Carson Macedo, Brad Sweet take World of Outlaws battle to Eldora for #LetsRaceTwo doubleheader
By Dan BeaverMay 3, 2023, 5:02 PM EDT
Macedo Sweet Outlaws Eldora
World Racing Group / Trent Gower
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Four of eight winners, including last year’s champion Brad Sweet, through the first 15 races of the 2023 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series have multiple victories heading into the early May mile-marker known as #LetsRaceTwo at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, but points’ leader Carson Macedo has only one. The irony is that Macedo led the Outlaws in wins last year with 11 to champion Brad Sweet’s five, which ranked fourth in the series.
Macedo Sweet Outlaws Eldora
The World of Outlaws head to Eldora for the spring mile marker, the #LetsRaceTwo doubleheader. – World of Outlaws, Trent Gower
Macedo climbed his way to the top this season with a combination of strength and consistency, finishing in the top 10 in every race and in the top five two-thirds of the time. Both of Macedo’s marks lead the league, with the drivers second and third in the standings sharing his top-five tally of 10.
But by the time the #LetsRaceTwo doubleheader rolls around on May 5-6, two months will have passed since Macedo’s last victory. That win came in another doubleheader at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Florida on March 5. Given Sweet’s record from 2022, Macedo likely needs to increase his winning percentage if he wants to maintain his lead. Between now and the World of Outlaws World Finals, 66 races remain, which gives Sweet, who trails by only 12 points, and David Gravel (-48) ample opportunity to close the gap.
MORE: Kyle Larson has 10 wins in seven divisions at Eldora
Each of the top three drivers have a reason to expect success on the half-mile Eldora Speedway. In his last 10 races there, Macedo earned two victories, five podiums and an average finish of 4.4.
Sweet has two wins at Eldora, including Kings Royals in 2013 and 2019. His 2019 victory was the last time Sweet found Victory Lane at Eldora, but he came close last July in the Knight Before the Kings Royal with a third-place finish to David Gravel and Rico Abreau.
For Gravel, that was one of two wins in the four-race stand at Eldora last year. Four of Gravel’s 80 wins have come on this course.
There is also a fair likelihood that the #LetsRaceTwo doubleheader will produce different winners in the doubleheader. No one has won back-to-back in the last 16 Eldora races. Abreu is the most recent winner there with his BeFour The Crowns Showdown victory and will have the first shot at doubling down. Sweet and Macedo also finished in the top five that weekend. Abreu has two wins already this year, at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pennsylvania and 81 Speedway in Park City, Kansas.
Should Abreu win again, it will be the most productive of his Outlaw career. Abreu scored his pair of wins in only eight starts.
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Jimmie Johnson unsure of Indy 500, Rolex 24 return, but NASCAR will be top priority in 2024
By Nate RyanMay 3, 2023, 1:30 PM EDT
Jimmie Johnson Indy 2024
Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
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The door seems open for Jimmie Johnson to return to the Indy 500 or other cars and series in 2024 — even after aligning with Toyota in NASCAR.
But his work schedule at Legacy Motor Club might be too busy for the seven-time Cup Series champion to venture outside stock cars.
After retiring from full-time NASCAR after the 2020 season, Johnson has raced in IndyCar (part time in 2021, full time last year including his Indy 500 debut) and IMSA (the Rolex 24 at Daytona and other endurance races in ‘210-22).
But this year, the Garage 56 Camaro in the 24 Hours of Le Mans will mark his only extracurricular activity beyond a few Cup starts with Legacy Motor Club, the NASCAR team he now co-owns.
Johnson has yet to firm up his 2024 schedule (“we certainly keep an open ear to other opportunities”), but during the Tuesday unveiling of LMC’s new deal with Toyota Racing Development starting next year, he indicated multiple times that management of Legacy Motor Club is his first priority.
“I honestly don’t know at this stage,” Johnson said when asked by NBC Sports if he might return to IMSA or IndyCar next season. “I know my schedule for this year, which will include the Garage 56 program. Obviously, I’m very excited to go and have my first attempt at Le Mans with my friends from Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports and NASCAR.
“From a time commitment standpoint and being a proud co-owner of this team and being a part of this organization, my focus really is on what needs to happen for this team. I’m happy to hold a steering wheel, and we’ll certainly look at any and all opportunities to try. My focus really needs to be how it helps this team, so I think I’ll have to use that filter as I look at opportunities in the future and take it from there.”
Johnson and team owner Chip Ganassi have indicated he could have raced again for Honda in the Indy 500 this year despite his current ties in Cup to Chevrolet (a relationship that began when Johnson, 47, joined the General Motors racing fold as a teenager).
After the new deal with LMC and Toyota, sources close to the situation have told NBC Sports that Johnson would be allowed to race other series next year if he chooses.
TRD’s general policy has been to allow drivers to race in other series where Toyota isn’t a rival competitor. That would permit Johnson crossing over to IndyCar (Johnson drove a Dallara-Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing the past two years, and Chevrolet is the other engine manufacturer) and IMSA (Toyota races a Lexus in the GT divisions, but there would be no conflicts in the prototype categories).
Of course, Toyota’s first priority would be for Johnson to climb behind the wheel of a Camry in the Cup Series for the first time in 2024.
“We’re partnered with Jimmie as an owner first and foremost,” TRD president David Wilson said during the news conference Tuesday. “As a boots on the ground guy. Jimmie and (co-owner) Maury (Gallagher) are at this every day. It’s Jimmie’s day job to put the pieces in place to build that foundation. Everything on top of that is icing on the cake.
“If Jimmie decides that he’d like to run a race here or there in a Toyota Camry, I think we can make that happen, and we’d like nothing more.”
Johnson has made two Cup starts this season (the Daytona 500 and Circuit of the Americas) and will make at least two more with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the inaugural Chicago Street Race.
With his starts tied in part to bringing sponsorship to LMC, it seems likely he would make at least a few Cup starts next year with Toyota – when he can break away from his day job of overseeing the commercial side of the team.
Those commitments curtail the likelihood of side projects for Johnson, who is known for his intense preparation. Trying to balance a Rolex 24 or Indy 500 start while getting a new manufacturer off the ground with LMC would be extremely difficult.
“My focus is heavily skewed to front office, marketing, branding and partner relations,” Johnson said. “It’s occupied a ton of time. Our competition department, I have check in points, and they’re a phone call away. That group is rock solid.
“It’s been more front office than competition, and that’s funny, because as a driver, I didn’t pay much attention to the front office. But the last few years in my journey, leaving Hendrick and going to IndyCar, I was able to see the other side and how exhilarating and rewarding it is. Maury, I love drafting him and learning from him in this process. It’s a great journey. I’m a competitor at heart, and I’ll put in the time and do what it takes to win.”
Johnson and his business team brokered the Carvana sponsorship that secured his IndyCar ride — one of many examples in his growth as a businessman off the track. Chip Ganassi encouraged Johnson to pursue team management and ownership after being impressed by Johnson’s diligence.
Wilson, who said he has enjoyed getting to known Johnson on a personal level after being a garage acquaintance, echoed that viewpoint Tuesday in recalling his reaction to the announcement of Johnson becoming a team owner last November at Phoenix Raceway.
“I was honestly skeptical,” Wilson said. “Ehhh, Jimmie’s going to put his name on it? Good for him. What has impressed me to no end is the level at which Jimmie is committed to this organization and to Maury. He is working his butt off, and it’s really impressive. It’s given us the confidence that he and Maury are going to continue to build and get better and are the right partners for Toyota.”
