From POWRi
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (March 26, 2022) — Michael “Buddy” Kofoid notched his second straight Lucas Oil POWRi National & West Midget League feature victory at I-44 Riverside Speedway, leading every lap on the way to wrapping up the Ninth Annual Turnpike Challenge presented by Super Clean.
Checking in a stout field of twenty-two Lucas Oil POWRi National & West Midget League competitors for the final night of the season-opening weekend of racing would witness Chance Crum clock the quickest hot-lap time with an 11.325-second lap as Jade Avedisian, Michael Kofoid, and Cannon McIntosh each earned a heat race victory as Kofoid would notch the high-point award using a monstrous sixth-to-first passing-point heat race run.
Leading the field to the initial feature launch would see pole-sitting Buddy Kofoid shoot out to a commanding lead over the outside front-row starter Jade Avedisian. Seeing Kofoid racing in the lead, Avedisian and Cannon McIntosh would battle briefly for the runner-up positioning with McIntosh capturing the advantage as Bryant Weideman, Brenham Crouch, Kaylee Bryson, and Andrew Felker all attempted to battle intensely inside the top-five.
Surviving the onslaught of late-race restarting runs by a close contending Cannon, Kofoid would hold the lead for the entire thirty-lap feature event and capture his eighteenth career POWRi National Midget victory tying his with Tanner Thorson for seventh on the All-Time Victory list.
“Going into one I felt like I was relatively unchallenged, so on the restarts, I tried to keep doing the same things to build up enough of a gap down the back straight and doing that I knew I would be okay” stated a very happy Kofoid in victory lane. Adding, “This KKM team continues to give me a great midget night in and night out and I love coming here to I-44 Riverside Speedway.”
Closely racing behind the leader would find Cannon McIntosh earning the runner-up position and Bryant Weideman would make a late-race surge to place third. Brenham Crouch and Jade Avedisian would break out into a slider-fest by exchanging spots several times during the event with Crouch placing fourth, leaving Avedisian to round out the feature’s top-five finishers.
POWRi National Midget League / POWRi West MIdget Car Series
Turnpike Challenge
I-44 Riverside Speedway
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Saturday, March 26, 2022
Advanced Racing Suspensions Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 84-Jade Avedisian[2]
2. 01-Bryant Wiedeman[4]
3. 87-Jace Park[3]
4. 44-Branigan Roark[1]
5. 25K-Taylor Reimer[8]
6. 17-Tanner Berryhill[7]
7. 21-Emilio Hoover[6]
8. 71E-Mariah Ede[5]
MVT Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 67-Michael Kofoid[6]
2. 97-Brenham Crouch[4]
3. 11A-Andrew Felker[5]
4. 32-Trey Marcham[7]
5. 19U-Pierce Urbanosky[2]
6. 15-Corey Joyner[3]
7. 29K-Brian Harvey[1]
Auto Meter Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 08-Cannon McIntosh[2]
2. 71-Kaylee Bryson[4]
3. 40-Chase McDermand[3]
4. 26-Chance Crum[6]
5. 17B-Austin Barnhill[1]
6. 7U-Kyle Jones[7]
7. 83-Dominic Gorden[5]
Lucas Oil A-Main (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]