Macedo Wins Danny Schatz Memorial After Charge From Sixth
NXTbets Pro | Published On: August 30, 2026
Macedo’s West Fargo win
Carson Macedo turned a sixth-place starting spot into a victory Saturday, winning the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series’ Danny Schatz Memorial at Fix It Forward Speedway in West Fargo, North Dakota. The result gave him his fifth win of the season and the 63rd World of Outlaws victory of his career. It also ended a 24-race drought, a dry spell that made the payoff feel even bigger for a driver who has spent much of the season pushing toward another breakthrough. Macedo did it in a race that rewarded speed, patience and timing. He left West Fargo with a win that counted in the standings of the night and in the broader shape of his year. For Jason Johnson Racing, it was the right answer after the team had already dealt with hauler problems and a crash the day before the race. The victory did not erase that trouble, but it gave the group a clear finish to a difficult stretch.
Macedo’s 35-lap charge
The 35-lap feature gave Macedo room to work, and he used it. He moved into second place by Lap 12, then took the lead three laps later. That sequence turned the race in his favor before the halfway point and put him in control before the field could settle in around him. Once he got to the front, he pulled away and never let the lead slip. The move from sixth to first was the kind of climb that changes a race from a scramble into a statement. Each spot he gained cut down the traffic ahead of him and put him closer to the move that mattered most. By the time he reached the lead, Macedo had already shown he could race through the pack with purpose. After that, he made the race his own. The pace he carried after taking the lead left the rest of the feature in chase mode. He did not need help from caution or chaos. He used track position, speed and clean execution to take control and keep it.
West Fargo finishers
Garet Williamson finished second, Bill Balog took third and David Gravel and Michael “Buddy” Kofoid completed the top five. Those results filled out a strong finish behind Macedo, but none of them could catch him once he got to the front and stretched the margin. Williamson held the runner-up spot, Balog followed in third and Gravel and Kofoid rounded out the upper end of the order. That gave the Danny Schatz Memorial a clear top five, but the night belonged to Macedo after he made his climb early and protected it the rest of the way. The result carried weight for the driver, for his team and for a season that now includes five wins. It also fit the kind of race West Fargo produced, one that forced drivers to make gains before the feature could get away from them. Macedo met that challenge head-on. He started sixth, got to second by Lap 12, reached the lead three laps later and then pulled away to seal the win. In a short feature, that was enough.
