GRANITE CITY, Ill. — Buddy Kofoid became the first USAC driver to sweep a complete program since Tyler Courtney did so at Eldora Speedway in 2019 en route to winning Thursday’s USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship race Tri-City Speedway.
It was the first USAC event at the track in three years.
Kooid set fast time, won his heat and started sixth in the 30-lap feature. Kofoid took the lead on the fourth lap and cruised to his second straight USAC National Midget feature victory this season in his Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/Mobil 1 – Toyota – TRD/Bullet By Spike/Speedway Toyota.
The performance also elevated the defending series champion to the top of the point standings for the first time this year and provided team owner Kunz his 124th career victory as a USAC National Midget entrant, moving him to within nine of Steve Lewis’ all-time record of 133.
“This is one of the strongest nights we’ve ever had,” Kofoid relayed. “This is my third year running USAC and with Keith (Kunz) and Pete (Willoughby), and I think this is one of the best nights we’ve ever had.”
Every time Kofoid touched the track, it was perfection. In his heat race, he charged from sixth to first and the win. Even with the ever-changing track surface changes throughout the night, Kofoid and the KKM crew had the No. 67 on rails in an untouchable performance that resulted in a 5.802-second margin of victory that actually didn’t fully underscore how dominant he truly was.
“Our car is so good right now; I can go wherever I want,” Kofoid beamed. “I remember from two years ago that, out of turn two, the track could kind of get hairy and it would fall off. But I coul