Buddy Kofoid passed Cannon McIntosh on a lap 24 restart then held off McIntosh over the final six laps to win night four of the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League’s Illinois SpeedWeek at Macon Speedway.
Kofoid’s victory is his tenth national midget feature win of the year, marking the second consecutive season he’s earned double-digit national wins. It also marked Toyota’s 30th national feature triumph of the 2021 season.
The race was marred by an opening lap incident involving Daison Pursley, who flipped between turns three and four. He was transported to a local hospital for observation.
When the race resumed, Thomas Meseraull would take the early lead, holding down the top spot for five laps before McIntosh would overtake him going to the top side off of turn two, with Meseraull dropping to second, followed by Kaylee Bryson and Kofoid.
McIntosh would proceed to pull away from the field, opening up a 1.7-second lead on lap 15 when a caution came out. Behind him, Kofoid had moved up to second with Meseraull sitting third. After the restart, McIntosh had a stretched out a 1.1-second advantage by lap 18, but would soon encounter lapped traffic, allowing Kofoid to close with less than 10 laps remaining.
In heavy traffic on lap 24, McIntosh would bobble between one and two, with Kofoid moving past, only to see a yellow come out for an incident involving Cade Lewis with Meseraull getting caught up in it, as well. Both would be forced to retire.
The lead reverted back to McIntosh for the restart, but it wouldn’t last long as Kofoid timed it perfectly, sliding him through turn one to take the lead. He would never relinquish the top spot, driving to the victory with McIntosh second – his third podium finish of the week. Bryson made a late pass for third, giving Toyota a sweep of the podium.
Thirteen-year-old Gavan Boschele placed fourth, with Bryant Wiedeman taking home fifth, propelling him into the POWRi point lead by 20 points over seventh-place Emerson Axsom. Taylor Reimer earned her third top-10 finish of the week with an eighth, while Ryan Timms finished tenth.
The POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League closes out its five-race Illinois SpeedWeek on Sunday at Fayette County Speedway. McIntosh will take the SpeedWeek point lead into the finale.
Quotes:
Buddy Kofoid, Keith Kunz Motorsports: “That was a tough one. For a while I didn’t think I was going to be able to get past him. My car definitely got better at the end. I owe this one to the Keith Kunz Motorsports team, along with Mobil 1 and Toyota.”
Toyota-Powered Drivers POWRi Macon Speedway A Main Results
Buddy Kofoid – 1st
Cannon McIntosh – 2nd
Kaylee Bryson – 3rd
Gavan Boschele – 4th
Bryant Wiedeman – 5th
Emerson Axsom – 7th
Taylor Reimer – 8th
Ryan TImms – 10th
Brenham Crouch – 11th
Brent Crews – 12th
Sam Johnson – 16th
Thomas Meseraull – 19th
Cade Lewis – 20th
Daison Pursley – 22nd
POWRI Point Standings (Toyota drivers in bold)
1. Bryant Wiedeman, 3640
2. Emerson Axsom, 3620
3t. Daison Pursley, 3340
3t. Brent Crews, 3340
5. Cannon McIntosh 3300
Toyota Racing PR
