GRAND FORKS, N.D. — River Cities Speedway delivered yet again.
The bullring has thrilled fans countless times over the years, and Friday was no exception as the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series made its second and final visit of 2025 for the Gerdau presents the 2nd Leg of the Northern Tour.
Michael “Buddy” Kofoid won May’s visit after lining up on the front row and leading every lap. And while the same face showed up in victory kane this time around, it was a much different path to arrival.
The Penngrove, Calif., native didn’t even make the eight-car Toyota Dash to put himself in a top eight starting spot. Instead, the Roth Motorsports No. 83 lined up ninth for the 40-lapper, and the result was a show for the packed grandstands. He gained only two spots in the first six circuits, but then the march began. The next lap he picked off two more to crack the top five. Five rotations later, and the 23-year-old was up to third.
While Kofoid was making his way forward, a war for the top spot was taking place up front as Emerson Axsom, David Gravel, and Sheldon Haudenschild all led laps.
Kofoid’s moment came just before the halfway mark when he grabbed the lead on Lap 19 and never looked back. Gravel tried to challenge in traffic but didn’t have enough as Kofoid pulled away to sweep the year’s River Cities races.
“Honestly, I felt like it took me a while to kind of crack the top five,” Kofoid explained. “We had that first green run and passed a couple cars and was passing for sixth and wanted to restart on the outside after that red, but the way the scoring went back I had to go to the bottom. Then it actually worked out. I was content running the bottom and didn’t want to give up on it in (Turns) 1 and 2 yet. Some people were starting to get off of it before I gave up and was able to pick some guys off there. Then I moved up and felt really good when I moved up.
“It was a tough race. I always say you want to get the in the dash to have a chance to win these Outlaws races, but I guess we didn’t need the dash today. It makes it tough, but hopefully the crowd enjoyed it. River Cities is growing to be one of my favorite tracks for a reason because of how good it races. The car was extremely good, a night and day difference after the Heat Race. Dylan (Buswell), Nate (Knotts), and Gage (Tyra) did not give up on it. We were slinging all different bars in it and trying to change all this stuff and got it really good for me.”
Kofoid’s victory made him the ninth different multi-time River Cities with The Greatest Show on Dirt, and he’s only the third to top two in a row at the quarter-mile, joining Donny Schatz and Craig Dollansky. He and the Roth team are up to nine World of Outlaws checkered flags this season.
The runner-up spot went to David Gravel after leading nine laps aboard the Big Game Motorsports No. 2.
“If that caution doesn’t come on that restart, I think I can get in front of him,” Gravel said. “The bottom, I think, was the fastest at the end. I was just so tight at the end. Just misjudged it a little bit. I felt like I couldn’t run the top like those guys in (Turns) 3 and 4. I was just trying to cheat it and get through there and get through the bumps. Track position was really big for us tonight. The guys gave me a great car all night long.”
Carson Macedo rounded out the top three with the Jason Johnson Racing team.
“I just didn’t really feel like the restarts went my way,” Macedo said. “The one I got to third, and then the caution came out. I was a little bummed about that. I tried to run the top on the next single file (restart), and Buddy got by me. I think we were all a little on the tight side. The track actually came in a little bit. Surprisingly, I think it was heavier in the feature than it was in the dash. It seemed like the top was more ledged up, and on the bottom the grease finally came in and was really sticky down there. It was a hard fought third.”
Logan Schuchart and Emerson Axsom completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 83-Michael Kofoid[9]; 2. 2-David Gravel[3]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo[7]; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart[14]; 5. 18-Emerson Axsom[1]; 6. 13-Mark Dobmeier[10]; 7. 7S-Chris Windom[2]; 8. 15-Donny Schatz[13]; 9. 23-Garet Williamson[18]; 10. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[15]; 11. 2C-Cole Macedo[11]; 12. 15S-Kerry Madsen[5]; 13. 24T-Christopher Thram[22]; 14. 17B-Bill Balog[16]; 15. 64-Andy Pake[6]; 16. 99-Skylar Gee[23]; 17. 8H-Jade Hastings[20]; 18. 6-Zach Hampton[21]; 19. 83JR-Sam Henderson[8]; 20. 28M-Conner Morrell[12]; 21. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[4]; 22. 11M-Brendan Mullen[24]; 23. 6K-Kaleb Johnson[17]; 24. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[19]
