BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — From Jason Leffler to Buddy Kofoid, No. 71 has had its share of monumental moments over the years in USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship racing.
Tuesday night’s Jason Leffler Memorial at Bakersfield Speedway at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway in California was no exception.
In 1997, Leffler was in the midst of achieving his first USAC National Midget driving title while wheeling the No. 71 owned by Pete Willoughby and wrenched by crew chief Keith Kunz.
On Tuesday night, the very same stable’s No. 71 was once again in victory lane with Kofoid. In a full circle moment, Kofoid won the event in a car owned by Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports, where Willoughby currently serves as CEO.
Fittingly, Kofoid’s triumph came in the 11th running of the Leffler Memorial, and none other than Charlie Leffler, Jason’s son, was there to present Kofoid the winner’s trophy.
Stunningly, it was KKM’s first win at the Jason Leffler Memorial after 10 previous tries, finishing as the runner-up on three occasions in 2014-15-16 with Christopher Bell, Rico Abreu and Tanner Thorson, respectively.
For Kofoid, it was his third career USAC National Midget win in Bakersfield, with the previous two coming at the former Bakersfield Speedway back in 2020-2021. Furthermore, in September, Kofoid grabbed a World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car score at new Bakersfield third-mile.
It was also Kofoid’s first USAC win since June 2023 at Indiana’s Lincoln Park Speedway and the 25th of his career.
Kofoid also achieved his latest victory while on the mend. In his most recent turn behind the wheel on Saturday at Merced Speedway, Kofoid endured a massive series of flips during a heat race that left him dazed but not fazed, although his status was uncertain.
“I didn’t even know if I’d be OK enough to come race today,” Kofoid admitted. “I was kind of on the fence a little, even yesterday. After Merced, I wasn’t really seeing straight and I’m still kind of hurting to be honest with you. But this definitely makes up for it.”
Kofoid’s last visit to victory lane during USAC’s Golden State Invasion came during the western swing in November 2022 at Merced. After opening this month with a 16th at Placerville followed by a runner-up result at Merced and a DNF on the second night at Merced, Kofoid began to wonder if he could get back to the top.
Never fear, the sixth place starting Kofoid adamantly declared on Tuesday night as he charged around racelong leader Kevin Thomas Jr. on the 13th lap, then led the remaining 18 circuits of the 30-lapper in his Mobil 1 – TRD – Curb Records/Lynk/Speedway Toyota to earn a $12,500 prize.
“I haven’t won on the west coast swing in a couple of years, so I’ve just been wondering like, ‘man, does it hurt me being away for so long and coming back?,’” Kofoid pondered. “But I feel good. I feel better than ever, better than I’ve been in a couple of years, honestly.”
Thomas led nearly the entire first half of the feature from the pole position. Kofoid, however, was quickly rising, shooting to third past Daison Pursley on lap four. He scooted into second around the outside of Jake Andreotti entering turn one on the seventh lap. He then set sail on tracking down Thomas at the front.
Just before midway, Kofoid was hovering around the vicinity of Thomas for the lead. However, ninth running Carson Macedo’s spin in turn one on the 13th lap put the frontrunners nose-to-tail for the restart. On the ensuing resumption, Kofoid ripped around the outside of Thomas and instantly began to pull away from the pack.
Even on the pace laps, Kofoid knew where he wanted to go. Instantly, he made himself comfortable on the cushion.
“The bottom was smoother and it was still good, and going around the top maybe wasn’t the preferred groove yet,” Kofoid said. “I really don’t think (the top) was 100 percent there during the feature either. I just kept running it and it felt smooth and it got better and better and I got used to running it. I think that was part of it. I was the first guy up there and was the most comfortable. My car was good and I was able to get it better. But I feel like it cleaned up a little bit on exit where it was okay to kind of be hung out there.”
At the halfway mark, fifth place wasn’t where anyone wanted to be apparently. On the 16th trip, fifth running Drake Edwards slowed dramatically on the back straight. He eventually grinded to a halt in turn three with his car spewing smoke. During the yellow, new fifth place occupant Corey Day pulled into the pits. Both drivers did not resume.
Denney moved into the runner-up slot on the 21st lap past Thomas and then went to work on finding Kofoid. However, Kofoid was long gone.
“I could make good drive to the patch at the entry of three and could get in there good,” Kofoid explained. “It was good through the holes, and I was good just outside the holes. I felt like I was good on the top, but with a track that’s this night and day different, it’s hard to feel 100 percent comfortable. So, I don’t know if I was that good. I felt comfortable and I felt like what I was doing was working. I tried to maximize all the clean corners and minimize all the mistakes. I feel like getting through the holes is something that’s in my wheelhouse, and has been in the midgets, but also (crew chief) Beau (Binder) and everyone got the car good enough to where I could do it.”
Kofoid was never contested down the stretch as he closed out a 1.057 second victory over Denney, Thomas, Andreotti and USAC National Midget Max Papis Innovations Rookie of the Year Steven Snyder Jr. who rounded out the top five.
Meanwhile, Cannon McIntosh posted a distant 14th place feature result but remained ahead of eighth place finisher Justin Grant at the top of the USAC National Midget standings. McIntosh’s lead sits at 52 over Grant with one race remaining.
USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship, Bakersfield Speedway, Bakersfield Speedway at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway, Bakersfield, California, Nov. 25, 2025
HONEST ABE ROOFING QUALIFYING: 1. Carson Macedo, 99AU, Dyson-14.512 (Track Record); 2. Buddy Kofoid, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.527; 3. Gavin Miller, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.613; 4. Jacob Denney, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.649; 5. Jake Andreotti, 00, Davis-14.670; 6. Daison Pursley, 84, CBI-14.680; 7. Kevin Thomas Jr., 14, 4 Kings-14.690; 8. Michael Faccinto, 68, Six8-14.711; 9. Justin Grant, 87, CBI-14.712; 10. Logan Seavey, 57, Abacus-14.726; 11. Kyle Jones, 27x, Joyner-14.735; 12. Steven Snyder Jr., 4, RMS-14.751; 13. Jakeb Boxell, 14JB, 4 Kings-14.779; 14. Cale Coons, 63, Dooling/Curb-Agajanian-14.797; 15. Cannon McIntosh, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.824; 16. Brecken Reese, 20Q, Reese-14.845; 17. Karter Sarff, 25, Rodela-14.859; 18. Jett Yantis, 4y, Carlile-14.859; 19. Drake Edwards, 83, CBI-14.876; 20. Kale Drake, 97K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.880; 21. Gunnar Setser, 43, Arnold-14.900; 22. Michael Pickens, 31, Beilman-14.912; 23. Ronnie Gardner, 4R, RMS-14.927; 24. Jake Swanson, 31B, Beilman-14.943; 25. Corey Day, 4K, Kahne-14.983; 26. Hayden Reinbold, 19AZ, Reinbold-Underwood-15.033; 27. Brandon Carr, 98K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.158; 28. Ty Gibbs, 86, CBI-15.206; 29. Dane Culver, 73, Alexander-15.207; 30. Dalten Gabbard, 77, Gabbard-15.254; 31. Mathew Radisich, 17NZ, Out & About-15.348; 32. Kaylee Bryson, 11, Abacus-15.543; 33. Drake Cardey, 17A, Dunkel-15.623; 34. Broedy Graham, 66, BGR-NT.
CAR IQ FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Karter Sarff, 2. Gunnar Setser, 3. Jake Andreotti, 4. Justin Grant, 5. Jakeb Boxell, 6. Hayden Reinbold, 7. Carson Macedo, 8. Broedy Graham, 9. Dalten Gabbard. 1:59.564 (New track Record)
K1 RACEGEAR SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Daison Pursley, 2. Michael Pickens, 3. Buddy Kofoid, 4. Logan Seavey, 5. Cale Coons, 6. Jett Yantis, 7. Mathew Radisich, 8. Brandon Carr. 2:01.087
USAC GEAR THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Drake Edwards, 2. Cannon McIntosh, 3. Kevin Thomas Jr., 4. Gavin Miller, 5. Ronnie Gardner, 6. Kyle Jones, 7. Ty Gibbs, 8. Kaylee Bryson. 2:01.584
COOK OUT FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Corey Day, 2. Steven Snyder Jr., 3. Kale Drake, 4. Brecken Reese, 5. Jacob Denney, 6. Michael Faccinto, 7. Dane Culver, 8. Drake Cardey. 2:01.574
ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Hayden Reinbold, 2. Carson Macedo, 3. Michael Faccinto, 4. Jett Yantis, 5. Kyle Jones, 6. Brandon Carr, 7. Kaylee Bryson, 8. Dane Culver, 9. Ty Gibbs, 10. Mathew Radisich, 11. Dalten Gabbard, 12. Broedy Graham. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Buddy Kofoid (6), 2. Jacob Denney (4), 3. Kevin Thomas Jr. (1), 4. Jake Andreotti (3), 5. Steven Snyder Jr. (14), 6. Daison Pursley (2), 7. Kale Drake (20), 8. Justin Grant (12), 9. Jett Yantis (19), 10. Brecken Reese (18), 11. Logan Seavey (13), 12. Jakeb Boxell (15), 13. Gunnar Setser (21), 14. Cannon McIntosh (17), 15. Gavin Miller (5), 16. Carson Macedo (10), 17. Karter Sarff (7), 18. Ty Gibbs (25-P), 19. Michael Pickens (22), 20. Ronnie Gardner (23), 21. Hayden Reinbold (24), 22. Corey Day (9), 23. Drake Edwards (8), 24. Cale Coons (16), 25. Michael Faccinto (11).
