Carson Macedo and Jason Johnson Racing will admit 2026 didn’t play out how they would’ve liked.
This combination is one of the sport’s elite organizations. They partnered ahead of the 2021 season and immediately established themselves as title contenders with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series. Macedo narrowly finished second to David Gravel in the 2024 championship chase.
Fast forward to 2026, and the pairing entered Dave Smith Motors World of Outlaws World Finals destined for a fourth-place run in the standings. Sure, they’d collected an impressive seven wins, but this group led by Philip Dietz has the highest of expectations. They wanted to close out the campaign on a high note, and that’s exactly what they did at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
Macedo would not be denied on his charge from the fourth row. He lined up eighth for the 25-lap season finale and quickly got to work. The Lemoore, CA native climbed all the way to second by the ninth circuit in the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41. Then he tracked down polesitter Giovanni Scelzi and fired a slide job on Lap 17 to take command. Michael “Buddy” Kofoid rose to the runner-up spot late and tried one slide job in Turns 3 and 4 that Macedo narrowly drove around. That was the winning move as he took off to the checkered flag.
“Man, I’m a little out of breath,” Macedo said. “I was running really hard. When I got to second, it was everything I had every single lap as hard as I could go as thin as I could get it to make speed and not get over it. Buddy was coming there at the end. I was coming extremely hard at a couple of the lappers and made last minute decisions that broke my runs, and I knew he was coming. The one slider I drove around, I think it would’ve been inches from disaster, but luckily we made it around there.
“We’re working really hard,” Macedo continued. “Obviously, where we are in points isn’t where we want to be. We had our down nights. But to look at an eight-win season and be disappointed shows we have high expectations, and we want to do our best to be the best team on the road. It’s not from lack of effort. Philip (Dietz), Adam (Zimmerman), and Robby (McQuinn) are putting in the hours and putting in the effort.”
The eighth victory of the year for Macedo was the 66th of his career with The Greatest Show on Dirt. That equals him with Bobby Davis Jr. and Craig Dollansky for 14th all-time. It was also the 90th World of Outlaws score for Jason Johnson Racing. They’re just 10 away from becoming only the seventh organization ever to reach triple digits.
Buddy Kofoid finished second in the Roth Motorsports No. 83, finalizing his Series-best podium tally at 35 this year.
“It was hectic but honestly a lot of fun racing up there with him, Kofoid said. “I felt like we were extremely good. I was kind of disappointed we pulled the seven then got to sixth in the Dash. I was thinking it would take a lot to get there, thinking about yesterday. Then I felt like our car was just so much night and day better. I felt like I could run it extremely hard, and I think the track was the best I’ve probably seen it.”
Giovanni Scelzi led the opening 16 circuits but ultimately fell two spots shy of back-to-back Charlotte wins, bringing the Spire Motorsports No. 77 home third.
“I felt like I just wore my stuff out,” Scelzi said. “It’s hard to run hard and not kill your stuff. Good job to my guys. It was a great week. We worked on it and got it better throughout the week.”
Buddy Schweibinz and Steven Snyder Jr. rounded out the top five.
NIGHTLY NOTES
The final Heat Races of the year belonged to Giovanni Scelzi (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Tyler Courtney (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.com Heat Two), Carson Macedo (WIX Filters Heat Three), and Buddy Kofoid (Golf Cart Services Heat Four).
The SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to Giovanni Scelzi.
Scelzi also topped the Toyota Dash.
David Gravel won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
Chase Randall drove from 23rd to 14th to pick up his second KSE Racing Products Hard Charger of the week.
Brock Zearfoss was the Tub O’ Towels Seventh Place Finisher.
Emerson Axsom took home Five Star Bodies Rookie of the Race honors.
Buddy Kofoid clocked the ACME Trading Company Fast Lap.
The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Tyler Courtney.
UP NEXT: The 2027 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car season launches at Volusia Speedway Park’s Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals in Barberville, FL on Wednesday-Saturday, Feb. 10-13. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
Where can you watch every World of Outlaws race? Live on DIRTVision.
Where can you see the World of Outlaws in 2027? ClICK HERE to see the currently announced dates.
FEATURE RESULTS:
NOS Energy Drink Feature (25 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[8]; 2. 83-Michael Kofoid[6]; 3. 77-Giovanni Scelzi[1]; 4. 69K-Buddy Schweibinz[11]; 5. 51-Steven Snyder Jr[10]; 6. 13-Tanner Holmes[4]; 7. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[12]; 8. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[3]; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart[14]; 10. 17B-Bill Balog[9]; 11. 7S-Chris Windom[17]; 12. 17-Spencer Bayston[13]; 13. 23-Garet Williamson[5]; 14. 9-Chase Randall[23]; 15. 1A-Cameron Smith[20]; 16. 71R-Logan Rumsey[18]; 17. 2-David Gravel[21]; 18. 27-Emerson Axsom[26]; 19. 16C-Skylar Gee[16]; 20. 5-Chase Dietz[24]; 21. 15-Donny Schatz[19]; 22. 71-Parker Price Miller[15]; 23. 6-Bryce Lucius[27]; 24. 19-Brent Marks[22]; 25. 28M-Conner Morrell[28]; 26. (DNF) 7BC-Tyler Courtney[2]; 27. (DNF) 14-Rico Abreu[7]; 28. (DNF) 2C-Cole Macedo[25]
For complete results, CLICK HERE.
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