Ryan Timms has been a fixture of the youthful wave of open-wheel racers sweeping the country over the last several seasons. He’s got wins in both Midgets and 410 Sprint Cars, but there’s one thing he wants that he’s never had.
The 17-year-old Oklahoma racer has yet to win a national Midget series championship. 2024 is only his second full season chasing points for team owners Keith Kunz and Pete Willoughby of Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports (KKM), but he’s hot on the trail of a first national crown.
Timms has already broken through to Victory Lane with the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota once in the first six races and currently sits second in the standings, only 27 points behind leader Cannon McIntosh.
For the past two years, the national Midget series schedule has been laid out in such a manner that allows drivers – if they choose – to compete with both Xtreme and the USAC National Midget Championship, and still make room for some POWRi National Midget League races as well. Timms chased the USAC schedule in 2023 and finished fourth in the standings and this year adds-in the Xtreme Outlaw schedule.
“If I could win both [national championships] this year, it could open some opportunities with Toyota or maybe in the Sprint Car stuff,” Timms said. “As of right now, I’m just focusing on getting the best results I can with both Xtreme and USAC and trying to win both [championships].”
Prior to his USAC title run last year, Timms sprinkled Midget starts into his Sprint Car-heavy schedule in 2022, driving for two Midget teams at CB Industries and KKM. While his main priority that season remained with his family-owned Sprint Car team, Timms chased only Feature wins with the Midgets. Thus, a change in mentality was inevitable when he signed with KKM to chase USAC Midget points the following season.
“A lot of the points deal – I kinda learned this from last year – you’ve got to finish races, and you gotta be at least in the top-10,” Timms said. “If you just focus on doing your absolute best and getting the best results possible, not worrying about anything else, there’s not anything else you can really do. Whatever happens, happens.”
Fast-forward to 2024 and Timms is still balancing his Sprint Car and Midget schedule, though now more focused on Midgets than ever as he chases a national championship. In two complete seasons driving both car types, he said he’s finally found a level of comfort that allows him to not only race both divisions but be competitive in both as well.
“I’d say I’m a lot better at it this year than I was last year,” Timms said. “Last year, it would take me three or four weekends to get comfortable and used to whatever car I just hopped back into. But now, I feel like after a Hot Lap session or a Heat Race, I kinda already got the basics down and it feels natural to be back in whichever car I’m in.
“It’s a little tough when you’re doing double duty running both in the same night just because you’re literally going back-and-forth, back-and-forth, and they drive pretty different. That’s a little tough, but I really enjoy racing Midgets and I really enjoy racing Sprint Cars, and I want to be the best at both of them.”
Only six races into the Xtreme Outlaw Series season, and Timms has shown his prowess at the controls of the JBL Audio, LynK/Toyota No. 67. He scored his first Midget win of the season two weeks ago at Farmer City Raceway – a track that featured both tacky and slick conditions throughout the course of the two-day event. But Timms said he’s able to handle both.
“When the track has more moisture in it, we seem to struggle a little bit more – not struggle bad, just a little more than when it’s slick,” Timms said. “That’s just me as a driver. Last year, there was no telling where I’d finish if the track was hooked up. But this year, I feel like I’ve still got a shot at winning even when it’s hooked up, it’s just a little bit tougher for me.”
Next on Timms’ Xtreme Outlaw Series calendar are back-to-back races in Kansas – Friday, May 10 at Humboldt Speedway and Saturday, May 11 at 81 Speedway. He’s raced at both tracks before in his Sprint Car, which he said gives him a slight advantage over his competition.
“That 410 Sprint Car has so much more power and there’s so much more [G-Forces] on your body and it’s so much more intense than the Midget ever is,” Timms said. “When I go to a track that I’ve to been to in a Sprint Car, [the Midget] feels so slow and I’m used to going so fast at that track, it slows everything down a lot and kinda makes things easier.”
Timms continues his championship chase with the Xtreme Outlaw Series in the State of Kansas in only two weeks’ time. Tickets for both Humboldt and 81 will be on sale at the gate on race day. If you can’t be there to watch in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
