While none of the four cracked victory lane in Tulsa or during USAC’s season-opening doubleheader at Florida’s Bubba Raceway Park in February, POWRi’s Turnpike Challenge at I-44 Riverside Speedway and Port City Raceway in Oklahoma was the proverbial “coming out party” for Kunz’s latest crop of potential superstars.
KKM drivers won two of the three POWRi features, while a fourth race planned event at Creek County Speedway was lost to inclement weather. The team also earned five of nine podium slots.
Friday night’s run at I-44 saw Seavey — now with Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports — best his former team by racing to victory over McIntosh and Kaylee Bryson, another KKM newcomer this season. Seavey won the 2018 NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midget Series title while driving for KKM.
Kofoid passed McIntosh late in the going to earn Saturday’s trophy at I-44, while McIntosh rebounded Sunday night at Port City with, perhaps, the most dominant run of the week, going wire-to-wire in a 30-lap contest.
Three races generating a pair of wins and more than half of the possible top-three finishes available called to mind memories of the KKM of the mid-2010s, where victories were as common as 90-degree heat during the summer months. In short, in those days, winning for KKM was nearly a given.
Going forward, it looks like that may be the theme again — sooner rather than later.
McIntosh, Kofoid and Wise look like drivers who are capable of having winning speed virtually every night out, while Bryson impressed many with her Friday podium finish at I-44 and a top-10 run Sunday at Port City.
Knowing that others, like Pursley, Jesse Love and eventual additions such as Jonathan Shafer, Max McLaughlin and Brenham Crouch also bring potential to the table, Kunz is very optimistic about the remainder of the season.
“There’s a lot to look forward to with our new group and we’ve known that all along. We knew what we had, we knew who was coming up and it’s everyone else that didn’t want to believe in them,” Kunz said.
“It’s kind of fun to rub their noses in it a little bit,” he added with a chuckle.
In particular, Kunz was quick to laud the efforts of McIntosh and Kofoid, a pair he feels stepped up over the weekend to assume leadership roles within the team; much like Larson and Bell did in the past.
“Cannon and Buddy, both, have come into their own over the past few months,” Kunz said. “They’re raising (the bar for) each other right now and I think they’ll continue to challenge one another, a lot like Christopher and Kyle used to when they were driving for us in the past.
“They’re not worried about anyone but each other right now and that’s been pretty fun to watch.”
Will McIntosh and Kofoid turn out to be the next Larson and Bell from the KKM juggernaut?
Only time will provide an answer to that, but at this point, there is at least one thing that is a given.
Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports isn’t going anywhere.
“We’re just getting started,” Kunz affirmed.