Lemoore’s Macedo goes 1,500 miles in a weekend to get sprint car victory

The coronavirus pandemic brought the sports world to a virtual stop last weekend with a notable exception in Pennsylvania.

The state is a hotbed for sprint car racing, and three of its main dirt tracks went ahead with regularly scheduled events.

Carson Macedo of Lemoore took advantage, winning Sunday’s season-opener at Williams Grove Speedway.

Macedo, in his second season driving for Kyle Larson Racing, had nowhere else to go. The rest of the racing schedule (including Saturday night dates locally at Madera Speedway and Keller Auto Speedway at Kings Fairgrounds in Hanford) were canceled.

Macedo and his team were in Texas where the national World of Outlaws tour was set to resume its schedule Friday, only to pull the plug at the last moment and announce that it’s going dark until at least April 9.

So the Kyle Larson team made the approximately 1,500-mile drive from near San Antonio to central Pennsylvania in time for a Sunday afternoon race. Macedo made it pay off for his first career victory at the track where the list of season-opening winners includes A.J. Foyt.

Local media quoted Macedo calling it the biggest win of his career.

Another central San Joaquin Valley product pulled off a big win at the half-mile track: Fresno’s Gio Scelzi iin 2018 at age 16 became the youngest winner in Outlaws history at Williams Grove.

And yet another sprint car racer with Valley roots, Cory Eliason of Kingsburg, scored a victory this month in Pennsylvania, winning the March 9 season-opener at Port Royal Speedway.

Valley racing

The Outlaws’ decision scrubs racing that was scheduled at Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway on April 3-4; the track canceled a March 21 show, too. The April 10 stop at Merced Speedway is when the Outlaws plan to resume.

Madera Speedway called off its March 14 season-opener and hadn’t announced its plans as of midday Monday. Keller Auto Speedway said its next scheduled date, March 28, is in flux.