JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – Buddy Kofoid put on a charge that Hoosier Hundred winner Kyle Larson might have been impressed by Sunday night with the POWRi National Midget League at Jacksonville Speedway.
Kofoid had to race his way into the 30-lap feature through the B-main after issues in his heat race, but eventually came from 19th on the grid to win at the quarter-mile oval.
He began the A-main in 19th, then fell back to 22nd due to a first-lap incident, but after that there was no stopping him. Kofoid charged through the field and eventually passed Clinton Boyles on lap 27 of 30 on the way to his second win of the weekend.
Emerson Axsom placed second and Boyles took third on the final night of Illinois Speed Weekend.
Kofoid’s victory was his sixth of the season. In the three Illinois Speed Weekend events, he captured two wins and a second.
Starting from the pole, Boyles went to the lead, but the action quickly came to a halt with a seven-car incident on the opening lap, with Kofoid and Cannon McIntosh among the cars getting caught up after a car in front of them spun.
Both rejoined the field, but started from the tail-end.
On the restart, Boyles took the lead, with Jerry Coons Jr. in heavy pursuit and Thomas Meseraull in third. Boyles continued to pace the field in the early going with Coons in second, followed by Axsom, Meseraull and Daison Pursley.
As Boyles ran the top side, Coons eventually went low coming out of turn four on lap 10 to take over the top spot, but two laps later, Boyles threw a slider at him in turn two to retake the lead.
A yellow flag slowed the field on lap 15 after Meseraull got upside down coming out of turn four. While the action had been non-stop at the front of the pack, Kofoid had been slicing his way through the field into the top 10.
On the restart, Axsom overtook Coons for second, while Pursley and Bryson were in a three-way battle with Coons for third with Kofoid closing on them. By lap 20, Kofoid passed Bryson for fifth as Boyles and Axsom were in a heated contest for the lead.
By lap 24, Kofoid had gotten past Coons for third and when another caution waved on lap 25, it would close up the field once more, giving Kofoid just the opportunity he needed.
He moved past Axsom in turn two on the restart then began chasing down Boyles. After closing down the back-straight, Kofoid pitched a slider through turn three to pass Boyles coming back to the flag stand on lap 27. Axsom also slipped past Boyles for second.
From there, Kofoid simply checked out over the final three laps to take the victory, followed by Axsom, Boyles, Coons and Bryson.
“Getting caught up early certainly didn’t help,” said Kofoid, who had to climb up from the back of the B Main just to qualify for the feature after a mechanical problem during his heat race. “I figured we’d still have a chance, though, because we knew we had a car capable of running in the top five. We had some long green runs and my car just kept getting better and then we got some breaks to go 22nd to first.
“To get my sixth win with Keith Kunz Motorsports (KKM) and have two wins and a second this weekend says a lot about this team. I’m just so appreciative to work with KKM, Mobil 1 and Toyota. I’m just having a lot of fun driving these cars.”
The finish:
1. 67-Buddy Kofoid, 2. 15-Emerson Axsom, 3. 98-Clinton Boyles, 4. 85-Jerry Coons Jr., 5. 71-Kaylee Bryson, 6. 21-Zach Daum, 7. 9-Daison Pursley, 8. 87-Karter Sarff, 9. 49-JJoe B. Miller, 10. 3N-Jake Neuman, 11. 97-Brenham Crouch, 12. 3W-Brandon Waelti, 13. 00-Trey Gropp, 14. 28-Ace McCarthy, 15. 21K-Emilio Hoover, 16. 72-Sam Johnson, 17. 08-Noah Gass, 18. 7X-Thomas Meseraull, 19. 56D-Mitchell Davis, 20. 19M-Ethan Mitchell, 21. 103-Broc Hunnell, 22. 2H-Luke Howard, 23. 71K-Cannon McIntosh.