A tripleheader weekend in Illinois will set the stage for the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota as drivers march closer toward the end of the season and championship weekend in October.
A return to Jacksonville Speedway (Jacksonville, IL) will kick things off Friday, Sept. 15, followed by first-time Xtreme Outlaw Series events at Highland Speedway (Highland, IL) and Red Hill Raceway (Sumner, IL) on Saturday and Sunday. Each program will pay $4,000 to the winner, featuring 30-lap events Friday-Saturday and a 25-lap main event on Sunday.
The points battle has tightened between Cannon McIntosh and Jade Avedisian, who are separated by only seven points with third-place Gavin Miller and fourth-place Zach Daum both inside of 75 points back.
With six races left, this weekend’s races will be crucial in setting up everyone’s scenarios heading into the final weekend next month as the chase the 2023 title, worth $25,000.
Tickets for all three of this weekend’s races will be available at the gate on race day. If you can’t make it to your favorite track, stream all the action live on DIRTVision.
Here are the drivers to watch for and storylines to follow this weekend:
CLOSING IN – Only six races stand between Cannon McIntosh and his first career national Midget series championship. But his seat is getting warmer.
McIntosh holds the Series points lead by seven over Jade Avedisian coming into the weekend. That advantage once stood at 121 points over Gavin Miller prior to the summer break in June and has since been cut down as a result of only six top-five finishes and two podiums in the 13 races contested since then. Prior to the break, McIntosh had only two finishes outside the podium.
Despite he and Dave Mac-Dalby Motorsports’ roller-coaster moments this season, they have plenty of reasons to be confident. In addition to winning a POWRi National Midget race at Jacksonville last year, McIntosh will finish-up the season in his home state of Oklahoma next month – a three-race swing that begins with his old home track Port City Raceway and ends with two races at I-44 Riverside Speedway, where he won on Friday night last year.
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN – On Friday, Jade Avedisian returns to Jacksonville Speedway for the second time since her history-making first national Midget series Feature win in June of last year.
Since that night, the 16-year-old Californian has gone on to become the Series’ all-time winningest driver, compiling five Toyota Racing Feature wins this year to go with the two races she topped in 2022. Avedisian currently sits second in the Series points standings, only seven behind leader McIntosh.
She comes into the three-race weekend riding high on the momentum of a win in the last Series race at Paragon Speedway two weeks ago and will need to at least keep pace with McIntosh in all three races if she and Keith Kunz Motorsports are to have a shot as the points championship in Oklahoma next month.
BACK IN BLACK – For the first time since Appalachian Midget Week, Kyle Jones rejoins the Series roster Friday and Saturday night behind the wheel of the Dan Minear-owned, Spike/Stanton #16.
Jones, 29, of Kennedale, TX, has made 11 starts with the Series this season, compiling four top-fives and seven top-10 finishes in that span. He tied his best finish of the season on a national Midget tour on Aug. 9 at Action Track USA in Pennsylvania in a Ripper/PME #60x owned by North Carolinian John Levecque. That night, he led laps in the Feature and brought home a third-place finish.
The last time he drove the Minear #16, he led laps as well, spending most of the Toyota Racing Feature at Southern Illinois Raceway out front before Avedisian passed him on a late restart for the win. Though he did not get the result he was hoping for, the run showed his ability to be competitive in any car at any track – an attribute he’ll need to bring with him again this weekend as he shoots for his first career national Midget Series win.
HOME GAME – If there’s anything Zach Daum needs at this point in the season on his path to a possible repeat as Series champion, it’s a three-pack of races in his home state.
Daum, 32, of Pocahontas, IL, will get exactly that this weekend, piloting the Trifecta Motorsports #7U at a few tracks where he’s won before – Jacksonville and Highland. The open-wheel veteran won a POWRi Illinois Speedweek show at Jacksonville in 2016 and has notched multiple top-five finishes in Midget events there since. As for Highland, Daum once took the checkers in a local Micro Sprint event at the 1/4-mile oval nearly 10 years ago.
Lately, Daum has been on a remarkable surge, collecting six top-five finishes – including two wins – in the last seven Series events. These runs have been part of his larger, near season-long climb back up from the depths of the points standings, where he now sits fourth – 75 points out of the lead.
SHARK SIGHTING – Twenty-year-old Karter Sarff, of Mason City, IL, will join the Series roster this weekend, looking for a rebound from his last time out with the Xtreme Outlaws.
Sarff was victorious at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on Aug. 4, winning the Toyota Racing Feature over Daum and Avedisian for his third national Midget series victory. His next Xtreme Outlaw weekend outing was not as fruitful, posting finishes of 18th and ninth three weeks ago at Davenport Speedway.
Sarff is trying to regain the POWRi National Midget League points lead that he once had after McIntosh took it with his top-five runs in Davenport. Though POWRi is not in action this weekend, Sarff will be tuning-up his machine for the final POWRi shows, co-sanctioned with Xtreme Outlaw championship weekend in October.
THIS WEEKEND AT A GLANCE
When and where
Friday, Sept. 15 at Jacksonville Speedway in Jacksonville, IL
Saturday, Sept. 16 at Highland Speedway in Highland, IL
Sunday, Sept. 17 at Red Hill Raceway in Sumner, IL
On the internet
Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota
Twitter – @Xtreme_Outlaw
Instagram – @XtremeOutlaw
Facebook – @XtremeOutlawSeries.WRG
Live broadcast
DIRTVision – DIRTVision.com. Platinum annual FAST PASS for $299 or monthly FAST PASS for $39/month.
Current championship points standings (view full standings)
- Cannon McIntosh: 4742 points | Dave Mac-Dalby Motorsports #08
- Jade Avedisian: 4735 points (-7) | Keith Kunz Motorsports #71
- Gavin Miller: 4670 points (-72) | Keith Kunz Motorsports #97
- Zach Daum: 4667 points (-75) | Trifecta Motorsports #7U
- Chase McDermand: 4624 points (-118) | Mounce/Stout Motorsports #40
- Taylor Reimer: 4486 points (-256) | Keith Kunz Motorsports #25K
- Hayden Reinbold: 4063 points (-679) | Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports #19AZ
- Austin Barnhill: 2999 points (-1743) | Dave Mac-Dalby Motorsports #17B
- Chance Crum: 2910 points (-1832) | Rudeen Racing #26
- Ethan Mitchell: 2497 points (-2245) | Bundy Built Motorsports #19M
Toyota Feature winners (9 drivers)
5 wins – Jade Avedisian (Keith Kunz Motorsports), Zach Daum (Trifecta Motorsports)
4 wins – Cannon McIntosh (Dave Mac-Dalby Motorsports), Chase McDermand (Mounce/Stout Motorsports)
1 win – Jesse Love (Chad Boat Industries), Daniel Whitley (Abacus Racing), Karter Sarff (Sarff Racing), Daison Pursley (Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports), Gavin Miller (Keith Kunz Motorsports)
Toyota Feature laps led (16 drivers)
101 laps – Jade Avedisian
88 laps – Zach Daum
80 laps – Cannon McIntosh
73 laps – Chase McDermand
72 laps – Ryan Timms
59 laps – Daniel Whitley
41 laps – Karter Sarff
36 laps – Gavin Miller
33 laps – Kyle Jones
30 laps – Daison Pursley
26 laps – Thomas Meseraull
22 laps – Shane Cottle
21 laps – Ashton Torgerson
11 laps – Hayden Reinbold
4 laps – Jesse Love
1 lap – Nick Drake
Whitz RC Racing Products Quick Time Awards (14 drivers)
4 awards – Cannon McIntosh
2 awards – Ethan Mitchell, Daniel Whitley, Chase McDermand, Zach Daum, Ryan Timms, Taylor Reimer
1 award – Gavin Miller, Hayden Reinbold, Jesse Love, Kevin Thomas Jr, Joe B. Miller, Corbin Rueschenberg, Briggs Danner
Heat Race winners (21 drivers)
9 wins – Jade Avedisian, Chase McDermand
8 wins – Cannon McIntosh
6 wins – Zach Daum
5 wins – Hayden Reinbold
4 wins – Gavin Miller
3 wins – Ethan Mitchell, Daison Pursley
2 wins – Chance Crum, Nick Drake, Corbin Rueschenberg, Andrew Felker, Daniel Whitley, Ryan Timms
1 win – Austin Barnhill, Shane Cottle, Thomas Meseraull, Kyle Jones, Rico Abreu, Briggs Danner, Chase Johnson
High-points honors (15 drivers)
4 honors – Cannon McIntosh
3 honors – Chase McDermand
2 honors – Daniel Whitley, Jade Avedisian, Gavin Miller
1 honor – Chance Crum, Rico Abreu, Landon Brooks, Briggs Danner, Hayden Reinbold, Kyle Jones, Andrew Felker, Daison Pursley, Zach Daum, Ryan Timms
Last Chance Showdown wins (12 drivers)
2 wins – Kyle Jones
1 win – Landon Brooks, Karter Sarff, Howard Moore, Ryan Timms, Taylor Reimer, Henry Chambers, Chance Crum, Chase Briscoe, Mitchell Davis, Cannon McIntosh, Corbin Rueschenberg
DIRTVision Hard Charger Awards (18 drivers)
2 awards – Hayden Reinbold, Kyle Jones, Taylor Reimer, Zach Daum, Cannon McIntosh
1 award – Mitchel Moles, Chase Johnson, Ryan Timms, Chance Crum, Gavan Boschele, Chase McDermand, Shane Cottle, Cooper Williams, Jerry Coons Jr, Jade Avedisian, Steve Buckwalter, Gavin Miller, Trevor Cline
Podium finishes (17 drivers)
11 podiums – Zach Daum
9 podiums – Chase McDermand, Cannon McIntosh, Jade Avedisian
8 podiums – Gavin Miller
5 podiums – Taylor Reimer
3 podiums – Daniel Whitley, Ryan Timms
2 podiums – Shane Cottle, Kyle Jones, Hayden Reinbold
1 podium – Thomas Meseraull, Ashton Torgerson, Landon Brooks, Jesse Love, Jerry Coons Jr, Karter Sarff, Daison Pursley
Top-10 finishes (45 drivers)
21 top-10s – Cannon McIntosh, Gavin Miller
20 top-10s – Jade Avedisian
19 top-10s – Chase McDermand, Zach Daum
15 top-10s – Taylor Reimer
9 top-10s – Chance Crum, Hayden Reinbold
7 top-10s – Kyle Jones, Ethan Mitchell
6 top-10s – Ryan Timms
5 top-10s – Landon Brooks, Daniel Whitley, Karter Sarff, Austin Barnhill
4 top-10s – Gavan Boschele, Thomas Meseraull, Corbin Rueschenberg
3 top-10s – Chase Johnson, Briggs Danner, Cooper Williams
2 top-10s – Shane Cottle, Chase Briscoe, Kevin Thomas Jr, Branigan Roark, Andrew Felker, Jerry Coons Jr, Mariah Ede, Daison Pursley, Tim Buckwalter, Mitchell Davis, Kyle Beilman, Trevor Cline
1 top-10 – Mitchel Moles, Daniel Adler, Sam Johnson, Rico Abreu, Ashton Torgerson, Don Droud Jr, Nick Drake, Jesse Love, Trey Marcham, Joe B. Miller, Preston Lattomus, Bryan Stanfill
2023 Schedule & Winners – Race No. Day, Date / Track / Location / Winner (Total Wins)
1. Fri, March 10 / Southern Illinois Center / Du Quoin, IL / Cannon McIntosh (1)
2. Sat, March 11 / Southern Illinois Center / Du Quoin, IL / Jade Avedisian (1)
3. Fri, April 14 / Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 / Pevely, MO / Cannon McIntosh (2)
4. Fri, May 5 / Humboldt Speedway / Humboldt, KS / Chase McDermand (1)
5. Sat, May 6 / 81 Speedway / Park City, KS / Chase McDermand (2)
6. Tue, May 22 / Millbridge Speedway / Salisbury, NC / Cannon McIntosh (3)
7. Wed, May 23 / Millbridge Speedway / Salisbury, NC / Cannon McIntosh (4)
8. Thu, June 1 / Tri-City Speedway / Pontoon Beach, IL / Jesse Love (1)
9. Fri, June 2 / Wayne County Speedway / Wayne City, IL / Zach Daum (1)
10. Sat, June 3 / Wayne County Speedway / Wayne City, IL / Zach Daum (2)
11. Fri, July 21 / Doe Run Raceway / Doe Run, MO / Zach Daum (3)
12. Sat, July 22 / Southern Illinois Raceway / Marion, IL / Jade Avedisian (2)
13. Sat, July 29 / Atomic Speedway / Chillicothe, OH / Jade Avedisian (3)
14. Sun, July 30 / Brushcreek Motorsports Complex / Peebles, OH / Daniel Whitley (1)
15. Fri, Aug. 4 / Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 / Pevely, MO / Karter Sarff (1)
16. Sat, Aug. 5 / Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 / Pevely, MO / Jade Avedisian (4)
17. Tue, Aug. 8 / Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway / Newmanstown, PA / Chase McDermand (3)
18. Wed, Aug. 9 / Action Track USA / Kutztown, PA / Chase McDermand (4)
19. Fri, Aug. 11 / Path Valley Speedway Park / Spring Run, PA / Daison Pursley (1)
20. Fri, Aug. 25 / Davenport Speedway / Davenport, IA / Zach Daum (4)
21. Sat, Aug. 26 / Davenport Speedway / Davenport, IA / Gavin Miller (1)
22. Fri, Sept. 1 / Paragon Speedway / Paragon, IN / Zach Daum (5)
23. Sat, Sept. 2 / Paragon Speedway / Paragon, IN / Jade Avedisian (5)
