BRANDON, S.D. — Michael “Buddy” Kofoid may have a new nickname. “Money Bags” earned $250,000 for winning Saturday night’s BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals presented by Menards World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series race at Huset’s Speedway.
The victory came two days after Kofoid earned $100,000 in the Huset’s Hustle. Several weeks ago, Kofoid earned $55,000 for winning the Eagle Nationals.
The Penngrove, Calif., native started on the pole of the 40-lap feature but lost the top spot early as Friday’s prelim winner Bill Balog ripped around him on the top. Kofoid refused to be rattled and began his pursuit. Balog stayed strong early on, but a restart on Lap 17 proved pivotal. Balog got slightly out of shape taking the green, and it left Kofoid an opening to rocket to his inside and finish a slide job exiting Turn 2.
Balog got a little hung up in the cushion, preventing him from trying to crossover. That proved to be the winning move as Balog narrowed the gap in traffic late, but a caution with three to go gave Kofoid the clean track he needed to win.
“I think when it hits the bank account it’ll feel real,” Kofoid said. “I’m at a loss for words and out of breath. The track was not what I thought it would be with the cushion being that choppy and that low. I thought the bottom would be good early, and Bill circled me right away. He’s been so good here. To go up against him and beat him here is special and against everyone here. I feel like we had every good Sprint Car driver in the country here. To beat all of them is just incredible.
“Dylan (Buswell) is so incredible at what he does. I’m so lucky I don’t have to race against him, and I’m so lucky to have him in my corner. He’s been the best thing that’s ever happened in my racing career. And of course, Nate (Knotts) and John (Snavely) do an outstanding job.”
Saturday’s win made it three straight six-figure scores at Huset’s for Kofoid. His third victory worth at least $100,000 put him in elite company as the seventh driver with at least a trio, joining Donny Schatz (13), Steve Kinser (four), Mark Kinser (four), Danny Lasoski (four), David Gravel (four), and Kyle Larson (four). He also joined Brent Marks and David Gravel as only the third competitor to cash two six-figure paychecks in the same week. Kofoid racked up $362,000 total for four nights of work at Huset’s.
The runner-up spot belonged to Bill Balog, capping a strong week for the “North Pole Nightmare.” The Hartland, Wis., resident finished seventh Wednesday, second Thursday, won Friday, and closed it out with another second. The performance earned him nearly $100,000 for the week. Balog felt he was simply missing a little speed that could’ve helped him better compete with Kofoid.
“I was just having a little trouble restarting there, and he was just right on me,” Balog said. “So, I was trying to go faster and stuff, and he finally got me there. But congratulations to Roth Motorsports, Dylan, Buddy, and all the guys over there. I thought maybe in lapped traffic we could do something, but it just didn’t develop for us.”
Sheldon Haudenschild brought the Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing/NOS Energy Drink No. 17 home in the third position. The Wooster, Ohio, native challenged both Kofoid and Balog for the runner-up spot at various points of the race and had speed from start to finish. Ultimately, the result was the final step of the podium worth $25,000.
“I was just able to kind of get down to the bottom there, and I was squirting off the bottom good,” Haudenschild explained. “I feel like they really weren’t trying anything in (Turns) 1 and 2, and I was kind of able to move around. What an intense race. I was hoping to get to lapped traffic. It was getting pretty dicey there, just not how it played out.”
Garet Williamson and Logan Schuchart completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 83-Michael Kofoid[1]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog[2]; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[4]; 4. 23-Garet Williamson[3]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart[13]; 6. 2-David Gravel[5]; 7. 10-Ryan Timms[9]; 8. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[7]; 9. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[6]; 10. 2C-Cole Macedo[14]; 11. 39M-Anthony Macri[20]; 12. 88T-Tanner Thorson[21]; 13. 21H-Brady Bacon[17]; 14. 15-Donny Schatz[23]; 15. 9R-Chase Randall[11]; 16. 3-Tim Kaeding[22]; 17. 16-Riley Goodno[16]; 18. 55V-Kerry Madsen[8]; 19. 1A-Ashton Torgerson[15]; 20. 45X-Landon Crawley[19]; 21. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[12]; 22. 49-Brad Sweet[10]; 23. 21-Brian Brown[24]; 24. 41-Carson Macedo[18]
