Things were going Carson Macedo’s way at Nodak Speedway with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series until they weren’t.

Macedo started from the pole and paced the field for the first 7 laps of the race. However, on lap 7 he caught the rear of the field and lost a ton of momentum when he went to slide Laela Eisenschenk. That allowed second place running Buddy Kofoid to quickly eliminate the 8/10 of a second lead that Macedo had. He threw his own slider at Macedo through 1 and 2. Macedo would cross him over on the exit of turn 2 and the two tussled down the back stretch for the top groove. 

It appeared that Macdeo might get the position heading into 3, but Kofoid threw a slider at him and Macedo just did not have enough drive off the corner to cross over. Kofoid took full control and began to gap Macedo. 

Macedo was not done though. He put together a couple good laps, and took a peek underneath Kofoid. Unfortunately, it was the wrong move as he again lost a ton of momentum on the bottom. It allowed third place David Gravel to jet past him and even allowed Garet Williamson to get to his rear.

Over the next handful of laps, Macedo got in line on the top and followed both Kofoid and Gravel around. Gravel would make the same mistake Macedo made and try to go to the bottom to slide the lap car of Gage Pulkabrek. It killed his momentum and allowed Macedo to easily fly past him and get back to second. 

Pulkabrek would bring out the caution on lap 18 after he drifted up the track and into Garet Williamson’s lane. The two would make contact and Pulkabrek spun at the very edge of the track. Colton Young had nowhere to go and slammed into the side of Pulkabrek as he tried to avoid him. That sent him spinning down and off the track. With the caution, the field was reracked.

On the restart, Kofoid paced the field in clean air, but like the initial start, he got slowed up in lap traffic, which allowed Macedo to close the gap. Instead of making the same mistake that Macedo and Gravel made earlier by attempting a slide job, Kofoid chose to pace behind the slower car of Bryce Lucius. Macedo attempted to take advantage of the slower pace on the last lap and threw a bomb in the final corner, but he threw it in a little too hard, which allowed Kofoid to cross him over and get the win. As earlier in the race, the slider killed Macedo’s momentum, but he was able to hold on for second as Sheldon Haudenschild pushed him across the line.

In his second place interview, Macedo shared what he needed to do to get the win and beat Kofoid, “I got a good start and was able to get to the lead and I felt really solid, but just when I got to lap traffic I didn’t realize how dominant the top was. I mean I knew it was fast up there, but, man I slid that lapper and didn’t quite get-. I should have got to the cushion sooner and I didn’t. Then I spun down the front stretch so bad. Knew I was probably in trouble and sure enough getting slid.”

“And then kinda went into defense mode,” he continued. “David got by me too. And my momentum was so broke. Was able to get back by him. He went to the bottom. Like I said, the top was the only lane. Drove around him and the rubber laid down. I think Buddy got to spinning behind the 6 there on the last lap and I threw a huge bomb to just try something. And I was sliding at the curb so fast I thought I was going to end up in the parking lot. And then was able to kind of grab the curb enough to get me back off the corner and bring it home second.”

Kofoid shared a similar assessment on how he won the race, “In my head, I’m like, ‘Okay, you can’t pull off the top unless you absolutely have to.’ And I feel like that just kinda how I took advantage of him in traffic and got by him.” 

On the final laps, he said, “I think just those two cars coming together just kinda let him have a chance. I kinda checked up for them and didn’t know where they were going to go.”

With the win, Kofoid now sits 170 points behind David Gravel, who finished 7th, in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Points Standings. Sheldon Haudenschild is third, 210 back, while Macedo is fourth with a 248 point deficit.

The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series heads to Huset’s Speedway for the L.G. Everist Huset’s Shootout Presented by D&I Railroad. Action begins on Friday, September 4 and continues through the weekend with the $25,000 to-win conclusion on September 6th. 

NEXT: Aaron Reutzel Addresses Opening Lap Mayhem During High Limit Race At The Douglas County Dirt Track