In his first year racing dirt Midgets, Colton Robinson is soaking up the lessons and experiences attained with the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota in his rookie campaign.
The Titusville, FL driver began his career racing dirt karts around his home state tracks of Volusia Speedway Park and Callahan Speedway. He won Junior division titles in the Florida Dirt Championship Series and Florida Karting Series against future Hunt The Front Super Dirt Series racers Trey Mills and Jackson Hise.
In 2022, Robinson made the move to race Micro Sprints for Frank Flud, winning races at Oklahoma’s Port City Speedway and Florida’s Marion County Speedway until Keith Kunz offered him the chance to go national Midget racing in 2025 for his national-touring team.
“My dad started racing with go-karts, and he’s who really got me into it,” Robinson said. “We just got to the point where we kind of ran out of competition (in Florida), and we knew we needed to get onto something bigger.
“So, I started racing Micros about two and a half years ago, and I was running with Frank Flud for all the big shows in Oklahoma when I caught Keith (Kunz)’s eye at a couple of KKM events last year. It’s definitely been a long process, but I’m very blessed to be able to do this.”
The 15-year-old debuted aboard his Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports (KKM) LynK Chassis at the Turnpike Challenge to prep before the Xtreme Outlaw season opener at Farmer City Raceway.
In his first four Series starts, he’s finished inside the top-10 in every Feature and sits sixth in the standings ahead of the Midget Roundup on Memorial Day weekend, May 23-25.
Learning from experienced crew chief Beau Binder and the crew members turn wrenches on the KKM Midgets, Robinson’s resources have helped form a level of comfort with the Midget while working on building pace at tracks new to him on the Series calendar.
“It’s a lot different compared to everything I’ve driven previously,” Robinson said. “If anything, it’s pretty close to the Micro, but it’s got so much horsepower. So, Beau (Binder) and all of them over (at KKM) have done great helping me get acclimated and comfortable with the car. It’s nice that we’ve been picking up speed pretty quick. I’m sure you’ll see us closer to the top five, hopefully.”
Robinson’s primary challenge is having a firm understanding of how the tracks change throughout the evening so he can trace the ideal line at a faster rate in the Feature.
“I’m just really trying to learn lines and watch the track moving,” Robinson said. “Even just staying comfortable with the car, getting to drive hard, and just learning what the car does, because all these (KKM) guys are the best. They help you get comfortable, stay comfortable, and a good car every time you go out on the track. If it’s not good, you’re normally the one at fault. We always have an off week, but it’s the driver at fault.”
While he’s faced a steep learning curve for his first year competing on the national Midget stage, Robinson is enjoying the process of learning each new track that the Series follows.
Among the tracks familiar to him is Mattoon, IL’s Coles County Speedway, which will host the inaugural King of Coles on May 30-31.
“There’s a bit of a learning curve that’s come with this,” Robinson said. “I’ve tried to be a quick learner through the process, because a lot of it is new to me. I just try to go out there and drive it hard and figure out how to find speed around the track that others haven’t discovered. I watch a ton of videos of what track we go to next, talk to the crew about it, and they try to get the car to my liking before I even roll out there.
“I’m taking each race one at a time. But I’m really excited to visit Coles County (Speedway) again. I’ve been there a few times with a Micro and did very well there, so I’m really keeping my eye on what’s coming at the end of this month.”
Robinson straps into his Toyota-powered No. 67K Precise Tooling Solutions LynK Chassis for the 10th annual Midget Roundup at Airport Raceway on Friday-Sunday, May 23-25.
On top of the two nights of racing alongside the Rocky Mountain Midget Racing Association at the Garden City, KS track, the Honest Abe Roofing Cookout on Saturday night offers nearly $6,000 worth of prizes for drivers and teams to win. Use code “ROBINSON67K” for $5 off your tickets to Airport Raceway.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision – either online or by downloading the DIRTVision App.
