PLACERVILLE, Calif. — Buddy Kofoid led 95 of 100 laps on the way to winning both the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series Hangtown 100 finale and the three-race points championship at Placerville Speedway.
In sweeping both, he collected a $32,000 paycheck on the night ($20,000 for the feature, $12,000 for the championship).
The defending USAC National Midget champion also won Friday’s feature at the track, while placing third in the Hangtown 100 opener on Thursday.
The victory is the 12th in USAC competition this season for the Penngrove, Calif., native, tying him for the fifth-highest single season total in series history with each of the four drivers ahead of him competing in seasons that featured 45 races or more compared to the 34 events Kofoid has run to date this season.
Tonight’s win also marked his 40th career national midget feature win since joining Keith Kunz Motorsports and Toyota in 2020. He’s the second winningest Toyota Midget racer ever, trailing only Christopher Bell.
“This is one of the biggest midget wins I’ve gotten – and winning $32,000 is pretty cool, too,” Kofoid said. “I can’t thank USAC enough for bringing us out to this track.”
As the high point scorer heading into Saturday’s feature, Kofoid started the race on the front row next to Cannon McIntosh and immediately flew straight to the lead at the start, something Kofoid would continue throughout the evening’s restarts.
Kofoid maintained a solid lead through the first 40 laps before McIntosh would close in lapped traffic and begin a fierce battle between the two Toyota drivers. McIntosh overtook Kofoid for the lead on lap 49, only to see Kofoid come right back to the front on lap 50. The two traded the lead four times over an eight-lap span with Kofoid taking the lead on lap 56 heading into the scheduled full-field pit stop on lap 60.
When the race restarted on lap 61, Kofoid would once again pull away on the restart, while behind him Chance Crum was charging through the field, overtaking McIntosh for second. The Rudeen Racing Toyota driver made a number of runs at Kofoid as the leaders battled traffic, but to no avail with Kofoid leading a Toyota one-two-three-four finish with Crum placing second.
“Lapped cars are running their own race, too. When you get into traffic, it’s not just one car running by themselves, it’s five cars running against each other,” Kofoid explained. “A couple of times, it got a little bit tricky. I just tried to put as many cars as possible between myself and whoever was running second at the time. I haven’t felt great in traffic the past few nights, but I guess we were good enough to win.”
Justin Grant finished third, with Carson Macedo fourth.
The USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series opens the final week of the season with a pair of races at Merced Speedway, Nove. 22-23 before closing out the campaign with the 81st running of the Turkey Night Grand Prix at Ventura Raceway on Saturday, Nov. 26.
Boxscore
USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship, Placerville Speedway, Placerville, California, Nov. 19, 2022
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, winner plus top-3 in points transfer to the feature) 1. Chase Johnson (#73x Ford), 2. Emerson Axsom (#25x Malloy), 3. Shane Golobic (#17w Wood), 4. Buddy Kofoid (#67 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 5. Daniel Whitley (#57 Abacus), 6. Carson Macedo (#99AU Dyson), 7. Jake Andreotti (#00 Davis), 8. Ryan Bernal (#27w Wood), 9. Michael Faccinto (#14J Graunstadt), 10. Travis Buckley (#7NZ BSL). 2:01.116
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, winner plus top-3 in points transfer to the feature) 1. Kaylee Bryson (#71 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 2. Alex Bright (#19 Reinbold-Underwood), 3. Justin Grant (#2J RMS), 4. Cannon McIntosh (#08 Dave Mac Dalby), 5. Tanner Thorson (#88 Thorson), 6. Logan Seavey (#58 Abacus), 7. Jacob Denney (#25m Malloy), 8. Austin Barnhill (#17B Dave Mac Dalby), 9. Dylan Bloomfield (#14T Streeter), 10. Zach Telford (#22G Risner). 1:58.835
PIT STOP USA THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, winner plus top-3 in points transfer to the feature) 1. Tyler Courtney (#25x Malloy), 2. Corey Day (#4 Kahne), 3. Thomas Meseraull (#7x RMS), 4. Bryant Wiedeman (#01 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 5. Colby Copeland (#87 CBI), 6. Tanner Carrick (#71m Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 7. Hayden Reinbold (#19AZ Reinbold-Underwood), 8. Brenham Crouch (#97 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 9. Mariah Ede (#71E Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 10. Blake Bower (#9 Boscacci). 1:59.732
ROD END SUPPLY FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, winner plus top-3 in points transfer to the feature) 1. Gavin Miller (#67K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 2. Ryan Timms (#97K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 3. Mitchel Moles (#89 CBI), 4. Michael Pickens (#4x Dave Mac Dalby), 5. Jade Avedisian (#84 CBI), 6. Spencer Bayston (#9AU Dyson), 7. Danny Stratton (#31K Beilman), 8. Randi Pankratz (#8 Pankratz), 9. Dominic Gorden (#71K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian). NT
FIFTH HEAT: (10 laps, winner plus top-3 in points transfer to the feature) 1. Tony Gomes (#73 Ford), 2. Taylor Reimer (#25K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 3. Jason McDougal (#68 Six8), 4. Kevin Thomas Jr. (#5T Alexander), 5. Chris Windom (#89x CBI), 6. Caden Sarale (#32 Sarale), 7. Chance Crum (#26 Rudeen), 8. Nathan Byrd (#11x Kruseman), 9. Daison Pursley (#71p Kunz/Curb-Agajanian). NT
C MAIN: (12 laps, top-4 transfer to the semi) 1. Blake Bower, 2. Brenham Crouch, 3. Caden Sarale, 4. Austin Barnhill, 5. Danny Stratton, 6. Michael Faccinto, 7. Zach Telford, 8. Randi Pankratz, 9. Nathan Byrd, 10. Travis Buckley, 11. Mariah Ede. NT
ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (20 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Chance Crum, 2. Ryan Timms, 3. Tony Gomes, 4. Daniel Whitley, 5. Kaylee Bryson, 6. Chase Johnson, 7. Alex Bright, 8. Brenham Crouch, 9. Ryan Bernal, 10. Tyler Courtney, 11. Gavin Miller, 12. Dominic Gorden, 13. Austin Barnhill, 14. Jade Avedisian, 15. Taylor Reimer, 16. Hayden Reinbold, 17. Caden Sarale, 18. Jacob Denney, 19. Blake Bower, 20. Daison Pursley. NT
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Buddy Kofoid (2), 2. Chance Crum (21), 3. Justin Grant (11), 4. Carson Macedo (14), 5. Tanner Thorson (8), 6. Spencer Bayston (5), 7. Cannon McIntosh (1), 8. Shane Golobic (4), 9. Tanner Carrick (3), 10. Bryant Wiedeman (7), 11. Thomas Meseraull (17), 12. Kevin Thomas Jr. (15), 13. Chris Windom (6), 14. Mitchel Moles (12), 15. Ryan Timms (22), 16. Jake Andreotti (18), 17. Kaylee Bryson (25-U), 18. Jade Avedisian (28-P), 19. Michael Pickens (9), 20. Michael Faccinto (27-P), 21. Emerson Axsom (19), 22. Tony Gomes (23), 23. Corey Day (20), 24. Brenham Crouch (26-U), 25. Colby Copeland (13), 26. Jason McDougal (10), 27. Logan Seavey (16), 28. Daniel Whitley (24).