PEVELY, Mo. — I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park just doesn’t miss.
Friday’s Federated Auto Parts Spring Classic opener at the third-mile oval served up the latest piece of evidence. Fans were treated to a 40-lap thrill ride as the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars put on a show. Action over every inch of the bullring. Huge slide jobs. Countless crossovers. One couldn’t ask for more.
The battle for the top spot might’ve been the most intense action on track. Logan Schuchart led early and built a cozy lead, but once Carson Macedo reeled him in, the duel began.
The two swapped sliders. They countered with crossovers. They gave the crowd a masterful display of sprint car racing. A late caution set up a green-white-checkered restart, and Macedo had just enough to hold on by a few tenths of a second to get the win with his Jason Johnson Racing team.
“Wow, that was one of the funnest races I’ve run in a while,” Macedo said. “The whole race was really good. A lot of slide jobs. A lot of moving around. Battling the 1S (Schuchart), the 2 (David Gravel), the 2c (Cole Macedo), the 48 (Danny Dietrich) in the beginning. Really, I felt like I was in a battle the entire race. It was a lot of fun. Hats off to Philip Dietz. What an incredible Albaugh 41 car tonight. It was incredible to drive. Robby McQuinn and Adam Zimmerman, they work really hard, and it feels good to reward them with a win.”
The victory brought Macedo his 49th WoO victory. His next will make him the 18th competitor to reach 50.
It was a battle all the way to the finish line for Macedo’s second triumph of 2025 and first since the season opener. Schuchart made him work and kept him on his toes as he chased late in the Shark Racing No. 1S.
“Logan was really good in traffic,” Macedo said. “I didn’t know what was better, sliding myself in (Turns) 3 and 4 and getting to the grip or running the top. I think at the end it just got so far to get to it and ledged up once you got to it, it would kill my run down the frontstretch. I tried to go to the top with like seven or eight to go and absolutely plugged it in the fence pretty hard. Then I was nervous I was getting a flat, so I started sliding myself. I knew with the green-white-checkered I needed to get up and make some momentum. Just a great race, a lot of fun.”
Schuchart matched his season best result with a runner-up finish after leading 26 laps in the Federated Auto Parts No. 1s.
“I definitely wanted to stay in traffic whether it was when we were leading or once he got to traffic,” Schuchart said. “I feel like every time I was ready to pull the trigger the yellow would come out. I felt like we were really good once we got going. He did a great job on the restart to get a run at me. I knew we were faster. I felt like we had the better car once we got going, just every time we got to traffic the yellow would come out. Just proud of my guys. They did a great job.”
Gravel and the Big Game Motorsports team stood on the final step of the podium. The defending series champion still hasn’t missed the top five in 2025, and the No. 2 has parked on the podium in 11 of the 14 races this year.
“The top was very dominant there, and then it got really, really thin around the top and just promoted a lot of slide jobs,” Gravel explained. “I’m just proud of my guys. They gave me a good race car to end up third there. I was struggling in the middle of that race and kind of found the bottom at the end there in (Turns) 3 and 4.”
Sheldon Haudenschild and Bill Balog completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[3]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart[1]; 3. 2-David Gravel[8]; 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[6]; 5. 17B-Bill Balog[9]; 6. 15-Donny Schatz[18]; 7. 83-Michael Kofoid[11]; 8. 23-Garet Williamson[21]; 9. 88-Austin McCarl[7]; 10. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[5]; 11. 7S-Chris Windom[13]; 12. 87-Aaron Reutzel[10]; 13. 48-Danny Dietrich[2]; 14. 2C-Cole Macedo[4]; 15. 26-Justin Peck[23]; 16. 99-Skylar Gee[20]; 17. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[12]; 18. 6-Zach Hampton[16]; 19. 88T-Tanner Thorson[15]; 20. 28M-Conner Morrell[19]; 21. 55V-Kerry Madsen[14]; 22. 22M-Rees Moran[17]; 23. 2KS-Cory Eliason[24]; 24. 71-Parker Price Miller[22]
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