VENTURA, Calif. — Carson Macedo played spoiler to Tyler Courtney’s hopes of winning the ARP $50,000 Double Dip Bonus by stealing the win in Thursday night’s USAC West Coast Sprint Car Series Battle at the Beach.
Macedo, who ran inside the top five all race long, charged to the point with a huge turn-one slide job on polesitter and race-long leader C.J. Leary at lap 14. He never looked back after that, holding off a late rally from Courtney to secure the victory in the Tarlton Racing No. 21.
The win soothed some of the sting for Macedo after he failed to make the 98-lap Turkey Night Grand Prix midget feature.
“C.J. Leary is one of the best out here; he’s a USAC National sprint car driver and he’s got a lot of talent, so to have been trading spots with him all night long is pretty cool,” noted Macedo in victory lane. “I don’t get a whole lot of non-winged sprint car experience, but every time I get in one, I have a lot of fun.
“We were sliding around a bit and hopefully put on a great show for all these fans; they came out in force and that’s cool to see,” Macedo added. “Thanks to the Tarlton family and everyone who’s supported me throughout my career. It’s fun to come out and do something different once in a while.”
Courtney, who started ninth after struggles in the Dash for Cash on Wednesday night that set the first five rows of the grid, slowly and methodically worked his way through traffic as the 30-lapper wore on.
He took fourth one lap prior to halfway and found himself third with 12 to go, after Leary spun in turn three from a top-three running position and was unable to continue. From there, Courtney waited behind Geoff Ensign before soaring around the outside to take the runner-up spot with five to go.
A debris caution shortly after gave Courtney one last shot to try and find a way by Macedo and win the sprint car feature at Turkey Night for the second-straight year, but try as he might, Courtney just could not find the momentum he needed to make the pass and had to settle for second in the end.
“We were just behind the 8-ball for the whole night after having to start ninth,” Courtney noted. “This is a tricky place to pass, and I just came up short. It ruins our shot to go for $50,000 … but it is what it is. There’s another race to win tonight and we’ve got another good car for that one.”
Ensign completed the podium, followed by Austin Liggett and Tristan Guardino.
Jake Swanson, Colby Copeland, Ryan Bernal, Tanner Carrick and Stevie Sussex made up the rest of the top 10 at the finish.
Ryan Timmons earned the championship for the four-race Battle at the Beach mini-series.
The finish:
Carson Macedo, Tyler Courtney, Geoff Ensign, Austin Liggett, Tristan Guardino, Jake Swanson, Colby Copeland, Ryan Bernal, Tanner Carrick, Stevie Sussex, Slater Helt, Michael Pickens, Ryan Timmons, Logan Seavey, Max Adams, JJ Ringo, Tye Mihocko, Troy Rutherford, Brody Roa, CJ Leary, Chase Johnson, Brady Bacon.
