Buddy Kofoid led only one lap on Saturday night, but it was the only one that mattered as he took the lead on the overtime lap after leaders Cannon McIntosh and Ryan Timms got together and then held off Jerry Coons to win the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series Mid-America Midget Week final at Jefferson County Speedway, taking home the $10,000 first prize in the process.
The victory is Kofoid’s seventh in USAC competition this season and his 35th overall national midget feature win, tying him with Kyle Larson for second all-time among Toyota-powered midget drivers. Kofoid has won 10 or more features in each of his three full seasons in midget car racing.
In Saturday’s feature, Justin Grant led the first nine laps of the scheduled 40-lap event before finally giving way to the 15-year-old Timms on lap 10 with McIntosh moving into second on lap 12. From there on out, it was a largely a two-car battle for the lead between the two Toyota drivers.
Timms would open up a 1.5-second lead by the midway point, but a caution flag would bunch the field and McIntosh quickly took advantage on the restart, passing Timms for the lead only to see another caution wave reverting the field back to the previous lap. On the restart, Timms would continue to pace the field with McIntosh right on his tail and finally overtaking him for the top spot on lap 24. The two continued to wage a battle up front with Timms retaking the lead on lap 29, with Kofoid having moved up to third.
The separation stayed within a second the rest of the way, but Timms was able to maintain the lead as he came out of turn four to take the checkered flag, only to have a car spin in front of him, bringing out another caution and setting up a green-white-checkered finish.
On the restart, McIntosh would slide for the lead on lap 40. As he took the white flag, McIntosh pushed up high through turns one and two and Timms attempted to slide him only to see the two leaders get together and push up over the berm and giving Kofoid the lead as he came out of turn two. He’d move up to the high side and hold off Coons who had dove to the low side coming to the checkered with Kofoid winning by 0.21 seconds. Zach Daum would finish third and Toyota driver Jade Avedisian placed fourth.
McIntosh would finish tenth, one spot ahead of Timms.
The USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series returns to the track, Aug. 3-4 with the DrivenToSaveLives BC39 at The Dirt Track at IMS.
Quotes:
Buddy Kofoid, Keith Kunz Motorsports: “I knew that Cannon was going to throw a slider on him as there was really only one good lane to be and with only two laps left there was nothing to lose. I saw him slide him and that got them all checked up. So, I stayed at the top. Then when Cannon got up to the top, I knew that Ryan was going to throw something, so I tried to stick to the bottom. They got into each other and I got around them. I wouldn’t say that I really thought I was going to get that one. We haven’t really felt the same since Huset’s last week. We lacked a little bit these last few races but chipped away and got better and better. I’ve raced long enough that I can see how a situation is going to play out. I kind of got lucky, but our car was just good enough to put them away on the last lap. I owe it to all of our Keith Kunz Motorsports guys for all their hard work – and of course, Keith Kunz and Pete Willoughby. We couldn’t do this without Mobil 1 and Toyota.”
Toyota-Powered Drivers USAC Jefferson County Speedway Saturday Results
Buddy Kofoid – 1st
Jade Avedisian – 4th
Justin Grant – 6th
Kaylee Bryson – 7th
Thomas Meseraull – 9th
Cannon McIntosh – 10th
Ryan Timms – 11th
Trey Gropp – 12th
Bryant Wiedeman – 13th
Cade Lewis – 14th
Braden Chiaramonte – 16th
Ben Rhodes – 18th
Mitchel Moles – 21st
Toyota Racing PR
