Macedo Tops Haudenschild In Red River Valley Thriller

WEST FARGO, N.D. – Sprint car racing doesn’t get much better than what it delivered on Saturday at Red River Valley Speedway.

The track served up a 30-lapper that won’t be forgotten any time soon, featuring three different leaders, a three-wide pass for the lead, a late restart that set up a wild duel, contact for the top spot at the white flag, and two passes for the lead on the final lap.

In the end, it was Carson Macedo who came out on top of the absolute thrill ride.

The early stages saw Sheldon Haudenschild and Christopher Thram going at it at the front of the field. Haudenschild took the initial lead before Thram ripped by around the outside in search of his first World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win.

Thram played defense as Haudenschild looked to get back by, and that allowed David Gravel to close in. Gravel looked under both of them, and Haudenschild made a breathtaking move, splitting between the two of them down the back straightaway and pulling ahead.

That looked to be the winning move as the laps clicked away, but a late yellow set the stage for a chaotic four-lap shootout. Carson Macedo had charged from sixth to the runner-up spot, and he came after Haudenschild right away.

The driver of the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 launched a slide job in turns three and four that cleared, but Haudenschild was able to cross under him.

The Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing No. 17 then shifted to a defensive line before Macedo gathered enough momentum to throw another slide job coming to the white flag that cleared again.

Haudenschild made contact with the tail tank as they crossed under the line, which allowed him to retake the lead entering turn one as Macedo corrected his machine.

The Lemoore, Calif., driver wasn’t rattled as he stuck the bottom in turns one and two and pulled alongside Haudenschild down the back straightaway. Haudenschild anticipated the slider and backed off early to see if he could make the bottom work, to no avail.

Macedo slid across and caught the cushion, which propelled him to a victory that brought the fans to their feet.

“I think Sheldon is an extremely good race car driver, and I think that was just two guys giving it absolutely everything they had for the last four laps,” Macedo said. “What a great job by Philip Dietz, Adam Zimmerman, and Robby McQuinn. They just executed huge there.

“I felt really bad in the dash and almost felt like I was lost, made some bad decisions. They went to work on this thing, and I knew the minute we lined up to the pace truck we were going to be in good shape,” Macedo added. “We just had a ton of grip. It says a lot to be able to turn it around from not being very good and then make some adjustments and be so good. Hats off to them.

“That was one of the coolest endings to a race that I’ve ran in a long time. I could hear Sheldon giving it everything, and I was giving everything on my end. It was just two hard racers racing really hard.”

The thrilling triumph gave Macedo his 10th Outlaws victory this year, marking his fourth double-digit win season. His third Red River Valley score makes him the seventh driver in series history to top at least a trio of races at the three-eighths-mile oval.

The 57th overall of Macedo’s career moves him within one of equaling two-time champion Jason Meyers as the second winningest Californian in World of Outlaws history.

Haudenschild took the second spot after leading the most laps. Even with the disappointment of being in position to win and not taking home the trophy, Haudenschild was still all smiles as he reflected on a fun battle with Macedo on a perfect racing surface.

“Sometimes it’s better to be running second,” noted Haudenschild. “I feel like I survived his slider that first go round. The last restart I kind of got tight up there and didn’t get quite as good of a jump and didn’t come off (turn) two very well, so I kind of knew the door was open. I was able to get crossed back under him and get going a little bit. Then he got another one, and I kind of bumped him down the straightaway. I didn’t mean to do that.

“Like Carson said we were going at it, and I don’t think we could’ve asked for a better track.”

The podium was rounded out by David Gravel and the Big Game Motorsports team. They’ve reeled off five top threes in the last six races as they continue to motor toward a second consecutive championship.

The Watertown, Conn., native felt he might’ve had a shot at his 13th win of the year if it wasn’t for a poorly timed caution.

“I really took care of my tires and bided my time and felt like I was going to be really good at the end,” Gravel said. “Lapped traffic kind of hung me up there a little bit, and I tried to diamond in (turns) three and four and clipped the infield tire. Carson must’ve just had me beat at the line there because I passed him back in (turns) one and two and the caution came out. Definitely an untimely caution for us.

“That probably sealed the deal on us trying to win this race.”

Logan Schuchart and Buddy Kofoid completed the top five.

Cole Macedo advanced from 17th to eighth to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award.

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series season continues Aug. 30-31 at Huset’s Speedway with the L.G. Everist Huset’s Shootout, featuring a $25,000-to-win finale.

Every lap of the World of Outlaws season can be streamed live with a DIRTvision subscription.

The finish:

Feature (30 laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo [6]; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [1]; 3. 2-David Gravel [4]; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart [5]; 5. 83-Buddy Kofoid [9]; 6. 17B-Bill Balog [13]; 7. 15-Donny Schatz [7]; 8. 2C-Cole Macedo [17]; 9. 13-Mark Dobmeier [14]; 10. 23-Garet Williamson [12]; 11. 6-Zach Hampton [8]; 12. 7S-Chris Windom [19]; 13. 18-Emerson Axsom [20]; 14. 64-Andy Pake [11]; 15. 24T-Christopher Thram [2]; 16. 15S-Kerry Madsen [10]; 17. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [15]; 18. 11M-Brendan Mullen [24]; 19. 6K-Kaleb Johnson [18]; 20. 27-Weston Olson [21]; 21. G5-Gage Pulkrabek [16]; 22. 15L-Laela Eisenschenk [23]; 23. 1-Amelia Eisenschenk [22]; 24. 99-Skylar Gee [3].