Night before the Ironman 55

The Californian captures his fourth I-55 victory in dominant fashion

Starting a night of racing with a fire is about the worst possible scenario for any team.

That’s exactly the situation Carson Macedo and Jason Johnson Racing faced on Friday at I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park. A fuel issue during engine heat ignited flames on the No. 41, forcing Macedo to quickly climb out and making a lot of extra work for the team to be ready for the remainder of the night.

But they put their heads down and got the job done. They diagnosed the issue and got the car ready to roll for the Night Before the Ironman. The end result? A dominant drive to World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series Victory Lane.

Macedo made his way into the Toyota Dash after an eventful Heat Race. The SPA Technique #1 Redraw lined him up on the pole of the Dash, and that was all he needed. First came a Dash victory, and the Lemoore, CA native never even faced a challenge in the 30-lap Feature. He put on a clinic through traffic and led flag-to-flag at the Pevely, MO bullring.

“You just had to have a lot of patience,” Macedo said of the race. “It was definitely a different Pevely than we’re used to I feel like, but we’ll take them anyway we can get them. I was thankful to start on the pole in that one. I felt like as long as I didn’t make too bad of a mistake on the bottom I was going to be in pretty good shape. I just had to be ultra patient, really just running off my right front and trying to stay rotated to grab the bottom off exit and squirt by some of them lappers.”

Macedo is now up to four victories at I-55, making it the second winningest track on his résumé just one behind Jackson Motorplex. That also equals him with Sheldon Haudenschild for the sixth most wins at the 3/8 mile. His seventh overall score of 2025 with The Greatest Show on Dirt ties him with Michael “Buddy” Kofoid for the second most this season.

Now, the focus is entirely on Saturday for Macedo. He may have four checkered flags from I-55, but he’s yet to conquer the Ironman 55. He wants that coveted dumbbell and a $25,000 check.

“Just thankful to have such good supporters and get them another win,” Macedo said. “Hopefully we can get that Ironman 55. It’s one of the trophies that I’d love to put up on the mantle and one that I don’t have yet.”

Claiming the second spot and equaling his best finish of the year was Donny Schatz aboard the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing No. 15. It gave the Fargo, ND driver six podiums in 2025. Schatz had plenty of speed all night but just not quite enough to challenge Macedo for his first win of the year.

“He (Macedo) was pretty good,” Schatz said. “Obviously he drove away from us there even in traffic. On the restart when I found myself on the outside, I was kind of surprised that we took off that good on the outside and figured I’d stay there. I could stay with him, and I tried it down here and lost a little bit. Obviously, I didn’t get passed, so I just kept trying to make something work. I tried to move around and find it. All in all, it was a good night.”

Buddy Kofoid took the Roth Motorsports No. 83 from eighth to third for his 11th podium in the last 14 races. The Penngrove, CA native was one of few willing to brave the cushion in the race’s latter half. It worked out for a while as he climbed to third before also settling in on the bottom with Macedo and Schatz.

“I don’t know if I had much help up there, and it was just really dirty and time to move down,” Kofoid said. “I kind of struggled on the bottom but figured they probably weren’t going to drive around me.”

David Gravel and Logan Schuchart completed the top five.

Landon Crawley wheeled from 22nd to 10th to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger.

David Gravel earned his 13th Simpson Quick Time of the year in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.

Heat Races belonged to David Gravel (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Buddy Kofoid (Real American Beer Heat Two), Zach Hampton (WIX Filters Heat Three), and Ashton Torgerson (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.com Heat Four).

The SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to Carson Macedo.

Macedo also topped the Toyota Dash.

Skylar Gee won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Hunter Schuerenberg.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars will battle for 55 laps around I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park in the 17th running of the Ironman 55 on Saturday, Aug. 2. The winner will take home a brand new dumbbell trophy and $25,000. For tickets, CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.

FEATURE RESULTS:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[1]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz[4]; 3. 83-Michael Kofoid[8]; 4. 2-David Gravel[2]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart[6]; 6. 1A-Ashton Torgerson[3]; 7. 18-Emerson Axsom[13]; 8. 17B-Bill Balog[11]; 9. 6-Zach Hampton[7]; 10. 45X-Landon Crawley[22]; 11. 7S-Chris Windom[10]; 12. 45-Cory Eliason[19]; 13. 51B-Joe B Miller[17]; 14. 88-Tanner Thorson[12]; 15. 23-Garet Williamson[18]; 16. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[15]; 17. 99-Skylar Gee[21]; 18. 14-Spencer Bayston[9]; 19. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[5]; 20. 34-Sterling Cling[14]; 21. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[23]; 22. 24T-Christopher Thram[16]; 23. 28M-Conner Morrell[24]; 24. 84-Brandon Hanks[20]

For complete results, CLICK HERE.