In order for Kofoid to actually race a winged sprint car at age 11, Simpson introduced a new division — King of the West Lites — at his three-eighths-mile dirt track that utilized carbureted, cast-iron 360-cubic-inch engines.
“They had about 10 races at Fernley and I won four of them and the championship,” Kofoid said.
Kofoid continued to drive an outlaw kart and even wheeled a sprint car in Oregon and Washington until he was old enough to race a sprint car in California.
“Finally, in 2016 I was able to race in my home state for Dan,” Kofoid said. “I raced full time at 14 for Dan Simpson in 360s and 410s and won a few races, one of them being the Trophy Cup prelim night.
“In 2017, I was 15 and, again, I raced full time for Dan and that was probably my best year in California. I won seven races, including a 410 race, and still got to do some non-winged stuff and a midget race or two. At the end of that year I got to go to Australia with the help of Gary Silva.”
A conversation with a fellow outlaw kart graduate during the 2018 season resulted in a change of scenery.
“I was talking with Carson Macedo and said, ‘Hey, is there anything out there, someone looking for a driver?’ He gave me a couple names and one of them was Ed Neumeister and the Linders,” Kofoid explained. “I called Mike Linder, who oversees that whole operation. In total, we did six races together at the end of 2018 and they decided to have me back for the full season in 2019.
“I got to fulfill one of my dreams, which was to go to the Midwest and race full time,” Kofoid continued. “We had some success and won an All Star race and a track championship at Fremont, which were two of my goals. Racing in the Midwest opened doors for other opportunities like racing Keith Kunz’s sprint car and getting to race one of his midgets a little bit.
“I lived in Fremont, Ohio, during the summer with Mike and Stephanie Linder. They keep Ed’s car at their house because Mike runs the program and works on the car, and his brother, Stephen, is the crew chief and he lives a couple doors down. During the summer when I didn’t have schoolwork, they all had full-time jobs so I was out in the shop doing stuff. I would get the car ready to where they could do what they needed to do. I am forever grateful to them and they are like family to me now, so it was definitely a lot of fun.”
Despite his hectic racing calendar, Kofoid is scheduled to graduate from high school this spring.
“They don’t call it homeschool, but what I do is called independent study. What that is, there are about 80 kids at this school that I go to. It’s called the Valley Oaks School and it’s near where I live,” Kofoid explained. “I have scheduled days, which are currently Wednesday and Thursday, each for an hour or an hour and a half that I go to the school. I have a couple of teachers and I get work from them on those days and I have one week to complete the work. They work with me a lot on my schedule.”
And speaking of schedules, Kofoid was still working to confirm his plans for the season ahead when this issue for SPEED SPORT reached deadline.
“As of right now, I’m not 100 percent sure,” Kofoid responded when asked about his plans. “I’m still working on some stuff and trying to figure out some stuff — if it will work or not. Seeing what’s still open. I’d love to go back to the Midwest again and that’s what I’m working toward and hope to do.
“I’ve been enjoying racing the midget for Keith Kunz. I’d love to be racing midgets out in the Midwest, but I still love sprint car racing,” Kofoid continued. “Hypothetically, if I could do some midget races and also be able to race around the Midwest in a sprint car would be really cool. Maybe even do some Silver Crown stuff.”
As the January issue of SPEED SPORT was going to press, it was revealed that Kofoid will race full time for Keith Kunz Racing this year and will drive the No. 67 Mobil 1 machine.
There’s nothing typical about this teenager.