By Ben Deatherage
(11/4/23 ) Stockton, CA … Buddy Kofoid was in a class of his own at the Stockton Dirt Track to best the NARC 410 Sprint Car Series and win the 30-lap Tribute To Gary Patterson.
Kofoid, piloting the Toyota Racing Development/Roth Enterprises #83JR Maxim for car owners Dennis and Teresa Roth, had to hold off a pair of hard-charging contenders and fight through some busy traffic to secure the victory.
Corey Day and car owner Jason Meyers, who experienced mechanical issues early in the main event, claimed the 2023 NARC championship.
When the initial green flag dropped, Kofoid sprinted past DJ Netto in the Netto Ag/Penny Newman Grain #88N KPC to pace the field. Four caution periods during the first six circuits disallowed the leader from developing any safety margin on the rest of the field.
After the fourth and final caution period, Kofoid managed to set a fast pace on an open racetrack and it only took a handful of laps before he reached the tail end of the field. Heavy traffic made things interesting and made the eventual winner work hard for his money. His brief inability to get around some cars mid-race brought Netto and Shane Golobic, wheeling the NOS Energy Drink/Southern Pacific Farms #17W KPC, into the mix to challenge.
Having to time his moves in traffic carefully, Kofoid made some brilliant maneuvers, despite almost getting overtaken around the halfway mark by Netto. However, that served as a wake up call for Kofoid who pulled away and comfortably scored his second career NARC 410 Sprint Car Series win. It was his first triumph since winning the Howard Kaeding Classic in July 2017 at Ocean Speedway.
“That was the most physical race I’ve ever run here,” said a worn-out winner. “I think the last fifteen laps I was holding on thinking “this is going to be the white” then next lap “this is the white,” and then I got stuck behind some guys and began to get tired and started making mistakes but then I was able to eventually pick them off.”
“I’m super happy to win a NARC race, especially when we’ve run second a couple of times and finally get a win, especially in a 410, at this race. I got to thank Dennis and Teresa Roth for the opportunity to drive such an iconic and beautiful car. I’m extremely proud to have this Toyota under the hood.”
“I found a lane that I was able to make it work, then once I got to traffic and found out that it was dictating the speed of the entrance into the corners, it got a little fluffier, and I got tight,” stated second finishing Netto, “I decided to get behind (Buddy) and see if I could capitalize on a mistake. I feel fortunate to finish in second and would have really loved to win for my guys.”
Golofic was third. Dominic Scelzi finished fourth in his Scelzi Motorsports/Whipple Superchargers/Red Rose Transportation #41 Maxim while the Mittry Motorsports-fielded MittryConstruction.com/Framers Brewing/North County Plastering #2X Maxim in fifth.
Justyn Cox managed to end the night sixth over Bud Kaeding. Colby Copeland would beat out teenager Dylan Bloomfield for eighth. Tanner Carrick rounded out the top ten finishers.
Kofoid set a quick time in ARP Qualifying, while heat winners were Golobic, Netto, and Sanders.
NAPA AUTO PARTS A-FEATURE (30 Laps): 1. 83JR-Buddy Kofoid[2]; 2. 88N-DJ Netto[1]; 3. 17W-Shane Golobic[5]; 4. 41-Dominic Scelzi[7]; 5. 2X-Justin Sanders[6]; 6. 42X-Justyn Cox[8]; 7. 69-Bud Kaeding[3]; 8. 16A-Colby Copeland[10]; 9. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield[12]; 10. 83T-Tanner Carrick[11]; 11. 26-Billy Aton[15]; 12. 115-Nick Parker[16]; 13. 17M-Kalib Henry[9]; 14. 5T-Ryan Timms[14]; 15. 7-Ashton Torgerson[13]; 16. 2R-Richard Brace Jr[17]; 17. 14-Corey Day[4]
METTEC TITANIUM LAP LEADERS: Buddy Kofoid 1-30
WILLIAMS ROOFING HARD CHARGER: Billy Aton +4
BROWN AND MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS HEAT ONE (8 Laps): 1. 17W-Shane Golobic[2]; 2. 41-Dominic Scelzi[1]; 3. 83JR-Buddy Kofoid[4]; 4. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield[3]; 5. 5T-Ryan Timms[5]; 6. 115-Nick Parker[6]
KIMO’S TROPICAL CAR WASH HEAT TWO (8 Laps): 1. 88N-DJ Netto[1]; 2. 17M-Kalib Henry[3]; 3. 14-Corey Day[4]; 4. 83T-Tanner Carrick[2]; 5. 26-Billy Aton[5]; 6. 2R-Richard Brace Jr[6]
BEACON WEALTH STRATEGIES & RAYMOND JAMES FINANCIAL HEAT THREE (8 Laps): 1. 2X-Justin Sanders[2]; 2. 42X-Justyn Cox[1]; 3. 16A-Colby Copeland[5]; 4. 7-Ashton Torgerson[3]; 5. 69-Bud Kaeding[4]
SUNNYVALLEY “POWERED BY BACON” TROPHY DASH (6 Laps): 1. 88N-DJ Netto[1]; 2. 83JR-Buddy Kofoid[4]; 3. 69-Bud Kaeding[2]; 4. 14-Corey Day[3]; 5. 17W-Shane Golobic[5]; 6. 2X-Justin Sanders[6]
ARP QUALIFYING QUICK TIME: Buddy Kofoid, 13.261 (17 Cars)