CARLISLE, Pa. — Buddy Kofoid doesn’t go so far as to call himself a glutton for punishment, but he does like being behind the wheel of a race car as often as possible.
As of Thursday, Kofoid’s already-busy schedule became busier.
Kofoid will compete with CJB Motorsports in select winged sprint car races this season, adding to his previously existing dirt midget program with Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports and his asphalt late model effort with the West Coast-based Racing Dynamiks team.
Kofoid is one of two drivers, alongside Spencer Bayston, who have joined the Pennsylvania-based sprint car team in the wake of Brent Marks’ departure from the organization. Marks left the team on April 20, after earning just four top-five finishes in 21 starts this year.
The CJB opportunity marks a return to the familiar for Kofoid, who grew up racing winged sprint cars in California before migrating to the Midwest and ending up in the Toyota Racing Development pipeline.
“I’m really excited,” said Kofoid of the opportunity to link up with team owner Chad Clemens and crew chief Barry Jackson. “They’re one of the most well-known teams in the sprint car world and they’ve had a lot of success in the past. They’ve been on the road a lot, so they have the experience and the knowledge to be successful. I’m looking forward to coming in and running with a team like that, because they have strong supporters and motors and cars and good people working with them and those are all things that I look for with any team that I go and drive for.
“I’m looking forward to moving around a little bit and being able to get back in a winged (sprint) car because this year I didn’t know exactly how much I’d get to do on that side of things,” Kofoid added. “It’ll be nice to have a handful of races with CJB and I appreciate the opportunity to run for them. Hopefully, we can make the best of it when I’m in the car and have some fun along the way.”
Kofoid noted that, due to his packed lineup of races, he wasn’t necessarily looking to add a winged sprint car ride to his schedule.
However, when CJB Motorsports reached out to him, Kofoid wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
“They reached out to me, and you’re not going to say no to something of that caliber, right?” Kofoid said. “I wasn’t really looking because, as everyone knows, I’ve got a handful of pavement races this year and that schedule can change … and the midget schedule is pretty thick, with probably 70 to 75 races, and that’s even before a few other races that I have on the side.
“I knew it was going to be a lot, but then when Chad and Barry approached me about it, I looked in the schedule and figured out what would work and what wouldn’t … and I’m really glad we were able to make it happen,” he added. “I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can do as a group.”
The key to Kofoid’s plan with CJB is flexibility — he’s keeping his schedule with the team somewhat fluid, so he doesn’t take away from his primary obligations this year in midgets and late models. Specific races Kofoid will run with CJB will be announced in due course.
“If this were to take away from anything else I was already doing, then I wouldn’t be doing it,” Kofoid tipped. “If it would detract from a midget race or a pavement race, I wouldn’t run for CJB. We agreed going into this that those are my two main priorities.
“This is a deal purely on the side that actually fits in my schedule, but it’s one that I’m eager to tackle.”