Jack Macenko: Rumble Is ‘An Experience Like No Other’

Jack Macenko in action inside the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. (Jacob Seelman photo)

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Jack Macenko is back inside the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum hoping to recapture the magic of his rookie appearance at the Rumble in Fort Wayne presented by Jason Dietsch Trailer Sales.

Macenko, 20, was the surprise sensation of the 2021 Rumble after finishing second to three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart in his debut weekend of indoor national midget racing.

The past two winters have been less kind to the University of Cincinnati student, however. After making the Rumble grid in his first three features, Macenko has failed to make the show in his last three races.

It’s a trend he and car owner Brad Hayes hope to reverse – complete with a brand-new red paint scheme – during the 26th edition of the Rumble this weekend.

“I’m hoping the new look is a fresh start for us,” Macenko said Friday in advance of the first night of Rumble competition. “Last year we struggled a bit, especially on my end. I just needed a reset to my mind, I think, so I could come in here and have a different way of thinking about things. We know that we can perform here, so we just need to get back to doing that and enjoying ourselves along the way.”

Unlike his past two Rumbles, Macenko comes in as a lone wolf this year, with Hayes only bringing one car to the Coliseum instead of two. It’s a streamlined dynamic that has Macenko optimistic about his chances.

“This year there’s less stress on the crew, since it’s just myself, which is good because they’ll have a little less to worry about,” he noted. “All the focus can be on making this one car run as smoothly as possible for the next two days, and hopefully that can lead us back to where we want to be at the front of the field.

“I think sometimes having that extra car here can almost be information overload,” he added. “It’s always great to share data and have someone to compare driving styles and racing lines to, as well as setup notes if one of us isn’t running the way we want to, but the track changes so much over the course of the weekend here that sometimes you can dial yourself out if you’re not careful.”

Jack Macenko (Jacob Seelman photo)

With a fresh outlook on Indiana’s biggest indoor race, Macenko hopes that the fourth time will be more like the first as he continues his pursuit of one of the Rumble’s iconic “boxing bell” trophies.

“My hopes were, obviously, extremely high after the rookie run in ’21 [finishing seventh and second], and I think what you’ve seen over the last two [years] has been a bit of a fall back down to Earth or a reality check, in a way,” said Macenko. “I think my confidence was up far enough that I expected a little too much out of this car, where in reality you have to be fast, but you also need a few things to fall your way.

“I haven’t necessarily been at my best, partly because of some of the positions I’ve put myself in, so I have to stay focused and disciplined as a driver and not overdrive the track … because that’s really easy to do here,” he added. “Once you get frustrated and out of your rhythm, you start making mistakes and losing heaps of time in a hurry.”

That challenge, Macenko says, is why he continues to come back and race at the Rumble year after year.

“[The Rumble] is an experience like no other. There’s so much grip and everything comes at you so quickly that you hardly have time to breathe. You have to be really alert and really into what you’re doing, because if you fade away for even a second, you might miss a corner completely. So I enjoy that aspect of it, the mental challenge.

“It’s a sensation and a journey that you don’t have at any other racetrack in the country.”

Live coverage of the 26th annual Rumble in Fort Wayne presented by Jason Dietsch Trailer Sales can be viewed through Pit Row TV, part of the SPEED SPORT Network. Streaming begins at 11:15 a.m. ET both Friday and Saturday and continues through the last checkered flag.

In addition to the headlining national midget division, winged and non-winged 600cc micro sprints, as well as numerous classes of go-karts and quarter midgets, round out the two-day program.