PEVELY, Mo. — Michael “Buddy” Kofoid and David Gravel, two of the top drivers in sprint car racing, waged war in the 40-lap Federated Auto Parts Spring Classic finale Saturday night at I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park.
Series rookie Kasey Jedrzejek led the opening seven laps before Gravel took command. It looked as if Carson Macedo and Sheldon Haudenschild may be the ones to give Gravel a run for his money but contact between the two sent them both to the work area with flat tires. That gifted Kofoid second, and the battle was on.
The fun began when Kofoid launched a Lap 21 slide job that cleared but Gravel managed to counter with a crossover. The two did the same the following lap and continued to slice it up in traffic over the next several circuits. The opportunity Kofoid needed came on the 27th lap as Gravel got mired in traffic. He stuck the Roth Motorsports No. 83 on the cushion and narrowly snuck around Gravel’s outside in Turns 3 and 4.
Kofoid put some distance between himself and the Big Game Motorsports No. 2 after taking over, but a late red flag set up a wild five-lap shootout to the checkered.
Gravel kept the Penngrove, Calif., native within his sights as time ticked away. On the last lap, Kofoid had to slide a lapped car in the final set of corners. Gravel opted to roll a few lanes lower and grab the grip on exit. The two-time champion pulled alongside Kofoid as they motored off Turn 4, but Kofoid barely held him off to complete the weekend sweep in a finish that brought the fans to their feet.
“It starts with an excellent car,” Kofoid said. “I feel like every time I get into it I know it’s going to be damn near perfect and up to me to drive the s**t out of it, and that’s what this place demands. It’s funny, after we went back green those last five laps I didn’t feel near as good as when we were logging laps on the long runs. I feel like on the long runs my car was excellent. On the short runs, I just found myself getting tighter and tighter and missing (Turn) 2 more than I was chasing David.
“It was a tough race. I started sixth, got to fourth, and then started not making a lot of = smart moves and put myself back to sixth or seventh. I just started driving the heck out of it and staying true to the top and not pulling off it unless I absolutely had to. I got behind David and felt better chasing someone definitely in traffic. My car has been great in traffic, and I feel like that allowed me to get to him and pass him.”
It was a historic night in multiple ways for Kofoid and the Roth crew. First, it’s Kofoid’s first three-race win streak with the World of Outlaws as he also picked off 81 Speedway two weeks ago before the Easter break and Friday’s I-55 opener.
The 24-year-old also became the first driver ever to top three consecutive races with The Greatest Show on Dirt at I-55. To go along with the Federated Auto Parts Spring Classic sweep, he hoisted last year’s Ironman 55 dumbbell. It’s also Roth Motorsports’ first three-race win streak with the World of Outlaws since Danny Lasoski topped a trio straight in March of 2000.
Gravel came home runner-up, a nice recovery for he and the Big Game crew after a Friday crash forced them to settle for ninth.
Donny Schatz wheeled the CJB Motorsports No. 15 from 11th to third for his third podium of the season and third consecutive top five finish.
Bill Balog and Spencer Bayston completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 83-Michael Kofoid[6]; 2. 2-David Gravel[2]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz[11]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog[18]; 5. 17-Spencer Bayston[20]; 6. 41-Carson Macedo[9]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart[25]; 8. 10-Ryan Timms[23]; 9. 7S-Chris Windom[7]; 10. 45X-Rees Moran[4]; 11. 2C-Cole Macedo[17]; 12. 21-Brian Brown[16]; 13. 6-Kasey Jedrzejek[1]; 14. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[5]; 15. 88-Austin McCarl[15]; 16. 37-Bryce Norris[8]; 17. 23-Garet Williamson[26]; 18. 28M-Conner Morrell[13]; 19. 71-Parker Price Miller[24]; 20. 51-Scott Bogucki[27]; 21. 16C-Scotty Thiel[12]; 22. 7A-Will Armitage[3]; 23. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[22]; 24. 17GP-Hank Davis[10]; 25. 85J-Logan Julien[14]; 26. 12X-Landon Crawley[21]; 27. 19-Kaleb Johnson[19]
