Jackson Macenko Earns First 500 Sprint Car Tour Win at Winchester

Jackson Macenko bagged his first career win with the YourBIGPlans.com 500 Sprint Car Tour Sunday, capturing the checkered flag in the Tom Bigelow Showdown presented by Neal Metal Recycling and Processing.

Macenko passed pole-sitter Davey Hamilton, Jr. on lap 17 as the two drivers navigated lapped traffic, then held off Hamilton on a late-race restart. The win comes in Macenko's 27th career start with the 500 Sprint Car Tour.

"That was a hard-fought race," Macenko said in victory lane. "Lapped traffic made it really tricky, but God, it was so much fun. This place is so special. Last year, I knew we were really fast here, too. We had a left-front go flat battling for a podium. After qualifying, I really wanted that first pole. I guess I'll take that first win."

A debris caution with nine laps to go erased the advantage Macenko had built on Hamilton, Jr., and came with the added drama of a double-file restart for the series. That rule change came ahead of Sunday's Tom Bigelow Showdown, offering a wrinkle to the already-challenging reace on the 33-degree banking of Winchester.

Macenko maintained his composure, focusing on nailing the first corner following the restart and trusting his No. 24 Brad Hayes Racing to carry him the rest of the way.

"I knew I had a great car underneath me," said Macenko. "I knew we were going to have a really good car all day. On that restart, it was just a reset. Try and get through turn one alright, and I felt like we had a great shot."

Hamilton was congratulatory towards Macenko on his win, but left Winchester frustrated with lapped traffic. Hamilton is coming off a runner-up finish in the Little 500 at Anderson Speedway where he also lost the lead to eventual winner Kody Swanson in traffic.

"Congrats to him," said Hamilton. "It's frustrating. I lost the Little 500 due to a lapped car. There's probably five to 10 guys in this pit area that should actually be home right now. This track is so dangerous that they just shouldn't be on the track.

"It it what it is. He drove a great race. It was coming down to me and him there at the end. This is fun, I love this track. We have the track record. We'll come back next week."

For his part, Swanson entered the afternoon as a favorite on Sunday. Along with his season-opening event in the Glen Niebel Classic and the Little 500 triumph at Anderson, Swanson won the inaugural Tom Bigelow Showdown at Winchester one year ago. He had also won the last four runnings of the Rich Vogler Classic for the USAC Silver Crown Series at the Indiana half-mile.

Swanson rounded out the podium, jumping from fifth to third as a result of the late-race restart. He acknowledged his run of success at Winchester may have spoiled him to be disappointed with a third-place result.

"We kind of got Dakoda as a benefit of being a double-file restart, right? We were trying to track him down there," Swanson said. "Running late, he was still running good. Bobby and I have obviously had a close battle, like we have a lot of times. I appreciate the competitor he is and the conversation we had to know we'll keep having great battles with one another.

"We've been on a Winchester heater and just came up a little bit short today. It just shows how spoiled we've been. I'm grateful for the opportunities we've had, to be a little disappointed with third and all, it's good stuff."

Nathan Byrd finished fourth, giving him back-to-back top-five finishes in the Tom Bigelow Showdown. The fourth-place result marks a career-best for Byrd with the 500 Sprint Car Tour, improving on fifth-place finishes last year at Winchester and Berlin.

Dakoda Anderson rounded out the top five. Bobby Santos, III finished sixth, followed by Chase Cabre in his 500 Sprint Car Tour debut. Ryan Newman, Donnie Adams, Jr. and C.J. Leary completed the top ten.

The next stop for the yourBIGplans.com 500 Sprint Car Tour takes the series east to Jennerstown Speedway in Jennerstown, Pennsylvania. Fans can watch the race live on RacingAmerica.TV on Saturday, July 11.

-Photo credit: Koty Geyer

Tom Bigelow Showdown presented by Neal Metal Recycling and Processing Unofficial Results