Kofoid holds off Gravel for World of Outlaws score at River Cities
Photo by Trent Gower
GRAND FORKS, N.D.—There’s little that motivates a race car driver more than finishing second.
Last August Michael “Buddy” Kofoid led the opening 18 laps at River Cities Speedway with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series. But a pivotal restart cost him the top spot and ultimately the victory as he and Roth Motorsports settled for second.
Fast forward nine months, and Kofoid’s role was reversed at the Gerdau Metals Recycling presents the Don Mack Classic. He was the one chasing. He was the one tasked with taking the top spot. And not only did he do it, but he also had to overcome the defending Series champion to pull it off.
Kofoid plugged his No. 83 right into the cushion when the green flag brought the 40-lap finale to life on Friday night in Grand Forks, ND. Ahead of him polesitter David Gravel committed to the bottom, and it was clear right away that Kofoid had something for him. The Penngrove, CA native snuck alongside the Big Game Motorsports No. 2 on Lap 5 and rocketed by a lap later.
The race was far from over after Kofoid grabbed the lead. Gravel stalked him the rest of the way and even showed him a nose a time or two. But a couple of fortuitous yellow flags gave Kofoid clean track ahead, and he capitalized by holding Gravel off to be one spot better than his most recent trip to the famous bullring.
“I think just letting him (Gravel) be out front those few laps let me move around and let me figure out where my car was good or not so good,” Kofoid said. “I’ve always said you’ve got to me maneuverable anywhere but especially here with the lines changing so much and the pace being so quick. You’ve got to be able to move right away. That’s just a credit to Dylan, Nate, and John. I didn’t feel like we Hot Lapped or Qualified all that great and felt probably the worst in the Heat Race, but I feel like our speed was there. And then we just flipped a switch in the Dash and felt insane.”
Friday’s triumph made it four victories in 2025 for Kofoid with The Greatest Show on Dirt, giving him sole possession of the second most this season. The 23-year-old is the 15th driver through 34 visits to win at River Cities in World of Outlaws competition. The Penngrove, CA native made it three straight victories for Californians at the North Dakota track as Giovanni Scelzi and Carson Macedo claimed last year’s pair of stops.
Gravel settled for the runner-up spot for his Series-leading 16th podium of 2025 with the World of Outlaws. The defending champion acknowledged he may have been a little too reserved throughout the opening laps, allowing Kofoid to pass him. Then a couple ill-time yellow flags potentially cost him the opportunity he needed to take the lead back.
“I think I moved around too much, just ran the bottom one lap too many there,” Gravel admitted. “I heard him out there, but I figured if I moved up, he would probably slide me, so I was trying to get one more good exit. It cost me the lead and ultimately cost me the race. If some of those cautions don’t come out, I think we have a shot at the win there.”
A valiant charge from 15th saw Donny Schatz round out the top three in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing No. 15. He added to his already incredible River Cities résumé with his 24th podium in 34 tries at the quarter mile.
“These guys are digging,” said of the effort. “We hurt that car last week, so they had to put another car together. Pretty solid really. Qualifying, I didn’t feel bad, but we just didn’t have the speed. So, Todd, Wood, and Ian just kept working on it. Obviously, we had to start deep. We’ve always had good runs here, so I guess it’s kind of fitting we got another good one tonight.”
Giovanni Scelzi and Logan Schuchart completed the top five.
Schatz’s run from 15th to third earned him the KSE Racing Hard Charger.
Zach Hampton earned Simpson Quick Time honors in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.
Heat Races belonged to Logan Schuchart (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Chris Windom (Real American Beer Heat Two), Carson Macedo (WIX Filters Heat Three), and David Gravel (TheGreateastStoreonDirt.com Heat Four).
The #SPATechnique #1 Redraw went to David Gravel.
Gravel also topped the Toyota Dash.
Mark Dobmeier won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Zach Hampton.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars complete a North Dakota weekend at West Fargo’s Red River Valley Speedway on Saturday, May 31 for the Ellingson presents the Rumble on the Red. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
For the remaining 2025 schedule, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.
RESULTS
NOS Energy Drink Feature (40 Laps): 1. 83-Michael Kofoid[2]; 2. 2-David Gravel[1]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz[15]; 4. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[4]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart[7]; 6. 41-Carson Macedo[3]; 7. 7S-Chris Windom[6]; 8. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[10]; 9. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[5]; 10. 17B-Bill Balog[17]; 11. 23-Garet Williamson[12]; 12. 53-Jack Dover[19]; 13. 99-Skylar Gee[14]; 14. 2C-Cole Macedo[11]; 15. 13-Mark Dobmeier[21]; 16. 3-Tim Kaeding[8]; 17. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[13]; 18. 28M-Conner Morrell[23]; 19. 25-Jy Corbett[20]; 20. 6-Zach Hampton[9]; 21. 8H-Jade Hastings[22]; 22. 0-Nick Omdahl[18]; 23. 8-Jack Croaker[24]; 24. 64-Andy Pake[16]
MicroLite Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 13-Mark Dobmeier[2]; 2. 8H-Jade Hastings[3]; 3. 28M-Conner Morrell[1]; 4. 8-Jack Croaker[4]; 5. 9-Dominic Dobesh[10]; 6. 52-Adam Sobolik[11]; 7. 17Z-Zach Omdahl[8]; 8. 24T-Christopher Thram[13]; 9. 10-Alex Truscinski[5]; 10. 91-Reed Allex[12]; 11. 4-Colton Young[9]; 12. 27-Weston Olson[7]; 13. 80P-Jacob Peterson[6]
Toyota Dash (8 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[1]; 2. 83-Michael Kofoid[3]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo[4]; 4. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[6]; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[7]; 6. 7S-Chris Windom[5]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart[8]; 8. 3-Tim Kaeding[2]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart[2]; 2. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[4]; 3. 6-Zach Hampton[1]; 4. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[6]; 5. 17B-Bill Balog[3]; 6. 28M-Conner Morrell[5]; 7. 10-Alex Truscinski[8]; 8. 4-Colton Young[9]; 9. 24T-Christopher Thram[7]
Real American Beer Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 7S-Chris Windom[3]; 2. 3-Tim Kaeding[4]; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[1]; 4. 99-Skylar Gee[2]; 5. 0-Nick Omdahl[5]; 6. 8H-Jade Hastings[7]; 7. 80P-Jacob Peterson[6]; 8. 9-Dominic Dobesh[8]
WIX Filters Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[1]; 2. 83-Michael Kofoid[2]; 3. 2C-Cole Macedo[3]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz[4]; 5. 53-Jack Dover[6]; 6. 13-Mark Dobmeier[5]; 7. 27-Weston Olson[7]; 8. 52-Adam Sobolik[8]
The Greatest Show on Dirt Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[1]; 2. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[2]; 3. 23-Garet Williamson[3]; 4. 64-Andy Pake[4]; 5. 25-Jy Corbett[6]; 6. 8-Jack Croaker[5]; 7. 17Z-Zach Omdahl[7]; 8. 91-Reed Allex[8]
Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 6-Zach Hampton, 00:10.172[3]; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 00:10.192[29]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo, 00:10.220[12]; 4. 2-David Gravel, 00:10.221[13]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 00:10.233[28]; 6. 99-Skylar Gee, 00:10.250[23]; 7. 83-Michael Kofoid, 00:10.258[6]; 8. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 00:10.302[19]; 9. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:10.324[7]; 10. 7S-Chris Windom, 00:10.328[25]; 11. 2C-Cole Macedo, 00:10.331[26]; 12. 23-Garet Williamson, 00:10.345[31]; 13. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 00:10.354[14]; 14. 3-Tim Kaeding, 00:10.358[32]; 15. 15-Donny Schatz, 00:10.364[15]; 16. 64-Andy Pake, 00:10.392[1]; 17. 28M-Conner Morrell, 00:10.393[16]; 18. 0-Nick Omdahl, 00:10.401[4]; 19. 13-Mark Dobmeier, 00:10.408[33]; 20. 8-Jack Croaker, 00:10.454[11]; 21. G5-Gage Pulkrabek, 00:10.456[9]; 22. 80P-Jacob Peterson, 00:10.457[30]; 23. 53-Jack Dover, 00:10.468[22]; 24. 25-Jy Corbett, 00:10.489[20]; 25. 24T-Christopher Thram, 00:10.497[17]; 26. 8H-Jade Hastings, 00:10.512[24]; 27. 27-Weston Olson, 00:10.582[18]; 28. 17Z-Zach Omdahl, 00:10.740[10]; 29. 10-Alex Truscinski, 00:10.804[21]; 30. 9-Dominic Dobesh, 00:10.841[27]; 31. 52-Adam Sobolik, 00:11.180[2]; 32. 91-Reed Allex, 00:11.334[8]; 33. 4-Colton Young, 01:00.000[5]
CURRENT WORLD OF OUTLAWS SERIES STANDINGS
Points Updated: May 30, 2025
Pos. No. Driver Hometown Points Gap Starts Wins Top 5s Top 10s
1 2 David Gravel Watertown, CT 3702 26 8 22 26
2 83 Michael Kofoid Penngrove, CA 3524 -178 26 4 9 21
3 1S Logan Schuchart Hanover, PA 3514 -188 26 2 15 21
4 41 Carson Macedo LeMoore, CA 3488 -214 26 3 13 21
5 17 Sheldon Haudenschild Wooster, OH 3452 -250 26 1 12 18
6 15 Donny Schatz Fargo, ND 3358 -344 26 0 5 16
7 18 Giovanni Scelzi Fresno, CA 3344 -358 26 1 5 18
8 17B Bill Balog North Pole, AK 3196 -506 25 1 4 11
9 7S Chris Windom Canton, IL 3166 -536 26 0 2 10
10 23 Garet Williamson Columbia, MO 3106 -596 26 0 0 5
11 55 Hunter Schuerenberg Sikeston, MO 3042 -660 22 0 1 7
12 2C Cole Macedo LeMoore, CA 3028 -674 22 0 3 6
13 6 Zach Hampton Mooresville, IN 2956 -746 22 0 0 4
14 99 Skylar Gee Leduc, AB, CA 2894 -808 18 0 2 4
15 28M Conner Morrell Bradenton, FL 2842 -860 20 0 2 3
16 27 Emerson Axsom Franklin, IN 2312 -1390 16 0 2 7
17 39M Anthony Macri Dillsburg, PA 1440 -2262 12 1 2 5
18 32 Bryce Lucius Findlay, OH 1434 -2268 5 0 0 0
19 88 Austin McCarl Altoona, IA 1236 -2466 11 0 0 2
20 71 Parker Price Miller Kokomo, IN 1218 -2484 9 0 0 3
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WISSOTA Late Model
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 71-Dustin Strand[2]; 2. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[7]; 3. 1-Amelia Eisenschenk[3]; 4. 12S-Brad Seng[5]; 5. 50-Ryan Corbett[4]; 6. E85-Jason Strand[1]; 7. 8R-Travis Robertson[11]; 8. 12F-Greg Friestad[9]; 9. 42-Paul Niznik[12]; 10. 44*-Cole Schill[6]; 11. 11-Troy Schill[16]; 12. 15-Laela Eisenschenk[23]; 13. 27P-Tucker Pederson[15]; 14. 39-Jamie Dietzler[22]; 15. 4C-Brandon Corbett[13]; 16. 2-Rusty Kollman[14]; 17. 56-Laine Schwehr[17]; 18. 16S-Jeff Hapala[26]; 19. 29K-Ryan Kereluk[18]; 20. 47-Kreig Kasin[24]; 21. (DNF) T 1-Tom Corcoran[10]; 22. (DNF) 5E-Shane Edginton[21]; 23. (DNF) 33-Ryan Dahl[25]; 24. (DNF) 08-Frank Veert[20]; 25. (DNF) 7P-Joey Pederson[8]; 26. (DNF) 00-Mitch Johnson[19]
B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 5E-Shane Edginton[6]; 2. 39-Jamie Dietzler[3]; 3. 21S-John Seng[8]; 4. 15-Laela Eisenschenk[10]; 5. F9-Brandon Fuller[5]; 6. 47-Kreig Kasin[1]; 7. 97-Dan McNamee[9]; 8. 16S-Jeff Hapala[11]; 9. 42S-Matthew Jarvis[4]; 10. (DNF) 33-Ryan Dahl[2]; 11. (DNS) 93-Kelsi Pederson
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 12S-Brad Seng[2]; 2. 1-Amelia Eisenschenk[8]; 3. 12F-Greg Friestad[7]; 4. 4C-Brandon Corbett[1]; 5. 56-Laine Schwehr[4]; 6. 47-Kreig Kasin[5]; 7. (DNF) 5E-Shane Edginton[3]; 8. (DNF) 97-Dan McNamee[6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[7]; 2. 50-Ryan Corbett[5]; 3. T 1-Tom Corcoran[1]; 4. 2-Rusty Kollman[4]; 5. 29K-Ryan Kereluk[2]; 6. 33-Ryan Dahl[6]; 7. (DNF) 93-Kelsi Pederson[3]; 8. (DNF) 15-Laela Eisenschenk[8]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. E85-Jason Strand[2]; 2. 7P-Joey Pederson[1]; 3. 8R-Travis Robertson[3]; 4. 27P-Tucker Pederson[6]; 5. 00-Mitch Johnson[7]; 6. 39-Jamie Dietzler[5]; 7. (DNF) 21S-John Seng[4]; 8. (DNF) 16S-Jeff Hapala[8]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 44*-Cole Schill[6]; 2. 71-Dustin Strand[7]; 3. 42-Paul Niznik[1]; 4. 11-Troy Schill[4]; 5. 08-Frank Veert[3]; 6. 42S-Matthew Jarvis[5]; 7. F9-Brandon Fuller[2]
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