TULARE, Calif. — Buddy Kofoid raced from 19th starting spot to finish fourth, earning the necessary points to become the champion of the 27th Abreu Vineyards Trophy Cup presented by Rudeen Racing Saturday night at Thunderbowl Raceway.Â
Teenager Ryan Timms won the feature.
Kofoid’s success paid $27,000.
Six heats for the top 48, fully inverted by points, earned 36 points for a win with a three-point drop. These heats give drivers an opportunity to close the point gap and the top 20 in points after the heats move directly to the A main. Those 20 are fully inverted and four B main transfers tag the field.
Kofoid added three points to his lead over Rico Abreu making it nine going to the A main. Kyle Hirst moved up to third and Anthony Macri dropped to fourth. Colby Copeland made progress to move from ninth to a tie for fifth with Cory Eliason.
Following the heat races, Dominic Scelzi was disqualified for the remainder of the evening for an altercation in the pit area.
Kalib Montgomery led seven laps before colliding with second-place Robbie Price, elevating Timms to the lead.
The last 42 laps featured excellent action among the top three with sliders and crossovers creating many passes.
Timms lost the lead to Tanner Carrick on lap 41 after a turn-four slider, but regained the lead two laps later with a similar move in turn two.
Colby Copeland took second on lap 46 and raced with Carrick the last four laps to claim second. Kofoid was fourth and D.J. Netto filled the top five.
The chase for the Cup title essentially ended early when contenders fell by the wayside.
Second and third in points, Abreu and Hirst, were both out after seven laps when they collided. Macri started fourth in points and pitted twice for flat tires and Eliason went off on the hook.
All Kofoid had to do was safely make laps to finish and he went from 19th to fourth to win the title by 16 points.
The Trophy Cup raised a record $250,000 for Make-A-Wish Foundation to make the total donated now $2,250,000
The 28th Trophy Cup will be Oct. 20-22, 2022 at Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway.
The top 10:
Buddy Kofoid, 455
Colby Copeland, 439
D.J. Netto, 432
Corey Day, 426
Tanner Carrick, 422
Ryan Timms, 419
Anthony Macri, 417
Justin Sanders, 417
Shane Golobic, 415
Mitchell Faccinto, 414
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