HANG TEN: Macedo Passes Sweet Late at Red River Valley for 10th Win of Season
Timms crosses P2 in second Series start to become youngest podium finisher in Series history

WEST FARGO, ND – August 27, 2022 – Riding second behind the defending champ in the late stages, Carson Macedo was chomping at the bit, looking for an opportunity to grab the lead. One swift dive low into the corner later, the lead, and later his 10th win of the season, was his.

Macedo, of Lemoore, CA, chased three-time and defending World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champion Brad Sweet around Red River Valley Speedway for the first 19 laps of Saturday night’s Duel in the Dakotas Feature, challenging him several times to the inside but could never seem to pull close enough to make the move.

As the two maintained a torrid pace through lapped traffic, Sweet came up on a slower car at the exit of Turn 4 and was forced out of his lane but still held onto the top spot as he clicked-off Lap 18. Macedo took advantage of the situation, inching closer to Sweet down the front stretch and firing-off a pass attempt in Turn 2. Sweet was able to hold him off down the backstretch, but the clock was ticking.

“I knew once we got to traffic, if there wasn’t a lapped car in my lane, I could close-in quite a bit on [Sweet],” Macedo said. “I had done it on a [Lap 9] restart and gotten really close, but just couldn’t get to his inside, then I kinda got stuck behind him there for a minute.”

Macedo entered Turns 1-2 on the bottom once again the next time by, and this time, made it count. Sweet skated up high as he entered the corner, leaving the door open for Macedo down low, and watched the Jason Johnson Racing #41 go by at the exit of Turn 2.

Now with the lead, Macedo began to pull away in traffic and appeared to have it in the bag, until the yellow came out with three laps remaining. On the restart, Macedo was perfect, never letting any challenger get close as he brought it back across the stripe to collect his 10th Series win of the season.

“Ten wins – that’s crazy,” Macedo said. “Winning double digits in a single World of Outlaws season is really tough to do. Without JJR and this team – Philip [Dietz], Clyde [Knipp] and Nate [Repetz] – doing such a good job, I don’t think I could do it.”

Though Macedo held-up well on the final restart, Sweet was not as fortunate. Sixteen-year-old Ryan Timms, in only his second career World of Outlaws start, had been running third the entire race and pounced on the opportunity when the green came back out. He pinned the throttle and rode the high line through Turns 1-2, zooming around the outside of Sweet at the exit of Turn 2 to take second.

“I didn’t really want to restart, to be honest; I was just kinda happy to try and bring it home in second,” Sweet said. “Carson went low, and I didn’t really go across the bottom that good. I left the top wide open.”

Timms, of Oklahoma City, OK, held onto second in the final laps and crossed the line to officially become the youngest podium finisher in World of Outlaws history at 16 years and one day, breaking the record set earlier in the season by fellow 16-year-old Californian Corey Day.

“I don’t think it’s really kicked-in yet,” Timms said. “I’m really more bummed than anything that I couldn’t win, but everyone else is pretty happy, so I’m happy.”

Sweet crossed in third, bagging his 19th podium finish of the season. Though he wasn’t as comfortable in his NAPA Auto Parts/Kasey Kahne Racing #49 as he was during the win on Friday night, he does maintain his sizable lead in the Series points standings on the road to a potential fourth-straight championship.

“Last night we had everything dialed, and tonight, we were just a little off,” Sweet said. “And that’s racing. We tried to make changes all night to get the car better and just never quite hit on it tonight.”

UP NEXT

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series is back in action next weekend in a three-day spectacular at Washington’s Skagit Speedway for the Sage Fruit Skagit Nationals, Sept. 1-3. Tickets are available for purchase in advance at WorldofOutlaws.com or at the track on race day.

If you can’t be at the track, watch all the action live with a FAST PASS subscription to DIRTVision.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps)
1. 41-Carson Macedo [1][$10,000]; 2. 5T-Ryan Timms [4][$6,000]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [2][$3,500]; 4. 2-David Gravel [3][$2,800]; 5. 7S-Robbie Price [5][$2,500]; 6. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [7][$2,300]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart [8][$2,200]; 8. 15-Donny Schatz [9][$2,100]; 9. 5-Spencer Bayston [10][$2,050]; 10. 1A-Jacob Allen [6][$2,000]; 11. 83-James McFadden [11][$1,600]; 12. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [13][$1,400]; 13. 20G-Noah Gass [14][$1,200]; 14. 13-Mark Dobmeier [15][$1,100]; 15. 6-Bill Rose [18][$1,050]; 16. 11M-Brendan Mullen [19][$1,000]; 17. 11K-Kraig Kinser [12][$1,000]; 18. 99-Jordan Graham [22][$1,000]; 19. 2K-Kevin Ingle [24][$1,000]; 20. 14T-Tim Estenson [17][$1,000]; 21. 17S-Zach Omdahl [23][$1,000]; 22. 8-Jack Croaker [16][$1,000]; 23. 10-Josh Swangler [20][$1,000]; 24. 26-Blake Egeland [21][$1,000]

KSE Hard Charger Award: 2K-Kevin Ingle[+5]

RUSH HOUR: Sweet Maneuvers Strong in Traffic, Wins Fourth of Season at River Cities
Podium finishers place in-order of Series points

GRAND FORKS, ND – August 26, 2022 – With its small size and high speeds, it pays to be good in traffic at River Cities Speedway. Brad Sweet shined bright in that department Friday night, and it paid him his fourth victory of the season with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.

Sweet, beginning a push toward a fourth-straight Series championship as the tour enters the final third of the season, bagged his second career victory at the high-banked 1/4-mile oval in convincing fashion, making the pass for the lead on Sheldon Haudenschild in traffic and fending-off all challengers to secure the win.

“That’s kinda what makes it racey here at [River Cities] – the lapped traffic is really tricky, and being so small, you’re in traffic so quick,” Sweet, of Grass Valley, CA, said. “You’ve got to make quick decisions and you’ve got to have a car that maneuvers on different parts of the racetrack.”

Taking the green from third on the starting grid, Sweet wasted zero time in his drive to the lead, getting around outside polesitter Spencer Bayston on Lap 2 and making a beeline for leader Haudenschild.

Haudenschild started his charge through slower traffic strong, making moves quickly and maintaining space between himself and Sweet. That was, until he reached the tail tank of Jade Hastings on Lap 11, who was also running the top side through Turns 3-4. This impeded his path just enough for Sweet to make a dive down low and take the spot away at the exit of Turn 4.

From there on out, it was smooth sailing for Sweet. Inside, outside, it didn’t seem to matter where the lapped cars in front of him were racing – Sweet was passing them with little-to-no hesitation.

“I felt good once I got to lapped traffic,” Sweet said. “You always want to get to those first couple of lapped cars and be able to clear them pretty quick. It makes you feel like you’ve got a little bit of a gap.”

As Sweet’s gap widened, David Gravel was making moves of his own toward the front. With a big head of steam out of Turn 2 and into Turn 3 on Lap 14, Gravel threw a big slide job on Haudenschild to take second, and from there began his trek to Sweet’s rear bumper.

A few caution flags bunched the field back up multiple times over the next 15 laps, giving Gravel and third-running Carson Macedo more opportunities to make a move for the lead from behind.

But neither seemed to have anything for the defending Series champion. Though Gravel and Macedo tried in the final laps, both were unable to catch the Kasey Kahne Racing #49 as Sweet drove away with the $10,000 check.

“On that final run with 11-to-go, I felt like I was able to pace [Sweet], but once I got to that first lapped car, I did not get around him very good and he was able to set sail,” Gravel, of Watertown, CT, said. “I think we had a car capable of winning, just needed a couple little things to go our way.”

Macedo, trailing both Gravel and Sweet in the championship standings, crossed the stripe in third after starting fifth. The run was his third-straight podium finish and 19th of such kind this season, backing-up he and the Jason Johnson Racing team’s momentum swing from a big win last weekend.

“We got to traffic and it would just start to play-out, then a caution would come,” Macedo, of Lemoore, CA, said. “Sometimes, that’s just the way it works.

“I thought the only way we were going to get by [Sweet and Gravel] would have been if they really got to mixing it up in traffic. I was praying for that.”

Sweet’s win now gives him three victories in the last nine World of Outlaws standard points events. It’s coming at a great time to make a push for the points title, especially after the win-shy start to the year they endured.

“It’s been a trying year, no doubt,” Sweet said. “We’re not used to the struggles, but I noticed a lot of teams are having similar struggles. I think everybody’s just searching with their race cars and trying to figure out what’s changing on a nightly basis.”

“With the slow start, we’re a little light in the win column. Obviously, [my] guys deserve to win a lot more.”

UP NEXT

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars are back in action Saturday night, August 27, at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, ND. Tickets are available online at WorldofOutlaws.com or at the gate on race day.

If you can’t be at the track in person, watch every lap live with a FAST PASS subscription to DIRTVision.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)

NOS Energy Drink Feature (35 Laps)