Buddy Kofoid’s successful debut with Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports last Friday at Jacksonville Speedway has lent itself to another opportunity.
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. — Buddy Kofoid‘s successful debut with Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports last Friday at Jacksonville Speedway has lent itself to another opportunity for the 17-year-old.
However, unlike the midget he drove on Sept. 20 at the quarter-mile dirt oval, this chance is more suited to the skillset that Kofoid has been honing for most of the season.
Kofoid will return to KKM for Wednesday night‘s World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series event at Jacksonville, a rescheduled outing after rain claimed the Outlaws‘ first attempt at racing there back in April.
He‘ll drive the team‘s No. 67 winged sprint car, the same entry that carried now-NASCAR star Christopher Bell to his second-career World of Outlaws win at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo., back in 2015.
For Kofoid, who won the Fremont Speedway track championship this season and has scored four wins driving for Ed Neumeister Racing, an offer to realign with Kunz in the winged world was a no-brainer.
“After how we performed at Jacksonville in the midget, I knew when they came to me with this opportunity that it would be a great shot to really show what we could do,” Kofoid told Sprint Car & Midget by phone on Tuesday. “Obviously driving the winged car is something that I‘m comfortable with and I had a lot of fun at Jacksonville last weekend, so hopefully we can make some more magic happen.”
Kofoid won his heat race, started from the pole and led all 20 laps to win in his KKM midget debut Friday night, holding off teammate Jesse Colwell to secure the trophy.
While he was told going in “not to treat it like a high-pressure deal,” Kofoid admitted that he still had the drive to succeed in what was a potential audition situation.
“It was definitely a balance,” explained Kofoid, who is still searching for a ride for the 2020 season. “We went there to Jacksonville and they made it clear that it wasn’t going to be a high-stress situation, and that I should just go out there and see what I can do and we‘d see how it goes. They wanted to make sure I ran all the laps and came away with a good finish to show that I could adapt to a new situation. It turned out way better than I thought it would.
“To get one win for them already was really cool, but at the same time being a driver, I think you put a lot of stress on yourself wanting to do well every time out. It turned out OK though.”
Kofoid said his goals are realistic for Wednesday night‘s event, with his focus on just making the feature with The Greatest Show on Dirt rather than trying to go all-out for a win that may or may not be in the cards.
“I think, especially in my shoes, you have to be somewhat tempered and just really be smart in how you approach a chance like this one,” he noted. “It‘s the Outlaws; it‘s the best sprint car drivers in the country, so we know it‘s not going to be easy. But we want to go out and perform to the best of our ability at the same time.
“If we can make the feature and contend for a top-10 finish, I‘d consider that a really successful night.”
For Kunz, who said prior to Kofoid‘s midget debut with his team that there was “interest in doing more” with the California teenager, Wednesday night‘s showdown at Jacksonville is the first step in that direction.
Kofoid knows it‘s on his shoulders to capitalize on that belief now.
“I just have to go out and do what I do,” he smiled. “We‘re going to put our best foot forward. Whatever happens from there, we‘ll control what we can control and deal with the rest of it as it comes.”