Preparation for the 2024 season is already in high-gear as the stars of the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota prepare to kick off the year on one of the biggest stages in all of motorsports – the Chili Bowl Nationals presented by NOS Energy Drink.
Since 1987, the SageNet Center in Tulsa, OK, has played host to the world’s biggest indoor Midget racing event, producing a library of iconic moments and immortalizing some of motorsports’ biggest stars with the presentation of the Golden Driller trophy.
Each of the drivers on the 2023 Xtreme Outlaw Series roster are headed for Tulsa this weekend in search of their own piece of Midget racing history, armed with top equipment as they battle against 350-plus opponents for the $20,000 grand prize in the weeklong affair, Jan. 7-13. While the majority of the roster will stick with the teams they raced with in 2023, a select few have committed to other rides.
Follow along on all Xtreme Outlaw social media counts throughout the week for updates on Series regulars, and make plans to watch the 2024 Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota season opener inside the Southern Illinois Center in Du Quoin, IL, March 15-16, in person or live on DIRTVision.
Here are the Xtreme Outlaw Series drivers to watch for in the 38th annual Chili Bowl Nationals:
#71 Jade Avedisian (Clovis, CA)
- Team: Keith Kunz Motorsports
- A-Main Starts: 1
- Best Finish: A-Main 18th (2023)
Jade Avedisian comes into the 2024 Chili Bowl Nationals as one of the three national Midget series champions, only three months removed from the night she clinched the 2023 Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series championship.
The 17-year-old Californian impressed in her Chili Bowl debut one year ago as part of the CB Industries team, advancing from ninth to third in her Prelim Feature before locking up an 18th-place finish in the A-Main Saturday night.
That result tied her with Kaylee Bryson (2022) for the highest finish by a woman in event history and earned her both the Rookie of the Year Award and the first-ever presentation of the Fuzzy Hahn Best Performing Female Driver Award.
This year, Avedisian will try to surpass the high bar she set for herself behind the wheel of her championship winning Mobil 1, LynK/Toyota #71 Keith Kunz Motorsports (KKM) ride. She already knows what it’s like to win in Tulsa, having previously won the Tulsa Shootout in the Restricted A-Class division.
#47 Zach Daum (Pocahontas, IL)
- Team: Bondio Racing
- A-Main Starts: 8
- Best Finish: A-Main 3rd (2016)
Zach Daum has historically been solid in Tulsa, tallying eight A-Main appearances since his event debut in 2006. He’s nearly always been a factor in the days leading up to the main event, having started his Prelim Feature every year since 2009 in addition to a Prelim win in 2010. His brightest moment came in 2016, when he ran third in the A-Main to Bryan Clauson and winner Rico Abreu.
Daum returned to the SageNet Center last year for his 18th consecutive Chili Bowl appearance, looking to get back to the A-Main for the first time since 2020. He put together a strong run on his Prelim night, driving the famed Andy Bondio-owned #47 from 17th on the Feature starting grid up to ninth in 30 laps. This seeded him into a B-Main on Saturday where he was only able to get to 12th by the checkered, leaving him without a spot in the main event for the third-straight year.
Next week, he’ll climb back into Bondio’s iconic #47 for the third consecutive year. Bondio is a three-time Chili Bowl-winning car owner – winning with drivers Lealand McSpadden in 1991 and Cory Kruseman in 2000 and 2004 – who brings his self-designed, unique-looking chassis into the building each year.
#97 Gavin Miller (Allentown, PA)
- Team: Keith Kunz Motorsports
- A-Main Starts: 0
- Best Finish: E-Main 8th (2023)
After a season of consistency and a third-place finish in the 2023 Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series championship standings, Gavin Miller returns to the Keith Kunz Motorsports stable for his first Chili Bowl start with the team and his eyes locked on a first career A-Main appearance.
The 17-year-old Pennsylvanian debuted in the Chili Bowl last year, piloting a Spike/Stanton #7G for team owners Jay Mounce and Gavin Stout of Mounce/Stout Motorsports. He fell a few spots shy of transferring into the Feature on his Prelim night, which placed him back into an E-Main on Saturday, where his night ended early following an eighth-place finish.
Next week, he’ll relink with KKM crew chief Brandon Selph and the Eibach Springs, LynK/Toyota #97, following an outing with the team’s Micro Sprint division in the Tulsa Shootout. Miller drove a KKM entry in three different divisions on the same track he’ll race next week, bagging a best finish of 10th in the Non-Wing Outlaw A-Main.
#71P Cannon McIntosh (Bixby, OK)
- Team: Keith Kunz Motorsports
- A-Main Starts: 3
- Best Finish: A-Main 3rd (2020, 2023)
Cannon McIntosh raced the Chili Bowl only five times in his career and has been stout each time inside the SageNet Center. Three Prelim Feature wins in five starts have spawned two third-place finishes and one fourth-place run in the A-Main.
For the 2024 Chili Bowl, McIntosh has reunited with eight-time Chili Bowl A-Main winning team owners Keith Kunz and Pete Willoughby and will pilot the GEARWRENCH, LynK/Toyota #71P for KKM, trying to become the second-youngest driver ever to win the A-Main at only 21 years old. McIntosh previously contested the 2020 and 2021 Chili Bowls with KKM before transitioning back to his family-owned team at Dave Mac-Dalby Motorsports for 2022 and 2023.
Last year, McIntosh bagged his third career Monday night Prelim Feature win on a deflating right-rear tire. The tire began to lose air pressure with less than five laps left, and even after one final restart with three-to-go, McIntosh still hung on for the win to lock into the A-Main. Come Saturday, he was strong again, leading several laps early on before slipping back to third by the checkered.
#7U Chase McDermand (Springfield, IL)
- Team: Trifecta Motorsports
- A-Main Starts: 1
- Best Finish: A-Main 16th (2023)
After breaking through for his first career A-Main start last year with Mounce/Stout Motorsports, Chase McDermand has linked with Trifecta Motorsports to pilot the Tulsa-based team’s flagship Spike/Stanton #7U for the 2024 Chili Bowl.
McDermand finished the 2023 Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series season fifth in the championship standings and will make his fourth Chili Bowl appearance next week. Last year, he drove from 15th-to-third in his Prelim Feature, then transferred out of the B-Main on Saturday and finished 16th in the biggest Midget main event of the year.
Likewise, the Trifecta squad also set a new team best at the Chili Bowl last year. Driver Kyle Jones wheeled the #7U from 14th-to-fourth in the Tuesday night Prelim Feature and backed that up with a 16th-to-sixth run in the A-Main on Saturday, marking Trifecta team owners Staton Flurry and Steve Carbone’s first-ever A-Main appearances with the car.
#25K Taylor Reimer (Tulsa, OK)
- Team: Keith Kunz Motorsports
- A-Main Starts: 0
- Best Finish: B-Main 15th (2023)
Taylor Reimer has improved every year at the Chili Bowl since making her debut in 2021 and returns to the seat of the BuzzBallz, LynK/Toyota #25K for 2024, seeking her first career A-Main start.
The 24-year-old Oklahoman notched her best career Prelim night finish last year with a seventh-place result in the Feature. That seeded her into a B-Main on Saturday night, and though a 15th-place was her new personal best, it was not enough to get her a spot in the main event.
Reimer recently revealed her newest color scheme for the Chili Bowl, opting for a predominantly white design complete with her signature pink hue, gold accents and BuzzBallz branding. She’ll be one of 13 KKM cars in the field next week, racing in Monday night’s Prelim program.
#19A Hayden Reinbold (Chandler, AZ)
- Team: Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports
- A-Main Starts: 0
- Best Finish: D-Main 6th (2023)
Hayden Reinbold returns to the seat of his family-owned #19A for his fourth Chili Bowl appearance – three months removed from his first career national Midget Feature win with the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series.
The 19-year-old Arizonan is still riding high after breaking through in the 2023 Xtreme season finale at I-44 Riverside Speedway. He’ll take that confidence gained into Tulsa, looking for his first career A-Main start after setting a new personal best at the Chili Bowl last January. Reinbold qualified for his first Prelim Feature at last year’s event, earning him a spot in a D-Main on Saturday, where he ended up with a sixth-place finish.
This year, the Reinbold/Underwood team is taking a fleet of AME Electrical-sponsored rides into the building, where Hayden will be teammates to Cole Bodine, Carsen Perkins, Ricky Thornton Jr. and Mitchel Moles.
