The Series sophomore out duels the defending champion for his fifth win at Huset’s
Michael “Buddy” Kofoid did it again at Huset’s Speedway.
It’s starting to become a foregone conclusion that you’ll find the Penngrove, CA native parked in Victory Lane when big money is on the line at the Brandon, SD oval. A devastating defeat in the 2023 Huset’s High Bank Nationals due to mechanical troubles didn’t simply motivate he and Roth Motorsports. It fueled them with an absolute unwillingness to lose when the lights are brightest.
Rewind to June two years ago when a powerplant souring stripped away a probable $250,000 win at the 3/8 mile. Since then, Huset’s has hosted a trio of six-figure payday World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series races, and Kofoid has won all three. Labor Day weekend brought The Greatest Show on Dirt back to town for the L.G. Everist Huset’s Shootout presented by Myrl & Roy’s Paving and another solid paycheck. This time $25,000 was up for grabs, and the result was the same, another checkered flag in Kofoid’s hand.
The 23-year-old lined up third for the 40-lap finale and slipped to fourth on the opening circuit where he rode for a while. But then a pivotal Lap 13 saw Kofoid rip by both Ryan Timms and Carson Macedo to take over the runner-up spot.
Then began the pursuit of leader and defending World of Outlaws champion David Gravel. Kofoid stalked him in traffic and even snuck by at one point only to have Gravel rip back around in the next set of corners. A caution with 10 laps remaining made Kofoid think his chances were over, but he was far from done.
On Lap 36, Gravel left the door open down low and Kofoid capitalized. He rolled right on by and drove to yet another Huset’s win.
“I thought I had him (Gravel), and then I tried to sneak under a lapped car and he circled me, and I was like, ‘Man, that’s probably it,’” Kofoid explained. “I figured maybe he would be going to the bottom, and I just wanted to do the opposite of what he did in (Turns) 1 and 2, but I felt like the top was the place to be at the end in (Turns) 3 and 4. I was catching him little by little, and I don’t know if he saw me on the screen. And then I just went to the bottom last second and stuck it pretty good.
“This is one of my favorite tracks. Running good here and for some reason having an edge here definitely helps you like it more. It just has always been a really fun track for me. No matter if it’s slick or heavy, I feel like it puts on good racing. But I’m confident that we’ll be just as good hopefully everywhere else we go.”
Kofoid notched a pair of milestones with the victory. His 10th win of the season made him the 18th different driver to reach double digits in one year with the World of Outlaws. It was also his 20th overall Series triumph, making him the 34th to reach that mark and tying him with Greg Hodnett, Lance Dewease, and Rico Abreu on the all-time list. He’s now up to five overall World of Outlaws wins at Huset’s, ranking behind only Sammy Swindell (10), Mark Kinser (nine), and Steve Kinser (seven).
Gravel held on for the second spot after leading a majority of the race. The Watertown, CT native felt some disappointment after he felt a single slip up was the difference between a trip to Victory Lane and settling for runner-up. He and Big Game Motorsports have pieced together 13 consecutive top fives.
“I just got the right rear (tire) plugged in the cushion and got tight and couldn’t get off of it and got over the cushion off of (Turn) 2,” Gravel said. “Bummer for my guys. Definitely had a car capable of winning there. Buddy was stalking me a lot in lap traffic and got up in the seat. Man, I felt like I was good on the bottom of (Turns) 1 and 2, but the lappers were running low so I ran high, and it just cost me.”
The final podium position belonged to Carson Macedo aboard the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41. They closed out their strong month of August with their eighth finish of sixth or better in nine races. After Mother Nature threatened the night early, Macedo was simply happy to be able to hit the track and race.
“I think the track crew at Huset’s Speedway and everybody here at this place did a great job just to get the race in in the first place,” Macedo said. “I was sitting in the lounge earlier during that storm, and I really didn’t think we were going to race on the first place. We’re standing here on the front stretch, and we still had a pretty wide, racy track. I thought it was good enough to make passes. Buddy didn’t start on the front row and still won the race.”
Sheldon Haudenschild and Logan Schuchart completed the top five.
Schuchart wheeled from 17th for his result, enough to earn him the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger.
David Gravel earned his 18th Simpson Quick Time of the season and the 140th of his career in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.
Heat Races belonged to David Gravel (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Buddy Kofoid (Real American Beer Heat Two), Mark Dobmeier (WIX Filters Heat Three), and Carson Macedo (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.com Heat Four).
The SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to David Gravel.
Gravel also topped the Toyota Dash.
Christopher Thram won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Cole Macedo.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars return to New Mexico for the first time since 2022 with a weekend (Sept. 5-6) at Vado Speedway Park. 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 (40 Laps): 1. 83-Michael Kofoid[3]; 2. 2-David Gravel[1]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo[2]; 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[7]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart[17]; 6. 10-Ryan Timms[5]; 7. 13-Mark Dobmeier[4]; 8. 17B-Bill Balog[13]; 9. 15S-Kerry Madsen[10]; 10. 6K-Kaleb Johnson[15]; 11. 16-Riley Goodno[6]; 12. 15-Donny Schatz[18]; 13. 83JR-Sam Henderson[8]; 14. 99-Skylar Gee[22]; 15. 96-Blaine Stegenga[23]; 16. 7S-Chris Windom[16]; 17. 23-Garet Williamson[25]; 18. 18-Emerson Axsom[24]; 19. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[11]; 20. 6-Zach Hampton[19]; 21. 64-Andy Pake[12]; 22. 28M-Conner Morrell[14]; 23. 2C-Cole Macedo[9]; 24. 24T-Christopher Thram[21]; 25. 45X-Landon Crawley[20]
For complete results, CLICK HERE.