K-Dominic Gorden[7]; 7. 7-Shannon McQueen[6]; 8. 7D-Michelle Decker[8]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 08$-Michael Pickens[4]; 2. 21E-Emilio Hoover[2]; 3. 51B-Joe B Miller[1]; 4. 61-Jacob Denney[3]; 5. 17-Kevin Thomas Jr[8]; 6. 44-Branigan Roark[5]; 7. 5H-Scottie Gretzmacher[7]; 8. 17C-Devin Camfield[6]

Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 25K-Taylor Reimer, 00:12.814[3]; 2. 9M-Zach Daum, 00:12.850[7]; 3. 26-Chance Crum, 00:12.944[2]; 4. 7U-Kyle Jones, 00:12.944[5]; 5. 19M-Ethan Mitchell, 00:13.005[8]; 6. 71E-Mariah Ede, 00:13.236[6]; 7. 50-Daniel Adler, 00:13.261[9]; 8. 97K-Ben Rhodes, 00:13.304[4]; 9. 17B-Austin Barnhill, 00:16.728[1]

Qualifying 2 (2 Laps): 1. 84X-Jesse Love, 00:12.743[5]; 2. 21K-Karter Sarff, 00:12.774[7]; 3. 97-Brenham Crouch, 00:12.799[3]; 4. 97A-Mitchell Davis, 00:12.928[2]; 5. 85-Jerry Coons Jr, 00:12.957[4]; 6. 71M-Cade Lewis, 00:13.117[8]; 7. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold, 00:13.204[6]; 8. 06-Rylan Gray, 00:13.284[1]; 9. 5-Gavin Miller, 00:13.299[9]

Qualifying 3 (2 Laps): 1. 40-Chase McDermand, 00:12.896[8]; 2. 84-Jade Avedisian, 00:12.956[6]; 3. 77W-Joe Wirth, 00:12.969[3]; 4. 01-Bryant Wiedeman, 00:13.072[5]; 5. 72J-Sam Johnson, 00:13.170[2]; 6. 7-Shannon McQueen, 00:13.194[4]; 7. 71K-Dominic Gorden, 00:13.534[7]; 8. 7D-Michelle Decker, 00:13.662[1]

Qualifying 4 (2 Laps): 1. 08$-Michael Pickens, 00:12.625[3]; 2. 61-Jacob Denney, 00:12.870[5]; 3. 21E-Emilio Hoover, 00:13.008[2]; 4. 51B-Joe B Miller, 00:13.055[4]; 5. 44-Branigan Roark, 00:13.492[7]; 6. 17C-Devin Camfield, 00:14.102[8]; 7. 5H-Scottie Gretzmacher, 00:14.405[1]; 8. 17-Kevin Thomas Jr, 00:14.405[6]

Hot Laps 1: 1. 25K-Taylor Reimer, 00:12.935[3]; 2. 26-Chance Crum, 00:13.065[2]; 3. 19M-Ethan Mitchell, 00:13.207[8]; 4. 50-Daniel Adler, 00:13.231[9]; 5. 7U-Kyle Jones, 00:13.252[5]; 6. 9M-Zach Daum, 00:13.349[7]; 7. 97K-Ben Rhodes, 00:13.386[4]; 8. 71E-Mariah Ede, 00:13.585[6]; 9. 17B-Austin Barnhill, 00:13.712[1]

Hot Laps 2: 1. 97-Brenham Crouch, 00:12.883[3]; 2. 84X-Jesse Love, 00:12.901[5]; 3. 21K-Karter Sarff, 00:12.944[7]; 4. 97A-Mitchell Davis, 00:13.091[2]; 5. 85-Jerry Coons Jr, 00:13.097[4]; 6. 06-Rylan Gray, 00:13.196[1]; 7. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold, 00:13.216[6]; 8. 71M-Cade Lewis, 00:13.320[8]; 9. 5-Gavin Miller, 00:13.377[9]

Hot Laps 3: 1. 77W-Joe Wirth, 00:12.965[3]; 2. 84-Jade Avedisian, 00:13.041[6]; 3. 40-Chase McDermand, 00:13.114[8]; 4. 72J-Sam Johnson, 00:13.303[2]; 5. 01-Bryant Wiedeman, 00:13.303[5]; 6. 7-Shannon McQueen, 00:13.375[4]; 7. 71K-Dominic Gorden, 00:13.504[7]; 8. 7D-Michelle Decker, 00:13.625[1]

Hot Laps 4: 1. 08$-Michael Pickens, 00:12.986[3]; 2. 21E-Emilio Hoover, 00:13.041[2]; 3. 17-Kevin Thomas Jr, 00:13.083[6]; 4. 51B-Joe B Miller, 00:13.226[4]; 5. 61-Jacob Denney, 00:13.253[5]; 6. 44-Branigan Roark, 00:13.611[7]; 7. 17C-Devin Camfield, 00:14.543[8]; 8. 5H-Scottie Gretzmacher, 00:14.623[1]

NEW Championship Standings (After 4/10 Races) – 1. Zach Daum (848); 2. Brenham Crouch (-45); 3. Bryant Wiedeman (-64); 4. Kyle Jones (-106); 5. Taylor Reimer (-130); 6. Ethan Mitchell (-130); 7. Sam Johnson (-156); 8. Chance Crum (-157); 9. Jade Avedisian (-214); 10. Dominic Gorden (-221).

UP NEXT (Saturday) – The Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota will conclude their portion of Ironman 55 weekend on Saturday, August 6 with a $5,000-to-win program, held in conjunction with POWRi, at Missouri's Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55.

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