NEWMANSTOWN, Pa. – During an open red on lap 27 of Saturday’s 40-lap USAC National Midget Series feature at Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway, Buddy Kofoid told his crew what he really needed.
“Three Advil,” he said, yearning for the pain in his body to dissipate.
The USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series points leader has weathered the nuisance of a broken right wrist and broken left foot the last three weeks, injuries suffered in a pavement late model crash July 24 at Minnesota’s Elko Speedway.
Behind trusted motorsports orthopedic Bill Heisel and the guidance of Toyota Racing Development, Kofoid has been racing with a cast molded to the curvature of a steering wheel. He’ll continue to do so through at least the first week of September.
Missing USAC Midget events isn’t an option for Kofoid, who is in hot pursuit of the series title with Keith Kunz Motorsports as he continues his climb up the motorsports chain.
“We’re going to have to make the best of it and do what we can,” said Kofoid, who’s 13 open-wheel wins rank fourth nationally. “That’s what we’re doing.”
Kofoid’s series lead dwindled from 37 to 10 points entering Saturday night, but the 19-year-old battled through the pain and a caution-filled feature to salvage second, .670 seconds off winner Justin Grant.
His series lead is now 21 points over reigning champion Chris Windom with 21 races to go.
“It’s closer than I want it to be,” Kofoid said of his narrow series lead. “The points stuff is stressful. … My goal this year is to be the midget champion. That hasn’t changed. We’re still working toward that.”
Kofoid was set to compete in the 60th running of the Knoxville Nationals this week at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, driving for Central Pennsylvania-based team CJB Motorsports. The 19-year-old withdrew and is learning what he can and cannot bear. Driving a winged sprint car isn’t on the bearable list at the moment. Zeb Wise is set to race in his place.
“It hurts,” Kofoid said after the 40-lap feature on Saturday, one of the most physically demanding events of the year given Lanco’s on-edge, on-the-cushion nature. “This is the most painful it’s been all week. Everyone is like, ‘This is going to be the toughest one for you.’ It was to a certain degree. Getting on the fence was tough. But that’s no excuse.
“It’s part of it right now,” he added. “You have to make the best of it and do my job.”
Broken wrists aren’t all that uncommon in motorsports. Toyota Racing Development went down this same road before with Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin in 2013, when the two NASCAR Cup Series drivers ironically suffered hand injuries in the same crash at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The injury is a little tougher to navigate in a midget compared to a stock car, however. In addition to a custom cast, Kofoid’s right arm guard has been moved out some since he has to exaggerate his arm movement to steer.
“You can’t chicken wing it, though,” Kofoid said. “I’ve always floated my right hand a little bit, but I never realized how much I actually used it. It’s really hard.”
Kofoid doesn’t know his plans for next year. Much of those specifics are out of his control, which figure to materialize during the winter.
As far as the late model goes, Kofoid hopes to return to the pavement realm within the next three weeks.
“We’ve had good speed,” Kofoid said. “It’s a new challenge for me and I’ve enjoyed that. Should have a handful more throughout the year. Hopefully we can get as many [races] as I can and hopefully move closer to my goal of NASCAR.”
Kofoid plans to be back in a late model on Aug. 20 at Madison Int’l Speedway in Oregon, Wis., and Aug. 21 at Elko.