Michael “Buddy” Kofoid reminded everyone of one of life’s most valuable lessons on Saturday night: never give up.
The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car main event at Park City, KS’ 81 Speedway looked like it was over at the halfway point. On the 15th lap of 30, Ryan Timms had extended his lead over Kofoid to just north of four seconds. Timms masterfully worked through traffic aboard the Liebig Motorsports No. 10 that looked similar to his dominant Knoxville Nationals title of 2025.
But then Kofoid chipped a bit away, and then a little more, and then a little more. Suddenly, the distance between the two had been more than cut in half by Lap 21. It continued to shrink as the final circuits clicked off. When the white flag flew, Kofoid had moved the Roth Motorsports No. 83 within striking distance.
The duo motored out of Turn 2 for the last time, and Kofoid built up a run but still faced a deficit of a handful of car lengths. But that didn’t stop the Penngrove, CA native from setting up for a major slide job in the final set of corners that easily cleared. Timms turned off the cushion in an effort to cross him over but couldn’t find the momentum he needed as Kofoid took the checkered flag in one of the wildest finishes we’ll see all year.
“When I was that close and then I saw him go to the top, I knew instantly there was a chance,” Kofoid said. “It was just a matter of getting across in time and then blocking him down the straightaway so he couldn’t get under me. When he slid me after the restart and got into the side of me, it actually bent the nerf bar into the pitman arm, so I didn’t even have full steering like the whole race. I thought something in the right front broke because I just could not turn at all, and that’s why he got so far ahead. I think the pitman arm eventually bent the bumper back out of the way to where I could get mostly full range of motion again.”
Kofoid became the third multi-time winner of the season, joining David Gravel and Anthony Macri. He’s the ninth different driver to top a race with The Greatest Show on Dirt at 81 Speedway. Kofoid equaled Ron Shuman for 28th on the all-time World of Outlaws win list with his 24th career triumph. The 24-year-old also continued to claw his way back up the standings. After falling as far as sixth in recent weeks, Kofoid moved ahead of Donny Schatz to take the fourth spot.
Timms came up a corner short of his second career World of Outlaws checkered flag, but it was a drive that reminded everyone he’s one of the sport’s top young talents that’s going to be around for years to come.
Cole Macedo rounded out the podium to cap a strong weekend for he and the TwoC Racing team.
Carson Macedo (from 22nd) and Donny Schatz completed the top five.
(Tyler Carr Photo)