The Devil We Knew: World of Outlaws Says Goodbye to Where It All Began (see VIDEOS)

Nostalgic Moments on Night One

The first night of racing on Friday fed into the nostalgia. Carson Macedo brought the No. 41 sprint to victory for his first Devils Bowl win at the same track where the late Jason Johnson still holds the track record set on April 27th, 2018, just two months before he tragically lost his life due to complications following a crash at Beaver Dam (Wisc.) Raceway.

Macedo had a dominant run leading the 25-lap feature from flag to flag, rounding corner four as the horns of the setting crescent moon illuminated the backdrop.

“It’s really special,” Macedo commented. “Devil’s Bowl has got a lot of history. The Johnson family, a lot of them are from this area or close to it and it’s special for them. Craig and Debra are here, Jason’s parents, plus Bobbi and Jaxx (Jason's widow and son). Jaxx was able to get up on the wing with me.”

Since crew chief Philip Dietz and his wife Brooke became ownership partners with the Johnson family in 2020, Bobbi and Jaxx Johnson don’t make it to the track every weekend, but this was one that the mother/son duo couldn’t miss as they said goodbye to a piece of their shared history.

Macedo currently sits a distant third in points with David Gravel and defending champion Brad Sweet in front of him. The trio completed the podium on Friday night in reverse order of their points. Gravel was able to stay on Macedo’s bumper after the only caution of the race five laps in.

“I didn’t really know where to be in (turns) 3 and 4, especially early. It seemed to kind of be letting go, on me a little bit there off of 4,” Macedo explained. “I didn’t feel like I could get off that corner as nice as I wanted to. I could look over and see Gravel kind of trailing my right rear on the top and decided it was time to move up and felt pretty good after that.”

Macedo’s line choice made the difference but didn’t build enough of a buffer for him to feel completely confident in the final circuits as lapped cars factored in.

“Sprint car racing is a weird thing," Macedo said. "You could have all the tools in the world, good equipment, an amazing mechanic in Phil Dietz, and two great guys in Clyde and Nate, and I feel like I’m doing a pretty good job, but still just not quite get the job done, not winning races. And you start to kind of doubt yourself and get in a little bit of a slump. But, man, Devil’s Bowl is a great place to get out of that.”

Macedo’s last win came on the final night of the Jackson Nationals at Jackson Motorplex on August 18th, the victory coming with the same green flame paint scheme that graced Devil’s Bowls victory lane.

The Final Night

When the final night rolled in, we already had hundreds of stories for the record books and only one remaining cowboy hat to be crowned. Devil's Bowl Speedway lived up to its namesake devilish ways when the feature went underway. James McFadden led the field to green after winning the Toyota Racing Dash, the same as Macedo did the night before.

Through 90 minutes, two open reds, and 29 of 30 laps it seemed like McFadden’s storyline would mirror Macedo’s.

A determined Gravel, who was disappointed to only make up 2 points on Sweet the night before, was the difference.

When McFadden initially went low, Gravel went high to pass two lapped cars at the checkers. McFadden realized he made the wrong call too late and had to check up crossing the finish line inches away and inches behind Gravel, who won by .0015.

McFadden survived two open reds and eight cautions to lose by .0015, but Gravel who has finished second in six of the last 10 races, was hungry and needed the extra four championship points that a win would give him.

“What a way to send off Devil’s Bowl. How about that?” Gravel said. “I’m sick of running second. I saw a stat that I ran six seconds in the last 10 races, so that was way too many. I was sending it no matter what. I know Carson (Macedo) and Brad (Sweet) were having trouble, but at the end of the day, I’ve just got to try to win races no matter what they do. Happy to finally get one.”

So how did we get to that electric final lap as the checkers waved at 12:30 a.m. because the final feature just had to stretch its way into a two-day show?

On the second restart, just three laps into the feature; Sweet and his team owner, former NASCAR Cup winner Kasey Kahne, collided, collecting sprint cars and flinging mangled metal across the frontstretch.

Since there was an extended parade lap to thank the record-breaking number of fans that came to say goodbye, the first Open Red was issued. There was also an intense amount of clean-up needed to get cars off the track to the front stretch raceable. This built-in more time but fewer hands for the #49 team of Kasey Kahne Racing to strip and rebuild the championship-defending sprint car.

Miraculously, it was done, and Sweet tagged the back of the field with 40 seconds to spare.

After a shredded wheel for Sweet, six more yellow flags, and a second Open Red brought out by Macedo and Logan Schuchart, Sweet was able to make it to sixth, minimizing the loss of points to Gravel as he finished seventh. Gravel now trails Sweet by 50 points with three races remaining all at The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway for World Finals Week, starting Wednesday, November 1st.

Donny Schatz, the ten-time Champion and longest-tenure Outlaw, was able to say goodbye to the track with a podium finish as he raced from ninth to third.

Closing Moments at Devils Bowl

With a record crowd trying to make their way out of the gate and down the bumps and lumps of Lawson Road for the final time, many fans and family took the opportunity to head to the pits and walk the track.

As fans waited for photos and signatures, a group of men descended on the mangled wing of Sweet’s, tearing it apart like sharks in a feeding frenzy.

Everyone wanted a memento of a track that meant so much, albeit a small hunk of metal, a handful of confetti, or a hunk of the Texas gumbo that layers the track.

Alas, they will never race Devil’s Bowl Speedway again.