OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Michael “Buddy” Kofoid has definitely found a liking to Oklahoma City’s I-44 Riverside Speedway.
If there was any doubt, he proved it by racing to victory lane on Saturday night for the second night in a row aboard the Keith Kunz Motorsports No. 67 midget to close out the ninth edition of the POWRi Midget League’s Turnpike Challenge.
After sliding past Christopher Bell to top Friday night’s event, Kofoid put the dramatics to rest by leading all 30 laps on Saturday night to snare his fifth consecutive Turnpike Challenge triumph atop I-44 Riverside’s fifth-mile clay oval and sixth in the last seven tries, this one worth $2,500.
While Kofoid capitalized on the feature pole position after a last-lap slider to win his heat race, Friday night gunner Cannon McIntosh kept him honest throughout but was never able to mount a serious bid for the point.
“I never felt like I was really challenged going into one on the restarts so I kept my line to stay out front,” Kofoid explained in victory lane. “The only thing I was nervous about was giving Cannon that many chances to find something, kind of like I did with Christopher (Bell) last night.”
“I really like racing here, this is a fun place,” Kofoid said. “I think it was the best I’ve ever seen it this weekend.”
After battling past Jade Avedisian for second in the early going, McIntosh kept Kofoid in sight throughout and nearly pulled alongside on a late restart but had to settle for runner-up honors after rallying from the tail of the field for third-place honors the previous night.
“He was really good on the restarts, I just couldn’t ever stay close enough to get a good run and make something happen,” McIntosh explained. “We got close once, but it wasn’t enough.”
Defending POWRi champ Bryan Wiedeman made his way to third to fill out the podium with Brenham Crouch and Avedisian filling out the top five.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 67-Michael Kofoid[1]; 2. 08-Cannon McIntosh[3]; 3. 01-Bryant Wiedeman[4]; 4. 97-Brenham Crouch[5]; 5. 84-Jade Avedisian[2]; 6. 11A-Andrew Felker[7]; 7. 87-Jace Park[11]; 8. 71-Kaylee Bryson[6]; 9. 83-Dominic Gorden[20]; 10. 17-Tanner Berryhill[14]; 11. 26-Chance Crum[9]; 12. 25K-Taylor Reimer[10]; 13. 71E-Mariah Ede[22]; 14. 7U-Kyle Jones[15]; 15. 40-Chase McDermand[12]; 16. 21-Emilio Hoover[19]; 17. 44-Branigan Roark[13]; 18. 32-Trey Marcham[8]; 19. 17B-Austin Barnhill[17]; 20. 19U-Pierce Urbanosky[16]; 21. 15-Corey Joyner[18]; 22. 29K-Brian Harvey[21]