Buddy Kofoid wasn’t particularly fond of Tyler Courtney’s eventual race-winning move Sunday in World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series competition at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind.
Amid an intense lead battle in lapped traffic, Courtney and Kofoid tangled on the initial final-lap attempt entering turn three. Admittedly “trying to get back to the bottom,” Courtney darted from the outside lane to the inside after clearing a lapped car, aiming to protect the preferred groove into the final corner.
But Courtney’s left-rear clipped Kofoid’s right-front just as Kofoid’s car settled back onto all four wheels following a wheelie after striking an infield tractor tire exiting turn two. While Courtney kept going, the contact sent Kofoid — winner of three straight WoO features entering Sunday — spinning along the backstretch.
Tyler Courtney Wins First 410 Race Since Injury vs. World Of Outlaws
"I feel like I didn’t do anything wrong," Kofoid told DIRTVision pit reporter Conner Wade. "I couldn’t see him until I crashed, basically. So I feel like that’s something maybe that's at least he should come over and say, but if not, I’m curious to see what he thinks, because I feel like that’s kind of s-----. And at the very least, not fair to do something like that."
📹 @DIRTVision@MichaelKofoid offers his side of the story on the late race contact with @TyCourtney7BC. pic.twitter.com/ukJiq3epHK
— World of Outlaws (@WorldofOutlaws) April 20, 2026
Courtney, who addressed the incident before Kofoid in his victory lane interview following his first 410 victory since last July’s back injury, acknowledged the contact but framed it as part of a last-lap battle for the win.
"Yeah, I mean, we made contact, but I think he's gonna be doing the same thing coming off the top like that," Courtney said. "You're going for the win, and they already threw the white. Whoever gets through the next corner first is gonna win the race."
The incident overshadowed a terrific lead battle between Courtney and Kofoid, who seemingly traded sliders or ran wheel-to-wheel every moment from Lap 30 to 39. Kofoid led Laps 30-32, overcoming a two-second deficit in 11 laps to appear on his way to victory until Courtney responded by reclaiming the lead in traffic on Lap 33.
Only 0.091 of a second separated Courtney and Kofoid at the line on Lap 36. Kofoid, meanwhile, had more to say about his battle with the Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing campaigner.
🤯 White flag in the air - battle for the lead! Tyler Courtney and Buddy Kofoid come together@WorldofOutlaws pic.twitter.com/s9v4oyQRmw
"That wasn't the first close call, or at least the first time he got into me. I mean, there were two or three other times I felt like I got across him clean, and then I look to my left and see him turn hard right, all the way to the fence, before I’m even cleared," Kofoid said of the Lap 39 incident. "And 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 raced him really clean and hard, and just got driven into the side of. He said he tried to get to the bottom, but I’m already at the bottom of the straightaway and he’s all the way at the top and just turns hard left that time.
"I thought I had him — and never saw him — and then just saw hard left," he added.
With Courtney tentatively planning to race with the Outlaws next Friday and Saturday at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway, it won’t be long before the Indianapolis, Ind., driver and Kofoid meet again. Kofoid — a High Limit Racing winner last year at Eagle Raceway in Nebraska — could even cross paths with Courtney as soon as Tuesday at Eagle, should he and Roth Motorsports choose to run the High Limit event.
"I feel like you don’t see a lot of that with the normal guys we race with," Kofoid said. "So, that’s unfortunate, but I guess that’s just the way it is.