FREMONT, Ohio — Michael “Buddy” Kofoid had only raced at Fremont Speedway twice, but the the 17-year-old California driver looked like a veteran, handling a tricky track surface, passing for the lead late and winning Saturday’s 410 sprint car feature.
Kofoid, who looked to be heading for his first win in Ohio the previous night at Attica Raceway Park only to suffer a minor issue and finish third, tracked down race long leader Travis Philo with 10 laps to go to take the lead and then held off fast qualifier Justin Peck to score the $4,000 win thanks to Spanky’s Pizza of Carey.
“That was probably the most physically and mentally tough race I’ve ever run. I was so determined and I had so much adrenaline and it keeps you going in the seat,” Kofoid said. “My hands are so cramped right now I can barely pull a tear off and pull myself out of my car. Yesterday at Attica we had a lot of speed and probably should have won but had some issues but having that much speed gave me a big momentum boost. I had to sack up and run the rough stuff. I felt like I knew I was making it work in three and four a car width higher than them and a couple of times I tried way to high and almost blew myself into the turn four wall. I figured it out right through the middle above those guys.”
Peck finished second, with Travis Philo, Joey Saldana and Nate Dussel filling the top five.
Former Fremont Speedway track champion Paul Weaver battled with Luke Griffith throughout the opening half of the Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprint feature before grabbing the lead on lap 12 and holding off Jamie Miller for his 48th career victory at the track.
Weaver is tied for seventh on the track’s all-time win list.
While the stat sheet will show Shawn Valenti led all 20 laps of the Burmeister Trophy Dirt Truck feature it wasn’t easy as former track champion Kent Brewer challenged him the entire distance.
Valenti was able to hold on for the win, his 48th career victory at the track to tie him with Weaver for seventh on the all-time win list. It was his second victory of the year at Fremont and third overall of 2019 in the truck division, having scored the win at Attica the previous week.
The finish:
Feature (30 laps): 1. 11N-Buddy Kofoid[10] ; 2. 5X-Justin Peck[6] ; 3. 5T-Travis Philo[2] ; 4. 6-Joey Saldana[3] ; 5. 1-Nate Dussel[1] ; 6. 11-Dale Blaney[4] ; 7. 33W-Caleb Griffith[16] ; 8. 16-DJ Foos[8] ; 9. 09-Craig Mintz[14] ; 10. 99-Skylar Gee[9] ; 11. 17B-Bill Balog[19] ; 12. 83M-Broc Martin[15] ; 13. 97-Caleb Helms[17] ; 14. 25M-Chris Andrews[11] ; 15. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[18] ; 16. 81-Lee Jacobs[12] ; 17. 3-Jac Haudenschild[5] ; 18. 5-Byron Reed[7] ; 19. 3J-Trey Jacobs[13] ; 20. 70X-Spencer Bayston[20]