Kofoid Captures Top Position in 2020 Midget Power Rankings

By admin December 15, 2020 POWRi, USAC

(December 15, 2020) – Michael “Buddy” Kofoid of Penngrove, CA, made the most of his first full season of Midget racing action by snaring the number one position in the 2020 edition of the www.midgetmadness.com Midget Power Rankings.

And he did it by the narrowest of margins, edging Keith Kunz Motorsports teammate Cannon McIntosh by just two points for top honors.

After capturing his first career Midget win in local action at Jacksonville in 2019, Kofoid embarked upon the entirety of the 2020 USAC Midget trail as well as a bulk of the POWRi schedule. Kofoid finished fourth in points with both series, earning “Rookie of the Year” honors in USAC action and topping the POWRi win charts with seven triumphs.

Kofoid collected ten overall wins on the season, knocking off a half-dozen POWRi wins before finally landing his first USAC National Midget score at Missouri’s Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex on September 5. Kofoid then finished out strong with another pair of USAC wins in November including a Western World Championship triumph at Arizona Speedway and then by outdueling Kyle Larson at Bakersfield.

That hard-fought victory over Larson at Bakersfield proved to be just enough to give the then 18-year-old Kofoid the top ranking by a nose over Oklahoma’s McIntosh. Also in his first full season among the Keith Kunz Motorsports flock, McIntosh picked up eight wins along the way to rank second. After scoring a Chili Bowl preliminary win, a pair of USAC triumphs were among the McIntosh victory drives.

Also racking up eight overall wins between a pair of rides along the way, California’s Tanner Thorson claimed third. Top-ranked in Midget Power Rankings in both 2015 and 2016, Thorson added seven USAC wins including the Leffler Memorial and Western World to a Chili Bowl preliminary win to kick off the season.

Tyler Courtney finished the season ranked fourth aboard a Clauson-Marshall Racing entry, his third time among the top-five in the past four years, while 2020 USAC Midget champion Chris Windom cracked the top-five for the first time in the Tucker-Boat Motorsports camp focusing solely on USAC action when turning Midget laps.

USAC rookie contender Daison Pursley was sixth aboard another KKM entry with Jake Neuman cracking the top-ten for the first time in seventh after capturing the POWRi National title. After ranking first the previous two years, Logan Seavey was eighth in 2020.

Running a limited slate of Midget events, Kyle Larson ranked ninth with Chili Bowl and Indiana Midget Week titles among his abundant 2020 accolades while Thomas Meseraull cracked the final top-ten for the first time.

Among this year’s top-ten, Thorson has finished in the top-ten five times over the past eight years while five racers (Kofoid, Pursley, Neuman, Larson and Meseraull) broke into the top-ten for this first time since the inception of the Midget Power Rankings in 2013.

Title sponsor of the Midget Power Rankings, www.midgetmadness.com is the leading source of headline news, results and more for Midget racing throughout the world.

The www.midgetmadness.com Midget Power Rankings are a part of the Open Wheel Power Rankings at www.sprintcarmania.com that also includes STIDA Winged 410s, Non-Wing Sprint Cars and Rod End Supply Winged 360s along with the STIDA Super Late Model Power Rankings.

A look at this year’s Top 50 in www.midgetmadness.com Midget Power Rankings is as follows:

Rank	Name	Hometown	Wins	Points	*2019 Rank*	*2018 Rank*	*2017 Rank*	*2016 Rank*	*2015 Rank*	*2014 Rank*	*2013 Rank*
1	Buddy Kofoid	Penngrove, CA	10	689	39	124	NR	233	NR	NR	NR
2	Cannon McIntosh	Bixby, OK	8	687	7	34	39	NR	NR	NR	NR
3	Tanner Thorson	Minden, NV	8	559	12	20	2	1	1	6	25
4	Tyler Courtney	Indianapolis, IN	5	481	2	7	4	80	126	102	NR
5	Chris Windom	Canton, IL	4	457	6	44	44	49	63	15	119
6	Daison Pursley	Locust Grove, OK	2	390	27	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
7	Jake Neuman	New Berlin, IL	2	317	16	17	25	22	41	193	132
8	Logan Seavey	Sutter, CA	2	304	1	1	11	164	NR	NR	NR
9	Kyle Larson	Elk Grove, CA	7	299	11	29	40	25	24	55	14
10	Thomas Meseraull	San Jose, CA	4	271	35	65	147	44	51	93	65
11	Justin Grant	Ione, CA	2	242	20	10	5	126	90	76	141
12	Emerson Axsom	Franklin, IN	2	236	149	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
13	Tanner Carrick	Lincoln, CA	0	227	5	4	17	NR	NR	NR	NR
14	Zach Daum	Pocahontas, IL	1	192	8	8	8	4	8	2	2
15	Ace McCarthy	Tahlequah, OK	2	173	32	67	56	247	NR	NR	NR
16	Andrew Felker	Carl Junction, MO	1	173	13	32	23	13	7	7	4
17	Kaylee Bryson	Muskogee, OK	0	163	96	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
18	Trey Gropp	Lincoln, NE	1	146	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
19	Kevin Thomas, Jr.	Cullman, AL	0	124	10	9	61	112	9	31	97
20	Spencer Bayston	Lebanon, IN	1	122	44	19	1	2	3	21	200
21	Trey Marcham	Newcastle, OK	3	117	30	39	122	NR	44	18	109
22	Jonathan Beason	Broken Arrow, OK	1	112	22	28	32	35	60	49	81
23	Jerry Coons, Jr.	Tucson, AZ	0	110	18	18	20	19	12	45	11
24	Rico Abreu	St. Helena, CA	1	109	21	23	18	11	4	4	5
25	Clinton Boyles	Greenwood, MO	0	107	198	NR	NR	NR	138	NR	NR
26	Christopher Bell	Norman, OK	1	104	19	5	6	29	5	1	1
27	Robert Dalby	Anaheim, CA	0	104	23	33	55	54	148	NR	NR
28	Blake Hahn	Sapulpa, OK	2	102	60	40	94	84	46	NR	NR
29	Chase Johnson	Penngrove, CA	0	97	121	47	NR	199	NR	NR	NR
30	Andrew Layser	Collegeville, PA	0	97	31	66	159	NR	NR	NR	NR
31	Noah Gass	Mounds, OK	0	86	53	206	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
32	Shane Golobic	Fremont, CA	0	84	28	27	3	17	54	51	29
33	Kyle Cummins	Princeton, IN	0	81	81	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
34	Tyler Thomas	Collinsville, OK	0	79	15	13	10	8	10	9	13
35	Tristin Thomas	Burlington, WA	0	76	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
36	Cole Bodine	Rossville, IN	0	74	63	48	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
37	Ryan Bernal	Hollister, CA	0	73	66	45	NR	138	18	133	91
38	Sam Johnson	St. Peters, MO	0	70	87	35	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
39	Chance Morton	Coweta, OK	0	67	41	164	223	117	147	NR	NR
40	Carson Macedo	Lemoore, CA	1	61	58	NR	53	3	NR	NR	NR
41	Tucker Klaasmeyer	Paola, KS	0	60	9	2	13	12	28	NR	NR
42	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	Olive Branch, MS	0	57	47	80	84	77	82	160	NR
43	Jason McDougal	Broken Arrow, OK	0	54	14	16	156	24	136	95	NR
44	Hank Davis	Sand Springs, OK	0	43	29	26	232	NR	NR	NR	NR
45	Frankie Guerrini	San Rafael, CA	1	38	NR	82	34	34	17	104	115
46	Kyle Jones	Kennedale, TX	0	36	76	70	NR	58	65	NR	NR
47	Jesse Love	Menlo Park, CA	0	36	48	106	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
48	Joe B. Miller	Millersville, MO	0	36	94	24	69	118	261	NR	NR
49-tie	Colby Copeland	Roseville, CA	0	35	65	90	67	NR	162	NR	NR
49-tie	Sammy Swindell	Germantown, TN	0	35	198	87	147	186	73	73	52

Features Completed: 87 (124 in 2019, 116 in 2018, 131 in 2017, 158 in 2016, 141 in 2015, 126 in 2014, 154 in 2013)

Number of Different Winners: 37 (51 in 2019, 56 in 2018, 60 in 2017, 62 in 2016, 65 in 2015, 57 in 2014, 66 in 2013)

Number of Drivers to Earn Points: 167 (214 in 2019, 226 in 2018, 236 in 2017, 278 in 2016, 274 in 2015, 241 in 2014, 248 in 2013)

Past Top Tens in www.midgetmadness.com Midget Power Rankings:

2019 – 1. Logan Seavey (16) 891, 2. Tyler Courtney (9) 605, 3. Zeb Wise (5) 490, 4. Jesse Colwell (2) 467, 5. Tanner Carrick (2) 435, 6. Chris Windom (2) 404, 7. Cannon McIntosh (1) 382, 8. Zach Daum 375, 9. Tucker Klaasmeyer 363, 10. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (2) 326.

2018 – 1. Logan Seavey (9) 734, 2. Tucker Klaasmeyer (6) 483, 3. Ryan Robinson (1) 457, 4. Tanner Carrick (2) 442, 5. Christopher Bell (9) 345, 6. Chad Boat (2) 321, 7. Tyler Courtney (3) 312, 8. Zach Daum (1) 295, 9. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (5) 294, 10. Justin Grant (2) 281.

2017 – 1. Spencer Bayston (8) 668, 2. Tanner Thorson (7) 608, 3. Shane Golobic (1) 444, 4. Tyler Courtney (5) 408, 5. Justin Grant (3) 359, 6. Christopher Bell (10) 346, 7. Brady Bacon (4) 342, 8. Zach Daum (1) 325, 9. Ryan Robinson 289, 10. Tyler Thomas (6) 277.

2016 – 1. Tanner Thorson (16) 795, 2. Spencer Bayston (3) 666, 3. Carson Macedo (3) 551, 4. Zach Daum (4) 469, 5. Brady Bacon (1) 356, 6. Bryan Clauson (5) 317, 7. Chad Boat (3) 310, 8. Tyler Thomas 294, 9. Ryan Robinson 282, 10. Justin Peck (1) 273.

2015 – 1. Tanner Thorson (7) 548, 2. Darren Hagen (5) 522, 3. Spencer Bayston (5) 500, 4. Rico Abreu (9) 488, 5. Christopher Bell (8) 438, 6. Bryan Clauson (6) 422, 7. Andrew Felker (3) 383, 8. Zach Daum (3) 379, 9. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (3) 373, 10. Tyler Thomas (2) 276.

2014 – 1. Christopher Bell (16) 659, 2. Zach Daum (4) 589, 3. Bryan Clauson (10) 555, 4. Rico Abreu (5) 449, 5. Darren Hagen (6) 421, 6. Tanner Thorson (2) 411, 7. Andrew Felker (3) 313, 8. Tracy Hines (2) 304, 9. Tyler Thomas (1) 283, 10. Alex Bright (5) 244.

2013 – 1. Christopher Bell (10) 543, 2. Zach Daum (8) 504, 3. Darren Hagen (8) 415, 4. Andrew Felker (2) 406, 5. Rico Abreu (7) 402, 6. Bryan Clauson (8) 397, 7. Brad Kuhn (1) 325, 8. Tracy Hines (2) 322, 9. Ronnie Gardner (13) 280, 10. Alex Bright (3) 231.

The Open Wheel Power Rankings are determined by cumulative points based on a sliding scale dependent upon car count at Sprint Car and Midget events across all sanctions and non-sanctions throughout North America.

Sources: Lonnie Wheatley,