Bill Balog triumphs on High Bank Nationals prelim night
Photo by Trent Gower
BRANDON, S.D.—What’s the best way for a race car driver to get over the pain of finishing second? Winning, of course.
Bill Balog suffered a tough to swallow runner-up finish on Thursday at Huset’s Speedway. With $100,000 on the line, Balog led more than half of the race before Michael “Buddy” Kofoid snatched victory away late. Balog was forced to watch as Kofoid celebrated a six-figure Huset’s Hustle score.
A chance at redemption was served only a day later as Friday shifted the scene to the BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals presented by Menards prelim. A strong Qualifying and Heat Race effort sent the “North Pole Nightmare” to the redraw where he pulled the two to line up on the front row of the 35-lap, $20,000-to-win main event.
Polesitter Garet Williamson led the first circuit, but Balog was all over him. Then on Lap 2, Balog nailed the cushion and drove around the Fischer Motorsports No. 23 to claim the lead. Williamson hung around with Balog as he refused to give up a shot at his first career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series victory easily.
Balog finally managed to pull ahead nearing the halfway point. Traffic made things interesting in the green-to-checkered Feature as Williamson closed back in late, but ultimately nobody had anything for Balog. The Hartland, WI resident held on for his second win of 2025. Redemption: secured.
“This is another wore out motor, but it runs really good,” Balog said. “I just probably put a couple nights on it buzzing it there. It was good. We made a couple little tweaks to the car. I think we ran probably a little different gear. We were really good. This is just awesome.”
The night gave Balog his third career triumph with The Greatest Show on Dirt to go along with his 2016 win at Wisconsin’s Beaver Dam Raceway and the one earlier this season at Eastaboga, AL’s Talladega Short Track. He becomes the eighth different driver in 2025 with multiple World of Outlaws scores.
But beyond the statistics, the most important number is where he stands in points heading into Saturday’s $250,000-to-win Huset’s High Bank Nationals finale. Balog is atop the table, putting him on the pole of the first Heat. If he can win that Heat Race, he’ll guarantee himself a front row starting spot for the main event that’s set to equal the largest winner’s share in Series history.
The driver who finished behind Balog is also the one who trails him by a spot in points, Buddy Kofoid. The Penngrove, CA native had speed all night again with the Roth Motorsports crew and swiped the runner-up position on the final lap. Kofoid set himself up nicely to have a shot at a second six-figure payday this week on Saturday.
“Good points night again,” Kofoid said. “Really happy for Bill. He’s really, really good here. Happy for that whole team. I would’ve liked to be a spot better, but obviously now the big picture is tomorrow.”
Garet Williamson held on to the final podium position, equaling his career best finish with the World of Outlaws. The Fischer Motorsports driver felt he had the speed to contend for a win but simply made a couple wrong moves early that allowed Balog to control the race and ultimately go on to victory. Williamson will enter Saturday third in points and on the pole of a Heat Race.
“I probably should’ve just moved up a little sooner,” Williamson said. “The track obviously had the rework, and I just thought the bottom would stay around a little bit longer, and I felt really good down there. I probably stayed down there a lap or two too long. I saw Bill and thought I could drive across, but he just got such a good run out of (Turn) 2 and was able to turn down. Then we got to lapped traffic, and I feel like I paced him great. I had one shot at him down here in (Turn) 1, and I kind of wished I just pulled the trigger and drove it all the way across and got to racing with him again, but congrats to Bill.”
David Gravel and Sheldon Haudenschild completed the top five.
Haudenschild wheeled his way from 13th to fifth for the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger.
Kerry Madsen earned the Simpson Quick Time Award in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.
Heat Races belonged to Logan Schuchart (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Brad Sweet (Real American Beer Heat Two), Conner Morrell (WIX Filters Heat Three), Hunter Schuerenberg (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.com Heat Four), Christopher Thram (Toyota Heat Five), and Tyler Courtney (NOS Energy Drink Heat Six).
The SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to Garet Williamson.
Brady Bacon won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Conner Morrell.
UP NEXT: The BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals presented by Menards finale on Saturday, June 21 presents the highest payday of the 2025 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car season as the winner is taking home $250,000. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.
FRIDAY HIGH BANK NATIONALS RESULTS
NOS Energy Drink Feature (35 Laps): 1. 17B-Bill Balog[2]; 2. 83-Michael Kofoid[3]; 3. 23-Garet Williamson[1]; 4. 2-David Gravel[5]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[13]; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart[8]; 7. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[4]; 8. 10-Ryan Timms[16]; 9. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[10]; 10. 49-Brad Sweet[9]; 11. 24T-Christopher Thram[6]; 12. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[14]; 13. 9R-Chase Randall[7]; 14. 41-Carson Macedo[22]; 15. 1A-Ashton Torgerson[17]; 16. 2C-Cole Macedo[12]; 17. 55V-Kerry Madsen[15]; 18. 21H-Brady Bacon[21]; 19. 2KS-Ian Madsen[18]; 20. 15-Donny Schatz[23]; 21. 39M-Anthony Macri[19]; 22. 21-Brian Brown[24]; 23. 28M-Conner Morrell[11]; 24. 16-Riley Goodno[20]
MicroLite Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 21H-Brady Bacon[2]; 2. 41-Carson Macedo[5]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz[3]; 4. 21-Brian Brown[4]; 5. 45X-Landon Crawley[6]; 6. 88T-Tanner Thorson[17]; 7. 24-Rico Abreu[16]; 8. 99-Skylar Gee[12]; 9. 53-Jack Dover[15]; 10. 6K-Kaleb Johnson[21]; 11. 88-Austin McCarl[8]; 12. 44-Chris Martin[1]; 13. 27-Carson McCarl[9]; 14. 6-Zach Hampton[18]; 15. 64-Andy Pake[13]; 16. 80P-Jacob Peterson[19]; 17. 3-Tim Kaeding[20]; 18. 8-Jacob Hughes[7]; 19. 25-Jy Corbet[14]; 20. 83H-Justin Henderson[10]; 21. 14-Spencer Bayston[22]; 22. 87-Aaron Reutzel[11]
C Feature (10 Laps): 1. 6K-Kaleb Johnson[2]; 2. 14-Spencer Bayston[5]; 3. 7S-Chris Windom[1]; 4. 8H-Jade Hastings[3]; 5. 9-Kasey Kahne[6]; 6. 13-Mark Dobmeier[14]; 7. 95-Tyler Drueke[9]; 8. 31-Koby Werkmeister[10]; 9. 9D-Dominic Dobesh[4]; 10. 33-Scott Broty[18]; 11. 96-Blaine Stegenga[11]; 12. 4-Cameron Martin[12]; 13. 2X-Alex Pettas[15]; 14. 8X-Micah Slendy[17]; 15. 23W-Scott Winters[7]; 16. 83JR-Sam Henderson[8]; 17. O9-Matt Juhl[13]; 18. 11M-Brendan Mullen[16]; 19. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[19]
NOS Energy Drink Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart[2]; 2. 39M-Anthony Macri[1]; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[3]; 4. 1A-Ashton Torgerson[4]; 5. 55V-Kerry Madsen[6]; 6. 53-Jack Dover[7]; 7. 7S-Chris Windom[8]; 8. 64-Andy Pake[5]; 9. O9-Matt Juhl[9]; 10. 2X-Alex Pettas[10]
Real American Beer Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 49-Brad Sweet[2]; 2. 44-Chris Martin[1]; 3. 2-David Gravel[4]; 4. 41-Carson Macedo[3]; 5. 15-Donny Schatz[5]; 6. 88T-Tanner Thorson[7]; 7. 14-Spencer Bayston[9]; 8. 87-Aaron Reutzel[6]; 9. 96-Blaine Stegenga[8]; 10. 8X-Micah Slendy[10]
WIX Filter Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 28M-Conner Morrell[2]; 2. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[5]; 3. 83-Michael Kofoid[6]; 4. 8-Jacob Hughes[3]; 5. 27-Carson McCarl[4]; 6. 80P-Jacob Peterson[7]; 7. 8H-Jade Hastings[8]; 8. 95-Tyler Drueke[9]; 9. 23W-Scott Winters[1]; 10. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[10]
The Greatest Store on Dirt Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[1]; 2. 9R-Chase Randall[4]; 3. 2KS-Ian Madsen[2]; 4. 16-Riley Goodno[3]; 5. 6-Zach Hampton[7]; 6. 3-Tim Kaeding[8]; 7. 83H-Justin Henderson[5]; 8. 24-Rico Abreu[6]; 9. 4-Cameron Martin[9]; 10. 11M-Brendan Mullen[10]
Toyota Heat 5 (10 Laps): 1. 24T-Christopher Thram[3]; 2. 23-Garet Williamson[4]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog[5]; 4. 45X-Landon Crawley[1]; 5. 99-Skylar Gee[2]; 6. 9D-Dominic Dobesh[9]; 7. 21-Brian Brown[6]; 8. 83JR-Sam Henderson[8]; 9. 31-Koby Werkmeister[7]; 10. 33-Scott Broty[10]
NOS Energy Drink Heat 6 (10 Laps): 1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[3]; 2. 21H-Brady Bacon[1]; 3. 2C-Cole Macedo[4]; 4. 10-Ryan Timms[5]; 5. 25-Jy Corbet[2]; 6. 6K-Kaleb Johnson[8]; 7. 88-Austin McCarl[6]; 8. 9-Kasey Kahne[7]; 9. 13-Mark Dobmeier[9]
Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying Group A (2 Laps): 1. 55V-Kerry Madsen, 00:11.259[1]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 00:11.263[4]; 3. 83-Michael Kofoid, 00:11.295[11]; 4. 64-Andy Pake, 00:11.301[2]; 5. 15-Donny Schatz, 00:11.395[21]; 6. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 00:11.429[5]; 7. 1A-Ashton Torgerson, 00:11.464[24]; 8. 2-David Gravel, 00:11.464[9]; 9. 27-Carson McCarl, 00:11.470[8]; 10. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 00:11.478[26]; 11. 41-Carson Macedo, 00:11.485[12]; 12. 8-Jacob Hughes, 00:11.495[18]; 13. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 00:11.513[19]; 14. 49-Brad Sweet, 00:11.514[28]; 15. 28M-Conner Morrell, 00:11.537[22]; 16. 39M-Anthony Macri, 00:11.546[16]; 17. 44-Chris Martin, 00:11.560[29]; 18. 23W-Scott Winters, 00:11.563[15]; 19. 53-Jack Dover, 00:11.613[27]; 20. 88T-Tanner Thorson, 00:11.620[23]; 21. 80P-Jacob Peterson, 00:11.663[25]; 22. 7S-Chris Windom, 00:11.669[20]; 23. 96-Blaine Stegenga, 00:11.717[17]; 24. 8H-Jade Hastings, 00:11.776[13]; 25. O9-Matt Juhl, 00:11.811[6]; 26. 14-Spencer Bayston, 00:11.834[10]; 27. 95-Tyler Drueke, 00:11.915[7]; 28. 2X-Alex Pettas, 00:12.147[14]; 29. 8X-Micah Slendy, 00:12.221[30]; 30. G5-Gage Pulkrabek, 00:12.232[3]
Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying Group B (2 Laps): 1. 24-Rico Abreu, 00:11.491[20]; 2. 21-Brian Brown, 00:11.521[4]; 3. 88-Austin McCarl, 00:11.523[9]; 4. 83H-Justin Henderson, 00:11.554[19]; 5. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:11.567[5]; 6. 10-Ryan Timms, 00:11.589[13]; 7. 9R-Chase Randall, 00:11.589[11]; 8. 23-Garet Williamson, 00:11.594[14]; 9. 2C-Cole Macedo, 00:11.594[2]; 10. 16-Riley Goodno, 00:11.599[21]; 11. 24T-Christopher Thram, 00:11.626[7]; 12. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 00:11.649[18]; 13. 2KS-Ian Madsen, 00:11.684[29]; 14. 99-Skylar Gee, 00:11.690[25]; 15. 25-Jy Corbet, 00:11.702[3]; 16. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 00:11.725[27]; 17. 45X-Landon Crawley, 00:11.728[28]; 18. 21H-Brady Bacon, 00:11.734[10]; 19. 6-Zach Hampton, 00:11.740[12]; 20. 31-Koby Werkmeister, 00:11.745[6]; 21. 9-Kasey Kahne, 00:11.756[15]; 22. 3-Tim Kaeding, 00:11.778[26]; 23. 83JR-Sam Henderson, 00:11.789[23]; 24. 6K-Kaleb Johnson, 00:11.856[1]; 25. 4-Cameron Martin, 00:11.911[17]; 26. 9D-Dominic Dobesh, 00:11.943[8]; 27. 13-Mark Dobmeier, 00:11.961[24]; 28. 11M-Brendan Mullen, 00:11.991[16]; 29. 33-Scott Broty, 00:12.256[22]
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