After an epic battle with multiple lead changes, Buddy Kofoid came out on top over Chris Windom in winning night two of the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series’ Indiana Midget Week at Bloomington Speedway, Friday.
The win is the third for Kofoid in USAC competition this season and overall it’s the eighth national midget feature victory for the 19-year-old Keith Kunz Motorsports (KKM) driver this year. Kofoid’s win also marks the 23rd national midget car feature triumph for a Toyota-powered driver in 2021.
Starting from the outside of the front row, Windom went straight to the lead on the opening lap, with Bryant Wiedeman in second, Jason McDougal in third, Kofoid in fourth and Brady Bacon in fifth.
After moving up to third on lap two, Kofoid would pass KKM teammate Wiedeman after a restart on lap five, sliding him through turns three and four to take over the second spot.
Kofoid quickly moved up and began to challenge Windom for the lead as the two began a slider-fest that would last for more than half of the 30-lap event.
Kofoid would go side-by-side with Windom heading into turn one on lap 15, sliding him through one and two to take the lead. The two continued to battle for the lead with Kofoid holding on to the top spot before a lap 20 caution.
On the restart, Windom go low through one to retake the lead on lap 20, only to see Kofoid return the favor to move back into the point position on lap 21. They continued to dice one another through lap 24 when a red flag came out after Chase Randall got upside down in turn four. Behind the two leaders, a hard-charging Kevin Thomas Jr. had climbed up to third and began to close on Windom.
Windom had the advantage on the restart, but Kofoid was able to fight back to hold the lead coming to the flag stand on lap 25. As the laps began to wind down, Kofoid would extend his lead as he excelled through turns three and four, eventually taking the checkered flag 1.493-seconds ahead of Windom, with Thomas placing third in a Toyota one-two-three finish. Wiedeman would finish fifth to give Toyota four of the top five on the night.
Other Toyota-powered drivers finishing in the top 10 included Logan Seavey (seventh), Daison Pursley (eighth), Justin Grant (ninth) and Jason McDougal (tenth).
Indiana Midget Week heads to Lawrenceburg Speedway for round three on Saturday night.
Toyota Driver Quotes:
Buddy Kofoid, Keith Kunz Motorsports: “Winning a midget week show is one of the bigger wins of my career. Feels really good to beat some of the best drivers out there head to head. It was hard racing back and forth. I can’t thank my team enough for what they do. And without Keith, Mobil 1 and Toyota I wouldn’t be here right now. Those last six laps I just told myself not to get tight on the curb. This is one of my favorite tracks now.”
Chris Windom, CB Industries: “that was a lot of fun racing with Buddy. When I was out front I felt like a sitting duck in three and four. He was just a little better than us. We got some shots at him on the restarts, but he was just a little bit better than us. Overall, I’m happy with the result tonight. It was a fun time at Bloomington Speedway and we’ve got a long week ahead of us.
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