The Roth Motorsports pilot picks up his 14th win of the year and cuts into the champion’s point lead
A little luck never hurts in Sprint Car racing.
And luck was on Michael “Buddy” Kofoid’s side Monday night.
The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series returned to Calhan, CO’s El Paso County Raceway for the Rocky Mountain Rumble after a decade away and gave the sold-out crowd what they came for.
Kofoid got the best of polesitter David Gravel after a duel in the opening few laps to take command, but Gravel never let Kofoid escape his sight as the two drivers atop the points worked through tricky traffic.
Gravel’s moment came late in the going when he was able to muscle back by Kofoid. The Roth Motorsports No. 83 returned the favor, but the Big Game Motorsports No. 2 countered with a crossover and sent Gravel toward what looked to be a sure victory. However, disaster struck for the two-time and defending champ on the final lap as he couldn’t quite clear a slide job while trying to lap Bryce Lucius. The two collided and sent Gravel over as the red flag flew, and Kofoid was narrowly able to avoid the carnage.
“Just a rookie mistake,” Gravel admitted. “I just should’ve followed him into the corner. Watching the replay, I had a big enough lead, so I didn’t even need to do that. I was kind of protecting.”
That gifted Kofoid the lead and the win as the Penngrove, CA native went unchallenged on the green white checkered restart to come out on top of his El Paso County debut.
“I just tried to get on the brakes as hard as I could and tried to get it turned and hoped to maybe miss them,” Kofoid explained of dodging the crash. “It all worked out but I don’t know, I feel bad for the guys. I felt like I’d given that one away. I made probably two or three bad laps in traffic. Then David got there, and I was just trying to race with David and ran another not so great lap and gave a spot up to Carson (Macedo). I still feel like we had speed for sure and could run the top really hard. I got Carson back. That kind of proved to be the winning move.”
Kofoid’s Series-leading victory total in 2026 grew to 14 after Monday’s triumph. His career tally of 36 ties the 24-year-old with Shane Stewart for 23rd all-time with the World of Outlaws. Roth Motorsports is up to 140 scores as a team with The Greatest Show on Dirt, and Kofoid is responsible for 34 of them. With seven more checkered flags, he’ll equal Danny Lasoski for Roth’s winningest driver. And perhaps the most important number is 34, which is how many points Kofoid chopped out of Gravel’s championship lead, trimming it to 114 markers and keeping hope alive with home turf in California ahead for Kofoid.
Steven Snyder Jr. snuck up to the runner-up spot in the Three Stooges Racing No. 51 following the late chaos, giving the Rising Sun, MD native his first career World of Outlaws podium.
Chris Windom climbed up to the third spot aboard the Sides Motorsports/NOS Energy Drink No. 7S, his second time in the top three this season.
Donny Schatz and Spencer Bayston completed the top five.
NIGHTLY NOTES
Spencer Bayston clocked the Race//Ready Hottest Lap of the Night.
Buddy Kofoid set Simpson Quick Time and established a new track record in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.
Heat Races belonged to Buddy Kofoid (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Spencer Bayston (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.com Heat Two), and Carson Macedo (WIX Filters Heat Three).
The SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to David Gravel.
Gravel also topped the Toyota Dash.
Bryce Lucius won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
Logan Schuchart transferred through the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown then wheeled from 20th to sixth to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger.
Emerson Axsom finished seventh to take the Five Star Bodies Rookie of the Race.
That also made Axsom the Tub O’ Towels Seventh Place Finisher.
Buddy Kofoid laid down the ACME Trading Company Fast Lap.
The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to David Gravel.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars kickoff the California swing with the $83,000-to-win Dennis Roth Classic at Stockton Dirt Track on Friday-Saturday, Sept. 18-19. 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.
FEATURE RESULTS:
NOS Energy Drink Feature (35 Laps): 1. 83-Michael Kofoid[2]; 2. 51-Steven Snyder Jr[10]; 3. 7S-Chris Windom[7]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz[12]; 5. 17-Spencer Bayston[6]; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart[20]; 7. 27-Emerson Axsom[11]; 8. 5D-Adam Trimble[14]; 9. 2C-Cole Macedo[8]; 10. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[3]; 11. 17B-Bill Balog[9]; 12. 2B-JJ Hickle[13]; 13. 16C-Skylar Gee[16]; 14. 23-Garet Williamson[4]; 15. 41-Carson Macedo[5]; 16. 2J-Zach Blurton[18]; 17. 2-David Gravel[1]; 18. 6-Bryce Lucius[19]; 19. 27B-Garrett Benson[15]; 20. 16G-Austyn Gossel[21]; 21. 28M-Conner Morrell[17]; 22. 74-Zack Merritt[24]; 23. 2W-Alex Pettas[22]; 24. 6G-Bryan Gossel[23]
For complete results, CLICK HERE.