bill balog
Balog Sings The Redemption Song At Huset’s
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 difficult 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.
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 raceace 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 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, Wis., 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 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 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, Calif., 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.
The finish:
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]
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 difficult 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.
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 raceace 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 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, Wis., 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 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 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, Calif., 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.
The finish:
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]
Source: Speed Sport
