BRANDON, S.D. (INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS) — Michael ‘Buddy’ Kofoid soaked in the entirety of the moment on Thursday when he climbed on top of his winged sprint car, raised his right arm in the air and basked in the falling confetti at Huset’s Speedway.
Kofoid captured his first career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win during the opening round of the inaugural Huset’s High Bank Nationals presented by Billion Auto, becoming the 148th World of Outlaws feature winner in the history of the series.
“Man, I’m speechless,” he said. “That’s pretty damn cool. I’ve wanted to win an Outlaws race for a long time. This is by far the biggest win of my career. To finally say I beat the best in the world is something you don’t get to say very often. It’s pretty damn special.”
Additionally, Matt Steuerwald advanced from sixth to record his second Nordstrom’s Automotive Late Model Street Stock triumph of the season at Huset’s Speedway.
Kofoid was one of three different race leaders throughout the $15,000-to-win, 35-lap World of Outlaws main event at the high-banked dirt oval. The feature went non-stop after a red flag on the initial start of the race when several drivers tangled exiting turn two.
Polesitter Brock Zearfoss led the first three laps before Kofoid, who started on the outside of the front row, used the bottom in turns one and two to drive into the top spot. Meanwhile, James McFadden advanced into third place on Lap 10 and into second place on Lap 12. A slide job in turns one and two on Lap 20 gave McFadden the lead, but Kofoid powered around him on the cushion during the ensuing lap.
Kofoid then pulled away during the final 15 laps to win by 2.177 seconds during only his 16th career start with the series.
“This is an obviously brand new team and we haven’t run very often,” he said. “We finally got our speed where we need. I knew if we could get our speed right, I told myself I knew I could win one of these damn races. It’s really good momentum and hopefully we can cap off the weekend with $100,000.”
McFadden was smooth all night after his team was forced to change an engine after hot laps. He earned the most points after qualifying and the heat races before advancing from fifth to second in the A Main.
“You obviously want to win the race,” he said. “We just got caught up with lapped cars. It sort of screwed my momentum up. Buddy ripped the top and got by them quicker. Hopefully we can get one spot further tomorrow night and get up in Victory Lane. I’ve got to thank my guys. Obviously starting off the night hurting an engine. Them thrashing and getting us to this position is good and it all counts toward the $100,000 on Saturday.”
Parker Price-Miller passed Zearfoss for the final spot on the podium in the closing laps.
“We were really good late,” Price-Miller said. “Maybe a little tick tight at the beginning, but you kind of have to be like that with how fast this place slickens off. We’re running really good right now. Hopefully we can cap it off with another two good nights.”
Hunter Schuerenberg rounded out the top five.
Spencer Bayston and Giovanni Scelzi each set quick time during their qualifying sessions before Logan Schuchart, Mitchel Moles, Brooke Tatnell, Austin McCarl, Schuerenberg and Mark Dobmeier earned heat race triumphs. Brendan Mullen won the C Main and Bayston claimed the Last Chance Showdown.
Steuerwald led the final 11 laps of the 15-lap Nordstrom’s Automotive Late Model Street Stocks feature for his second win of the year, which is tied for the most of any driver at the track.
Jeff Wittrock paced the field for the first four laps, which were hampered by a pair of cautions and a wild red flag as Mike Chaney flipped on the frontstretch. Steuerwald came out of a three-wide battle for the top spot in the lead on Lap 5. Second-running Zach Olivier got into the back of Steuerwald entering turn three on Lap 8 to bring out the final caution. Steuerwald returned to the lead and Olivier was penalized to the rear of the field for the restart.
Olivier was on a mission during the second half of the race as he charged back into the runner-up position, but Steuerwald had built a sizeable lead to win by 2.631 seconds.
“I know Zach probably didn’t mean to get into me,” he said. “I spun it out. I was just glad I got my spot back.
“It’s great. We’re due for one here again I guess. It’d just been eluding me.”
Colby Klaassen finished third with Wittrock placing fourth and Matthew Donker fifth.
Chaney and Klaassen were the heat race winners.
Round 2 of the Huset’s High Bank Nationals presented by Billion Auto is Friday night. It marks the second-and-final preliminary night of the event leading into Saturday’s $100,000-to-win finale. The gates open at 4 p.m. with racing at 7:30 p.m. each night.