SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A muddy Atlas 100 on the Springfield Mile at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, which ended up being shortened by 30 laps due to time constraints, saw Jesse Love lead wire-to-wire from the General Tire Pole for his second career ARCA Menards Series (national) victory.
But the celebration for Love and Venturini Motorsports was subdued following a violent, last-lap crash in which Love’s teammate, Buddy Kofoid, collided with the slow car of Bryce Haugeberg on the frontstretch.
The first thought on Love’s mind in Victory Lane was Kofoid’s condition, but he was relieved to see Kofoid and Haugeberg climb out of their cars and walk away on their own power.
“I’m really grateful that Buddy is alright,” Love said. “That was wicked, and I don’t think any of us saw the lapped car [of Haugeberg], but thankfully he is alright [as well]. Buddy was my favorite dirt driver growing up, and I’ve always looked up to him, so it’s an honor to beat him today.”
Love, who had enjoyed a relatively peaceful Atlas 100 for most of the day, suddenly found himself under attack from Kofoid as the duo prepared to take the white flag.
Haugeberg was attempting to salvage a lead-lap finish when he lost control of his car on the frontstretch and hit the outside retaining wall, which put him directly in the line of fire of Love and Kofoid as they battled it out for the win.
With so much dust having been kicked up, Kofoid was unaware that Haugeberg had stopped right underneath the start-finish line and was left powerless to prevent a high-speed collision that flipped Haugeberg’s car on its side.
Kofoid was in good spirits following the brutal crash, but he hopes the circumstances that unfolded Sunday afternoon result in changes to safety and race-day procedures for ARCA events on dirt moving forward.
“I’ll probably be sore over the next few days,” Kofoid said. “Even when I was two [car-lengths] behind Jesse, I couldn’t see him. Having windshields makes [seeing] kind of tough, and the glare makes it 10 times worse. I’m glad [Haugeberg] is alright, and I can only assume what happened [with him], but it’s just unfortunate.”
Since the white flag lap was not scored by ARCA officials, Kofoid ended up being credited with a second-place finish despite leaving the Illinois State Fairgrounds with a destroyed car.
More: Complete results from the Illinois State Fairgrounds
Both Buddy Kofoid and Bryce Haugeberg walked away from this massive crash to end the Atlas 100 at the Springfield Mile
— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) August 21, 2022
Jesse Love, who was leading at the time of the crash, has been declared the winner@MAVTV | @FloRacing pic.twitter.com/2v8niORhP2