Success in Sprint Car racing is so much more than pairing a talented driver with a capable car.
Listen to any of Michael “Buddy” Kofoid’s interviews, and you’re guaranteed to hear him thank not only Dennis and Teresa Roth for the opportunity to drive for their team, but also Dylan Buswell (crew chief), Nate Knotts (car chief), and Gage Tyra (tire specialist) for their efforts on the car.
The trio and Kofoid are the group on the road every week for Roth Motorsports with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series. This team has put all the right pieces in place and become one of the best teams in the sport. Since Kofoid joined forces with Roth, he’s amassed 28 victories with The Greatest Show on Dirt, including a Series-leading eight so far in 2026.
Walk by the No. 83 trailer at any race, and you’ll never find spirits low. This team wins plenty and has fun doing it. But perhaps even more importantly, they don’t hang their heads when a race doesn’t go their way.
“I’ve always said that if I’m around people that want it as bad as me or more, then I feel like I’m in the right place and that we’re going to be successful,” Kofoid explained. “I feel like I’ve gathered that from all of them from the beginning and as long as I’ve known them. I feel like we believe in each other and the positivity is always there. They just work so hard. I’ve just become a lot closer and we all hang out, and I feel like we don’t really get tired of each other. We always just want to be better. I think to a certain degree, you have to have fun because it’s so hard and you’re around each other so much, so you can’t really have a negative interaction because I feel like it just snowballs. We’ve all been really good to each other and understand what we need.”
Kofoid’s journey from the bullrings of California to national stardom is well-documented, but how did the other three in the group connect to grow into one of the sport’s powerhouses?
Buswell hails from Australia and is the son of Sprint Car mechanic Kim Buswell. Dylan started spending summers in the United States helping whoever he could before returning home. Then came a pivotal 2019 when he got a shot to work for Big Game Motorsports with Kerry Madsen behind the wheel.
“I came over really just to help him out at first, then fell in love with working on the road over here and working for a big team,” Buswell said. “At the end of that, I decided I didn’t want to go home.”
Buswell found his way to Roth Motorsports when Aaron Reutzel was the driver in 2021. He then moved over to KCP Racing for a stint before returning to Roth midway through 2023 with Kofoid. Fast forward three years, and Buswell is the leader of this charismatic group performing at the sport’s highest level.
“It all starts with attitude,” Buswell said. “And these guys have a great attitude. They show up to work every day in a good frame of mind and ready to work and learn. That makes my job a lot easier when you have guys show up like that every day.”
Knotts comes from Dover, DE and grew up going to Sprint Car races with his father in Pennsylvania. He was never hands-on in the sport until finishing high school and deciding to give it a shot. Keith Kunz Motorsports was hiring for their Midget operation, Knotts reached out, and one thing led to another. Now, at 23 years old, Knotts is living out a dream.
“I saw that they (KKM) were hiring, so I just emailed them just being as green as you can be with no experience,” Knotts recalled. “Luckily, I got the job there, which obviously led me to meeting Buddy. I worked there for a year, but ultimately, I wanted to go Sprint Car racing. Midgets weren’t really what I really wanted to do. But I was still working on a race car, so I was perfectly okay with it, and they got my foot in the door.
“It’s kind of unreal. Going through the year you don’t really understand what you’re accomplishing while you’re accomplishing it until the year’s over and you get to look back and think of what you were able to do. I try to not take it for granted, which is really easy to do. It’s really cool to grow up watching the Roth car forever. I was obviously a fan of the sport before I was ever involved.”
Tyra’s path began on the coast opposite of Knotts as he calls Granger, CA home. His father, Tyrone, worked with two-time Series champion Jason Meyers before heading to another famed west coast operation, Tarlton Motorsports. Gage began to help his dad when he was only a teenager, and the pit area could see this kid had work ethic. It wound up earning him a spot working with Roth and Buswell before Kofoid arrived as Tyra hit the road with the team in 2021 with Aaron Reutzel behind the wheel.
“My dad told me that Roth needed a tire guy,” Tyra said. “So, when I was 17, I left, and I just took a role in learning from Aaron and Dylan. It was a good year to learn and grow. I was 17 and turned 18 that year. I learned and got better. I worked with Kasey Kahne and got to meet a lot of people. It was a cool experience.”
Austin McCarl came calling the following year as Tyra wound up working with Country Builders Racing during a successful 2022. It wasn’t much longer before he wound up back at Roth and made a comfortable home with perhaps the most storied Sprint Car team from his home state.
“It is very surreal for me because, being from California, I grew up watching this car with TK (Tim Kaeding) and everybody who drove it, Bubba DeCaires, all these people who got a chance to drive this car,” Tyra said. “It’s an honor to be able to say I’ve been a part of a team with such a long history and be able to win as much as we have and be in contention for a championship.”
Team manager Todd Ventura assembled this crew and watched the magic unfold. Kofoid is already the second-winningest driver with the World of Outlaws in Roth Motorsports history and closing in on Danny Lasoski’s tally of 41. They’ve established themselves as annual contenders to give Dennis Roth his first title with the Series. And they have fun doing it.
“We spend a full year together most of the time, so you become brothers,” Tyra said. “I love these guys. We do anything for each other. We work hard and get our jobs done. When we’re at the track, we’re just trying to have fun.”
Kofoid and the Roth crew continue their pursuit of a World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series championship this weekend in New Richmond, WI at Cedar Lake Speedway’s Federated Auto Parts Independence Spectacular. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
Where can you watch every World of Outlaws race? Live on DIRTVision.
Where can you see the World of Outlaws in 2026? Click to see the full schedule.