HAUBSTADT, Ind. — Another bullring, another banger for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.
This time around the scene was Tri-State Speedway. Weather pushed the Southern Indiana Showdown to Sunday and Mother Nature delivered a prime evening for one of the wildest races of the season.
Tyler Courtney wasted no time powering from fourth to the lead, snatching the top spot from Sheldon Haudenschild on an early restart.
Then “Sunshine” ripped away and looked as if he may be cruising the Clauson Marshall Racing No. 7bc to a victory in his home state. But then the hottest driver on the World of Outlaws tour came alive.
Michael “Buddy” Kofoid, in search of his fourth consecutive win, slipped as far back as 10th in the first half of the 40-lapper. Then the Roth Motorsports No. 83 found another gear and began ripping toward the front.
By the 14th circuit, Kofoid had climbed to third. Five laps later, he was second. The Penngrove, Calif., native reeled in Courtney, and the two began an absolute brawl for the top spot. Kofoid muscled ahead. Courtney took it back.
The two continued to trade the lead while combatting traffic. Courtney led as the white flag flew, and Kofoid drag raced him down the back straightaway and made contact, sending Kofoid around and ending his night.
The job wasn’t done as Courtney had to hold off fellow “Hoosier” Emerson Axsom on a green-white-checkered, but he powered ahead and took the checkered flag.
“I was just trying to get back to the bottom there,” Courtney said of the contact. “I mean, we made contact, but I think he’s going to be doing the same thing coming off the top like that. You’re going for the win. They already threw the white. Whoever gets to the next corner first is going to win the race. That was an awesome battle. I don’t think I’ve been a part of one that good since my non-winged days.”
Courtney is up to six career checkered flags with The Greatest Show on Dirt. It’s his second overall score at Tri-State to go along with an Interstate Racing Association one two years ago.
The late crash left Kofoid with a 19th-place finish. He remained third in points, but the gap between himself and leader David Gravel ballooned to 80 markers.
“That wasn’t the first close call there,” Kofoid said. “There was two or three other times I feel like I got across him clean, and then I look to my left and see a hard right all the way to the fence before I’m even cleared. That wasn’t the first time he tried to chop me 50-feet before the corner. I don’t even know what to say. I feel like I ran him really clean and hard.”
Courtney led a one-two finish for Indiana natives as’s Emerson Axsom brought the Klaasmeyer/Petry Motorsports No. 27 home second for his first podium of the year.
Sheldon Haudenschild rounded out the podium in the KCP Racing/NOS Energy Drink No. 18 for his third top three of 2026.
Brady Bacon and Garet Williamson completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[4]; 2. 27-Emerson Axsom[5]; 3. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[2]; 4. 21H-Brady Bacon[20]; 5. 23-Garet Williamson[6]; 6. 2C-Cole Macedo[1]; 7. 17B-Carson Short[16]; 8. 71-Parker Price Miller[7]; 9. 2-David Gravel[15]; 10. 6-Kasey Jedrzejek[13]; 11. 41-Carson Macedo[11]; 12. 7S-Chris Windom[8]; 13. 1S-Logan Schuchart[9]; 14. 17-Spencer Bayston[22]; 15. 15-Donny Schatz[21]; 16. 3P-Kyle Cummins[18]; 17. 1A-Ashton Torgerson[14]; 18. 16C-Scotty Thiel[24]; 19. 83-Michael Kofoid[3]; 20. 19-Joel Myers Jr[17]; 21. 7A-Will Armitage[23]; 22. 51B-Joe B Miller[10]; 23. 37-Bryce Norris[19]; 24. 51-Scott Bogucki[12]