Search
Close this search box.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Xtreme-POWRi Challenge Series Champion to be Crowned at SIR, Highland

Cannon McIntosh (71) and Karter Sarff (21K) are both set to be in attendance this weekend. (Tom Stevens Photo)

With the season winding down, the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota moves into the home stretch this weekend and will crown a champion of the Xtreme Outlaw-POWRi Challenge Series.

A stop at Southern Illinois Raceway (SIR) in Marion, IL, kicks off the weekend on Friday, Sept. 13, before a visit to Highland Speedway in Highland, IL, on Saturday, Sept. 14. Both programs will feature 30-lap, $4,000-to-win main events, and will be co-sanctioned by the POWRi National Midget League.

Both races will also count as the final two events in the 2024 Xtreme Outlaw-POWRi Challenge Series, which will award the points champion with a $2,500 cash bonus and additional cash bonuses going to the rest of the top-five in the final standings. Ryan Timms is the current Challenge Series points leader by 21 over Cannon McIntosh and 81 over Ashton Torgerson.

Tickets for both events are on sale in advance at the links below and will also be available at the track on race day. If you can’t be at the track, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS TICKETS
HIGHLAND TICKETS

Here are the drivers to watch and storylines to follow this weekend:

TO THE WIRE – With only four races left, time is running out to settle the season-long points battle.

Cannon McIntosh has led the way for most of the season, tallying six Feature wins — a new personal best with the Xtreme Outlaw Series — and carries a points lead of 133 over his teammate at Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports (KKM), Ryan Timms. McIntosh, 21, of Bixby, OK, drove from 15th on the starting grid up to a fifth-place finish at Southern Illinois last year and ran ninth at Highland. He’s maintaining a far better record of consistency this year (2.9 avg. finish) than in the second half of 2023 (7.53 avg. finish) and could potentially clinch his first national Midget series championship at the finale in October.

Timms, the 18-year-old open-wheel standout from Oklahoma City, OK, has won three Features this season and trails McIntosh by 133 points. He’ll debut at both Southern Illinois and Highland this weekend, trying to close the gap before championship weekend at Jacksonville Speedway, Oct. 4-5. He’ll also have a shot to clinch the Xtreme Outlaw-POWRi Challenge Series championship, holding a 21-point lead over McIntosh.

PROVEN GROUND – Reigning Xtreme Outlaw Series champion Jade Avedisian returns to SIR and Highland this weekend, both tracks where she had strong results in the main events last year.

The 17-year-old Toyota Racing driver from Clovis, CA, will take the wheel of the Yahoo!, Toyota/LynK No. 71 for KKM, first at SIR on Friday, where in 2023 she took the lead from Kyle Jones on a late restart to get the win — her second of the season — which led to three more before collecting the points championship at season’s end.

Her charge through the field at Highland last year was among the largest in positions advanced as she started 18th on the grid and made up 15 spots in 30 laps to finish third, saving what could have been a potentially bad points night in her run to the championship.

SHARK SWIMMING – Coming off a sweep of the Ironman 55 weekend at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in early August, Karter Sarff is set for Xtreme Outlaw Series competition again this weekend in search of his fifth win of 2024.

Sarff, 21, of Mason City, IL, has made four trips to Victory Lane with the Series this year — second-most of any driver — at US 36 Raceway in April, Millbridge Speedway in May, and back-to-back at I-55 last month.

He’s got some improvements to make, however, if he is to compete for another win this weekend, considering his finishes of 11th at SIR and 18th at Highland one year ago.

FAMILIAR TERRITORY – Chase McDermand is heading back to Highland on Saturday, where he won his fifth race of the season one year ago.

McDermand, 24, of Springfield, IL, captured the checkered flag with a strong performance at the 1/4-mile bullring in his home state last September, leading 21 of 30 laps of the main event. This weekend, he makes his return in search of a second win of 2024 after scoring at Tulsa Speedway in July.

Sitting fourth in the Series points standings, McDermand aims to start the week off by bettering his run of seventh with the Series at SIR from 2023.

DOUBLE DUTY – Highland Speedway is a home track to Xtreme Outlaw Series full-timer Zach Daum, where he’ll race both the Midget and a 410 Winged Sprint Car this Saturday.

Daum, 32, of Pocahontas, IL, lives only 15 minutes from Highland Speedway, and will get behind the wheel of both the Trifecta Motorsports No. 7U Midget and the McGarry Motorsports No. 31 Sprint Car for an appearance with the Midwest Open Wheel Association (MOWA).

Last year, Daum charged from 11th on the starting grid to finish second at SIR and placed fifth in the Midget at Highland.

THIS WEEKEND AT A GLANCE


When and where
Friday, Sept. 13, at Southern Illinois Raceway in Marion, IL
Saturday, Sept. 14 at Highland Speedway in Highland, IL


On the internet

Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota
Twitter/X – @Xtreme_Outlaw
Instagram – @XtremeOutlaw
Facebook – @XtremeOutlawSeries.WRG


Live broadcast

DIRTVision – DIRTVision.com. Annual FAST PASS for $299 or monthly FAST PASS for $39/month.


Current championship points standings (
view full standings)

  1. Cannon McIntosh: 4360 points | Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports #71K
  2. Ryan Timms: 4227 points (-133) | Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports #67
  3. Ashton Torgerson: 3980 points (-380) | Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports #67K
  4. Chase McDermand: 3945 points (-415) | CMR-Mounce/Stout Motorsports #40
  5. Zach Daum: 3860 points (-500) | Trifecta Motorsports #7U
  6. Hayden Reinbold: 3756 points (-604) | Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports #19AZ
  7. Trevor Cline: 3446 points (-914) | Cline Racing #55
  8. Gavin Miller: 3341 points (-1019) | Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports #97
  9. Tyler Edwards: 3301 points (-1059) | Mounce/Stout Motorsports #14S
  10. Karter Sarff: 3198 points (-1162) | Karter Sarff Motorsports #21K


Toyota Feature winners (7 drivers)

6 wins – Cannon McIntosh (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports #71K)
4 wins – Karter Sarff (Karter Sarff Motorsports #21K)
3 wins – Ashton Torgerson (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports #67K), Ryan Timms (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports #67)
1 win – Thomas Meseraull (Engler Racing #7x), Kale Drake (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports #97), Zach Daum (Trifecta Motorsports #7U), Chase McDermand (CMR-Mounce/Stout Motorsports #40)


Toyota Feature laps led (15 drivers)

113 laps – Cannon McIntosh
95 laps – Ryan Timms
80 laps – Karter Sarff
72 laps – Ashton Torgerson
44 laps – Kale Drake
35 laps – Joe B. Miller
30 laps – Chase McDermand
27 laps – Thomas Meseraull
25 laps – Zach Daum
29 laps – Hayden Reinbold
12 laps – Taylor Reimer
11 laps – Jade Avedisian
5 laps – Michael Pickens, Tyler Edwards
1 lap – Jason McDougal


Whitz RC Racing Products Quick Time Awards (12 drivers)
4 awards – Ethan Mitchell
3 awards – Kale Drake, Karter Sarff
2 awards – Ryan Timms
1 award – Cannon McIntosh, Kyle Jones, Trevor Cline, Zach Daum, Tyler Edwards, Hayden Reinbold, Chase McDermand, Joe Wirth


Heat Race winners (22 drivers)

8 wins – Ashton Torgerson
6 wins – Chase McDermand, Ryan Timms, Cannon McIntosh
5 wins – Kale Drake, Zach Daum, Gavin Miller
4 wins – Tyler Edwards
3 wins – Trevor Cline, Karter Sarff
2 wins – Jade Avedisian, Nick Hoffman
1 win – Thomas Meseraull, Shane Cottle, TJ Smith, Kyle Jones, Taylor Reimer, Ethan Mitchell, Jason McDougal, Gunnar Setser, Hayden Reinbold


High-points honors (12 drivers)

4 honors – Cannon McIntosh
3 honors – Ryan Timms
2 honors – Zach Daum, Ashton Torgerson, Chase McDermand, Gavin Miller
1 honor – Tyler Edwards, Karter Sarff, Kale Drake, Michael Pickens, Hayden Reinbold


Last Chance Showdown wins (10 drivers)

1 win – Taylor Reimer, Gunnar Setser, Austin Torgerson, Gavin Miller, Shane Cottle, Ethan Mitchell, Ashton Torgerson, Ryan Timms, Kyle Jones, Mitchell Davis


Hard Charger Awards (15 drivers)

3 awards – Hayden Reinbold, Ryan Timms
2 awards – Chase McDermand
1 award – Will Armitage, Ryan Timms, Kayla Roell, Gunnar Setser, Jade Avedisian, Elijah Gile, Zach Daum, Cannon McIntosh, Gavin Miller, Jacob Denney, Ashton Torgerson, Corbin Rueschenberg


Podium finishes (16 drivers)

14 podiums – Cannon McIntosh
10 podiums – Ryan Timms
7 podiums – Zach Daum
5 podiums – Chase McDermand, Karter Sarff
4 podiums – Ashton Torgerson, Hayden Reinbold
3 podiums – Kale Drake, Gavin Miller
1 podium – Thomas Meseraull, Taylor Reimer, Jade Avedisian, Michael Pickens, Trevor Cline, Jacob Denney, Jason McDougal


Top-10 finishes (38 drivers)

20 top-10s – Cannon McIntosh
18 top-10s – Ryan Timms
17 top-10s – Chase McDermand
16 top-10s – Ashton Torgerson
15 top-10s – Zach Daum
12 top-10s – Karter Sarff
11 top-10s – Hayden Reinbold, Gavin Miller
8 top-10s – Kale Drake, Jade Avedisian, Trevor Cline
6 top-10s – Tyler Edwards
5 top-10s – Taylor Reimer, Kyle Jones, Mitchell Davis
3 top-10s – Ethan Mitchell, Gunnar Setser
2 top-10s – Shane Cottle, TJ Smith, Sam Johnson, Jacob Denney, Jason McDougal, Thomas Meseraull
1 top-10 – Joe B. Miller, Will Armitage, Trey Marcham, Rylan Gray, Todd McVay, Kevin Thomas Jr, Elijah Gile, Brayton Lynch, Nick Drake, Jacob Dykstra, Briggs Danner, Michael Pickens, Andrew Felker, Drake Edwards, Jonathan Beason, Shannon McQueen, Corbin Rueschenberg


2024 Schedule & Winners – Race No. Day, Date / Track / Location / Winner (Total Wins)
1. Fri, March 15 / Southern Illinois Center / Du Quoin, IL / Thomas Meseraull (1)
2. Sat, March 16 / Southern Illinois Center / Du Quoin, IL / Cannon McIntosh (1)
3. Fri, April 5 / US 36 Raceway / Osborn, MO / Karter Sarff (1)
4. Sat, April 6 / Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex / Sweet Springs, MO / Kale Drake (1)
5. Fri, April 12 / Farmer City Raceway / Farmer City, IL / Ryan Timms (1)
6. Sat, April 13 / Farmer City Raceway / Farmer City, IL / Ashton Torgerson (1)
7. Fri, May 10 / Humboldt Speedway / Humboldt, KS / Ashton Torgerson (2)
8. Sat, May 11 / 81 Speedway / Park City, KS / Cannon McIntosh (2)
9. Tue, May 21 / Millbridge Speedway / Salisbury, NC / Karter Sarff (2)
10. Wed, May 22 / Millbridge Speedway / Salisbury, NC / Zach Daum (1)
11. Fri, May 24 / Atomic Speedway / Chillicothe, OH / Ryan Timms (2)
12. Sat, May 25 / Atomic Speedway / Chillicothe, OH / Cannon McIntosh (3)
13. Thu, May 30 / Doe Run Raceway / Doe Run, MO / Cannon McIntosh (4)
14. Fri, May 31 / Coles County Speedway / Matoon, IL / Ashton Torgerson (3)
15. Fri, July 19 / Spoon River Speedway / Lewistown, IL / Ryan Timms (3)
16. Sat, July 20 / Spoon River Speedway / Lewistown, IL / Cannon McIntosh (5)
17. Fri, July 26 / Arrowhead Speedway / Colcord, OK / Cannon McIntosh (6)
18. Sat, July 27 / Tulsa Speedway / Tulsa, OK / Chase McDermand (1)
19. Fri, Aug. 2 / Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 / Pevely, MO / Karter Sarff (3)
20. Sat, Aug. 3 / Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 / Pevely, MO / Karter Sarff (4)