Kofoid Wins Opening Night of the Mid-State Open Wheel Nationals

Buddy Kofoid. (Danny Clum photo)

From POWRi

HUMBOLDT, Kansas (July 10, 2020) — In what was an action-packed 30-lap feature event at Humboldt Speedway between the POWRi Lucas Oil National and West Midget Leagues, Michael “Buddy” Kofoid claimed the checkers over Kaylee Bryson and Daison Pursley for a Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports podium sweep. Kofoid’s Humboldt Speedway victory is his fourth POWRi win of 2020.

Sharing the front row with Zach Daum, polesitter Chance Morton pounced to an early lead over Daum and Kaylee Bryson. But before the action could heat up, the yellow was displayed for Cade Cowles in turns one and two. Coming back to green, Morton rocketed on the start, only for the red to stop the action, as Noah Gass took a tumble down the backstretch.

Returning to racing, the red would come out again as Jesse Love took flight in turns one and two. As the field returned to racing, a blanket could be thrown over the top four, as Morton narrowly led a cluster of cars including Daum, Bryson, and Kofoid. Exiting turn two, Bryson took the second position from Daum as Morton started to fall back.

By the fifth lap, Bryson overcame Morton for the top position as Daum took over second. Near midway, Kofoid had closed enough to steal the lead from Bryson. Even as Kofoid encountered lap traffic, it wasn’t enough to give Bryson any advantage as Bryson was forced to settle for second. Coming out of four and to the line for the final time, Daison Pursley narrowly edged Zach Daum for third. Sam Johnson completed the top five.

It should also be noted that Bryson’s second-place finish places her in the record books alongside Holly Shelton and Holley Hollan as another highest-finishing female in the POWRi National Midget competition.

“It was really just a matter of who ran it the hardest,” commented Michael Buddy Kofoid. “It ended up rougher than what we thought, but it wasn’t as evil in the center as some of the others. Hat’s off to our whole crew on tonight. Big thank you to Keith Kunz Motorsports and Toyota, I’m really excited, and even more so, now, for tomorrow night.”

“Buddy’s good; he’s a great teammate,” said Kaylee Bryson. “I’m just getting my laps in. I want to win so bad and really hope it’s one of these next races. I’m learning every time I get in this car.”

“It’s always good to finish third on the podium to my teammates,” stated Daison Pursley. “There’s top-notch stuff here. The race track was good and the cars kept getting better and better. It was pretty tricky here tonight, so I wasn’t expecting that. It kind of got cowboy up there at the beginning of the race and then smoothed out to the top. I’m really looking forward to carrying this momentum into Valley Speedway tomorrow.”

Mid-State Open Wheel Nationals
POWRi National Midget League
Humboldt Speedway
Humboldt, Kansas
Friday July 10, 2020

Auto Meter Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 67-Michael Kofoid[3]
2. 71K-Cannon McIntosh[5]
3. 15-Emerson Axsom[6]
4. 26-Tristin Thomas[2]
5. 44S-Andrew Felker[1]
6. 97K-Brenham Crouch[4]
7. 72W-Bryant Wiedeman[7]

KSE Racing Products Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 71-Kaylee Bryson[3]
2. 5D-Zach Daum[6]
3. 97-Jesse Love[7]
4. 8M-Kade Morton[1]
5. 70-Cade Cowles[4]
6. 7-Shannon McQueen[2]
7. 00-Trey Gropp[5]

Advanced Racing Suspensions Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 08-Noah Gass[2]
2. 28-Ace McCarthy[1]
3. 9-Daison Pursley[7]
4. 3N-Jake Neuman[4]
5. 21K-Emilio Hoover[6]
6. 2H-Luke Howard[5]
7. 7MX-Heath Murry[3]

Schoenfeld Headers Heat Race #4 (8 Laps)
1. 7M-Chance Morton[4]
2. 72-Sam Johnson[5]
3. 7U-Kyle Jones[3]
4. 67K-Jonathan Shafer[6]
5. 15L-Merril Lamb[1]
6. 07-Kyle Wilson[7]
7. DNS: 9X-Aaron Mcdonald

B-Main (12 Laps)
1. 8M-Kade Morton[1]
2. 70-Cade Cowles[2]
3. 07-Kyle Wilson[3]
4. 44S-Andrew Felker[4]
5. 15L-Merril Lamb[5]
6. 2H-Luke Howard[6]
7. 97K-Brenham Crouch[7]
8. 72W-Bryant Wiedeman[9]
9. 00-Trey Gropp[10]
10. 7-Shannon McQueen[8]
11. 7MX-Heath Murry[11]
12. 9X-Aaron Mcdonald[12]

A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 67-Michael Kofoid[3]
2. 71-Kaylee Bryson[4]
3. 9-Daison Pursley[8]
4. 5D-Zach Daum[2]
5. 72-Sam Johnson[6]
6. 15-Emerson Axsom[10]
7. 7M-Chance Morton[1]
8. 28-Ace McCarthy[11]
9. 7U-Kyle Jones[13]
10. 26-Tristin Thomas[16]
11. 71K-Cannon McIntosh[5]
12. 21K-Emilio Hoover[15]
13. 97K-Brenham Crouch[23]
14. 72W-Bryant Wiedeman[24]
15. 3N-Jake Neuman[14]
16. 44S-Andrew Felker[20]
17. 67K-Jonathan Shafer[12]
18. 8M-Kade Morton[17]
19. 00-Trey Gropp[25]
20. 15L-Merril Lamb[21]
21. 2H-Luke Howard[22]
22. 07-Kyle Wilson[19]
23. 70-Cade Cowles[18]
24. 97-Jesse Love[7]
25. 08-Noah Gass[9]