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- By Alex Nieten
- Published: May 18, 2024
- Trent Gower Photo
Michael “Buddy” Kofoid was tired. Tired of finishing third. Tired of finishing second. Tired of watching the winner celebrate atop the podium while he stood on the other two steps.
The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car rookie with Roth Motorsports had podiumed six times in 2024 heading into Friday’s race at Attica Raceway Park, but none had resulted in wins. As the laps clicked away at the Ohio oval it looked as if he may be settling for one spot short again. But Kofoid refused. Not this time.
Carson Macedo led in the final stages, and even though Kofoid clearly had the speed to contend, he couldn’t find his way ahead. Multiple times he showed Macedo a nose to no avail. Then came the white flag. With one last gasp on the final lap, Kofoid used a big run down the back straightaway to muscle ahead of Macedo with a slide job in Turns 3 and 4 and steal the win in thrilling fashion.
Kofoid may be from California, but he spent some time in Ohio upon venturing to the Midwest to further his career. And the Buckeyes haven’t forgotten Kofoid as he’s risen to Sprint Car stardom. The packed grandstands rose to their feet for the finish and warmly welcomed him to Victory Lane for the first time in 2024.
“I’m just super happy to finally win a race this year,” said a relieved Kofoid. “These Roth Motorsports guys have been unbelievable. This is the best I’ve ever felt in a Sprint Car. I owe all of that to Dylan, Nate, and Gage. They work their butts off, and we have a hell of a lot of fun together. This one’s for them and of course Dennis and Teresa Roth at home. They gave me a great opportunity to drive such an iconic car, and I’m just really blessed to do it.”
The victory marked the fourth of Kofoid’s career with The Greatest Show on Dirt and second since joining Roth Motorsports midway through last season. Kofoid is now the 11th different driver with multiple World of Outlaws wins behind the wheel of Dennis and Teresa Roth’s historic ride. Friday was the 24th Series visit to Attica, and Kofoid made it a dozen different drivers to visit Victory Lane at the 3/8-mile.
Kofoid brought the field to green for the 35-lapper with fellow Californian – Kalib Henry – in the Running Boxer #101 alongside. The two exchanged the top spot during an exciting opening lap that saw Henry pace the first circuit, but Kofoid fired a slide job in Turns 1 and 2 on the second lap that stuck and gave him the lead.
Throughout the early laps Kofoid led without issue, but a charging Carson Macedo was on his way to offer up a challenge. The Jason Johnson Racing pilot had already climbed from eighth to fifth in the Toyota Racing Dash. And then in the Feature, it took him only six circuits to rise from fifth to second.
A Lap 11 restart gave Macedo the opportunity he needed as he pounced with a slider in Turns 3 and 4 to snatch the top spot.
After taking over the lead, Macedo began to distance himself from Kofoid as the race moved beyond the halfway mark. But as traffic became a bigger factor, Kofoid closed back in.
The lead had grown as large as 1.6 seconds, and on Lap 20 Kofoid had it slashed to under a second. Four laps later in heavy traffic Kofoid closed right up to Macedo’s tail tank as the advantage fell under two tenths.
Over the last 10 laps Kofoid worked and worked on Macedo. He found the best speed in the middle groove in Turns 1 and 2 and Macedo operated one lane higher. Kofoid peeked under Macedo multiple times to let him know he was there. And as they roared down the back straightaway one last time on the final lap, Kofoid pulled alongside and sealed the deal with a full-send slider in the final set of corners. No more settling for second. Kofoid finally broke through for a win.
“I just tried to stay with him and pace him because I knew the race could potentially be won in traffic if it stayed green, and luckily it did,” Kofoid explained. “I was just really stuck a lane lower than him. I figured if traffic played out right or if I could get close enough, I could shoot the gap and get there. I thought it was going to work earlier, and then I’d get tight, and he’d get away and then I could get back to him. I guess it went that way the whole race except the last half a lap.”
A disappointed Macedo came home second after leading 23 laps. On the bright side for Macedo and the JJR team, the night did mark their 10th consecutive top 10 finish, and they jumped a spot to third in points. But Macedo noted if he attacked Turns 1 and 2 differently on the final lap, he might’ve been able to hang on for his second win of 2024.
“I just got beat, outraced there. He just did a better job,” Macedo said. “I was kind of floundering a little bit. I was trying to get my wing back, and the lappers were just throwing that stuff across, and I’d get to spinning a little bit. He was poking his nose underneath me the lap before into (Turns) 3 and 4. So, my thought was he’s obviously getting his runs in (Turns) 1 and 2 running a little bit higher, so I saw the white come out and think, ‘Well, if I can just get through there (Turns 1 and 2), I think I’ll have him covered.’ Then I moved up a lane, and then he slid me so obviously a horrible decision. I’m just a little dejected.”
Rounding out the top three was Bill Balog aboard the Andersons Maple Syrup #17B. The result served as a welcome bounce back for the Series rookie as the last few races had offered some bumps in the road. Balog and his team put together a strong night from start to finish for their second podium of the season.
“This is awesome for us,” Balog said. “This is great, just the way everything went tonight. The car was just working great… It was a great race. I kind of caught them at the end there a little bit and definitely could kind of feel that win, but it just didn’t happen.”
Brandon Spithaler and Kalib Henry completed the top five.
A 25th to 10th run in his Attica debut gave Landon Crawley the KSE Racing Hard Charger.
Carson Macedo claimed his fifth Simpson Quick Time of the year and 38th of his career in Sea Foam Qualifying.
NOS Energy Drink Heats One, Three, and Four went to Tim Shaffer (168th Heat Race win of career), Carson Macedo (122nd of career), and Buddy Kofoid (22nd of career). Milton Hershey School Heat Two belonged to Bill Balog (ninth of career).
Buddy Kofoid topped the Toyota Racing Dash.
David Gravel won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Craig Mintz.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars make a visit to Dave Blaney’s Sharon Speedway (Hartford, OH) on Saturday, May 18. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.
FEATURE RESULTS:
NOS Energy Drink Feature (35 Laps): 1. 83-Michael Kofoid[1]; 2. 41-Carson Macedo[5]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog[4]; 4. 22B-Brandon Spithaler[3]; 5. 101-Kalib Henry[2]; 6. 49X-Tim Shaffer[7]; 7. 15-Donny Schatz[11]; 8. 1S-Logan Schuchart[12]; 9. 4-Zane DeVault[10]; 10. 7S-Landon Crawley[25]; 11. 2-David Gravel[21]; 12. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[13]; 13. 35-Stuart Brubaker[16]; 14. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[15]; 15. 19P-Paige Polyak[24]; 16. 99-Skylar Gee[22]; 17. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[9]; 18. 11N-Kasey Jedrzejek[17]; 19. 70-Kraig Kinser[14]; 20. 29-Zeth Sabo[20]; 21. 23J-Cale Thomas[19]; 22. 19-TJ Michael[8]; 23. 09-Craig Mintz[6]; 24. 7N-Darin Naida[23]; 25. 16-DJ Foos[18]
For complete results, CLICK HERE.
