Carson Macedo and the Jason Johnson Racing team in victory lane at River Cities Speedway. (World of Outlaws photo)

By Jacob Seelman, SWN News Editor

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (May 29, 2026) – River Cities Speedway delivered a barnburner World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series finish Friday night, and Carson Macedo was the surprise beneficiary.

Despite starting ninth on the grid for the 40-lap Don Mack Classic, Macedo carved his way through traffic and ultimately passed two-time defending series champion David Gravel with four to go en route to his third Outlaws win of the year and his third win at the three-tenths-mile dirt oval.

The 30-year-old was fourth with 11 laps left in the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41, but turned on the jets when the lights were brightest.

Macedo overhauled polesitter and early leader Kasey Kedrzejek for third working lap 30, then inherited second place with 10 to go when his younger brother Cole drove over the banking in turn two and lost four positions as a result.

From there, Macedo went to work erasing a 1.579-second deficit to Gravel, and his Philip Dietz-prepared ace car was a rocket in doing just that.

Macedo reached Gravel’s rear bumper in just four rotations, then chucked a slider attempt to the bottom of turn one on lap 37 after drag racing Gravel to the flagstand moments earlier.

The move stuck, Gravel tried to return the favor, but Macedo ultimately raced clear of the Big Game Motorsports No. 2 off turn four to take a lead he wouldn’t relinquish.

Macedo raced away after that to a narrow .423-second victory, the 61st of his Outlaws career in his 546th feature start.

It also allowed Macedo to claim the runner-up spot in the updated point standings outright, supplanting Buddy Kofoid and moving to 114 points behind Gravel for the series lead.

But the highlight of the moment was the exciting victory, Macedo’s second in the past four races and a statement that Gravel won’t be able to just coast through the summer months.

“That was just a Philip Dietz race car right there. Every once in a while, you get one of those [cars] that is just absolutely unbelievable, and he killed it here tonight,” said Macedo in victory lane. “Honestly, felt a little off in time trials, but it felt really good in the heat race. We made a lot of gains and … I felt like I was really good the whole feature. The minute we fired off, I was able to pick a few cars off and then just got kind of bundled up there in traffic to where I couldn't really make a move.

“I was trying to get by my brother and [Bill] Balog for a long time and just couldn’t quite get clear of him. Once I did, I was able to move around and just start to get a little bit better,” Macedo continued. “I was able to start plugging away nice laps at that point, and man, that [finish] was awesome. My heart rate was through the roof.

“I feel like this place, the track just sets a torrid pace all the time, even when it gets a little bit slick and slow, and I was up on the wheel hustling really hard.”

Gravel hung on for second – his 18th top five in 25 races this year – but rued being in position to close the race out late and failing to do so.

“I just need to be more aggressive,” lamented Gravel, who led a race-high 22 circuits. “Should have put him away, but felt like he was running the top. I slid him. He turned underneath me twice and messed up my whole mojo there. Just was in dirty air the last 10 laps, and felt like my pace slowed down.”

“I knew somebody was coming, but man, we had a race-winning car, a car capable of winning. I got to thank my guys for giving me that,” Gravel added. “No excuses. We had a good enough car to win, and we didn’t, so I just got to clean up my part of things a little bit.”

Jedrzejek hung on for third, his first career Outlaws podium, after leading the first 14 laps but losing control of the race to Gravel on a lap-15 restart.

Chris Windom raced from 13th to fourth to garner KSE Hard Charger honors, with Sheldon Haudenschild closing out the top five.

Cole Macedo finished seventh after sitting runner-up and being in position to challenge Gravel with 10 to go, but making a mistake in turn one that led to his trip over the outside banking.

North Dakota native and home-state favorite Donny Schatz finished eighth in the CJB Motorsports No. 51.

World of Outlaws sprint car teams resume action Sunday night at Nodak Speedway in Minot, N.D., with the running of the Gerdau Metal Recycling Magic City Showdown.

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

The finish:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (40 laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo [9]; 2. 2-David Gravel [2]; 3. 6-Kasey Jedrzejek [1]; 4. 7S-Chris Windom [13]; 5. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild [6]; 6. 83-Michael Kofoid [14]; 7. 2C-Cole Macedo [5]; 8. 15-Donny Schatz [11]; 9. 23-Garet Williamson [7]; 10. 17B-Bill Balog [3]; 11. 1S-Logan Schuchart [18]; 12. 27-Emerson Axsom [17]; 13. 51-Ashton Torgerson [16]; 14. 13-Mark Dobmeier [10]; 15. 64-Andy Pake [4]; 16. 16C-Skylar Gee [19]; 17. 10-Alex Truscinski [23]; 18. 15L-Laela Eisenschenk [24]; 19. 8-Jack Croaker [20]; 20. 24T-Christopher Thram [12]; 21. 28M-Conner Morrell [8]; 22. 17-Spencer Bayston [21]; 23. 8H-Jade Hastings [15]; 24. 27W-Weston Olson [22].

Lap Leader(s): Kasey Jedrzejek 1-14, David Gravel 15-36, Carson Macedo 37-40.

Hard Charger: 7S-Chris Windom (+9)