JOLIET, Ill. — Michael “Buddy” Kofoid and Roth Motorsports flipped a switch two months ago and they have no intentions of shutting it off.
The pairing rolled into Dirt Oval 66 for the Federated Auto Parts Route 66 Showdown on a hot streak that included five wins and 12 podiums in the last 14 races.
Mechanical woes ended their night before it truly started on Friday. And Kofoid and company came back hungry on Saturday night.
The Penngrove, Calif., native started second for the 30-lap finale, slid ahead of Sheldon Haudenschild on the opening circuit, and then held off Haudenschild’s late run to secure his seventh World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car victory of the year.
“My Roth Motorsports crew guys are unbelievable,” Kofoid said. “Like I’ve said, this is the most fun I’ve ever had racing and best I’ve ever felt in any race car. Like I always say, that’s just a testament to Dylan (Buswell) and his talent and making me a better driver. And then I feel like Nate (Knotts) and Gage (Tyra) just complement him really well. It just shows what it’s like to be with good people.”
Kofoid’s lucky number seven win of 2024 pushes him to 10 for his career, making him the 50th driver with double digit victories in the history of The Greatest Show on Dirt.
Haudenschild brought the field to green for the main event with Kofoid to his outside. Haudenschild slid in front of Kofoid in the first set of corners, but Kofoid built momentum for a run down the back straightaway. Kofoid had enough speed to duck under the NOS Energy Drink No. 17 entering Turn 3. He finished the slider exiting the corner to lead the opening lap.
A restart with 18 laps to go got wild as battles erupted all over the place including toward the front of the field. Gravel drove ahead of Haudenschild for second, but Haudenschild returned the favor with a slider. Gravel turned underneath him to retake the spot, and this time he held off Haudenschild’s counter.
Donny Schatz threw his name into contention during a halfway point restart as he rolled the bottom by Haudenschild for third.
Multiple yellow flags continued to set up restarts with drivers looking to capitalize. Haudenschild started to make his way back toward the front as he found some grip on the bottom of the oval.
The low side of the track lifted Haudenschild to third on Lap 26 and then to the runner-up spot with two circuits remaining. However, the hourglass ran out as Kofoid held off Haudenschild’s last gasp when he stuck the bottom in Turns 3 and 4 but couldn’t muscle around Kofoid.
“The exit of (Turn) 4 was just really wide earlier in the race,” Kofoid said. “I could fire off good and get to the top, and I was able to diamond under Sheldon’s slider and kind of control the race. I was nervous with all of those yellows. I didn’t want to see that one with, I think, two to go. I couldn’t see my guys well, but they weren’t telling me I was doing anything wrong. I didn’t want to choose the outside or fire on the outside and try take the long way around because I feel like there was just so much meat on the front stretch on the bottom to take off on. Then it was just a matter of getting to the top and not tripping on the cushion.”
Settling for second was Haudenschild and the Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing crew.
“Being able to move around and find the bottom there in (Turns) 3 and 4,” Haudenschild said of what helped his late surge. “I feel like I was getting better the more fuel I burned off and was able to rotate down there. But Buddy was really good all night. I couldn’t keep up with him there the first 10 to 15 laps. The restarts were really hard starting on the outside as well. Happy with the weekend, a second and a fifth.”
Rounding out the podium was Gravel and the Big Game Motorsports crew as they continue to march toward a title. His lead atop the standings is up to 78 markers with five races left.
“Man, I could not get a good restart behind him single file on the bottom,” Gravel said. “I just would start spinning and then hit the grip and just not get down the front stretch very good. Then I was kind of in defense going into (Turn) 1 where I kind of wanted to attack. Definitely didn’t want that caution because I feel like we were coming. I think lap traffic would’ve benefitted us.”
Donny Schatz and Carson Macedo completed the top five.
The finish
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 83-Michael Kofoid[2]; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[1]; 3. 2-David Gravel[6]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz[10]; 5. 41-Carson Macedo[7]; 6. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[11]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart[13]; 8. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[9]; 9. 27-Emerson Axsom[4]; 10. 55C-Chris Windom[12]; 11. 6-Dylan Cisney[23]; 12. 23-Garet Williamson[19]; 13. 17B-Bill Balog[3]; 14. 99-Skylar Gee[18]; 15. 7S-Landon Crawley[20]; 16. 2KS-Danny Sams III[16]; 17. 45X-Scott Bogucki[15]; 18. 7N-Darin Naida[21]; 19. 70-Kraig Kinser[22]; 20. 22-Riley Goodno[17]; 21. 55-Kerry Madsen[14]; 22. 79-Blake Nimee[24]; 23. 17X-Zach Hampton[5]; 24. 87-Aaron Reutzel[8]