Gavin Miller Defends Home Turf With Friday Victory at Path Valley Speedway
Gavin Miller’s 10th podium of the 2025 Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota season came with the winning charm.
The Allentown, PA driver scored his first win of the season at Path Valley Speedway Friday night in a complete night that saw him break the track record in Smith Titanium Qualifying and lead flag-to-flag around the 1/4-mile track in the 30-lap Feature.
Starting on the outside of the front row, Miller outran polesitter Michael Faccinto entering the first two turns to gain enough momentum to secure the lead. Chase McDermand followed Miller’s line to take second place as the field began to attempt different lanes behind the two drivers.
When lapped traffic clouded Miller’s line at the halfway mark, he meticulously raced around each car by sliding around the bottom lane of the corners when he had the space to make the passes work to steadily separate himself from McDermand by 0.3 seconds each lap.
McDermand’s No. 40 Toyota shadowed the leader when he caught the traffic, but the Springfield, IL driver stalled out Miller’s distance as he gathered momentum on Miller with six laps left in the Feature.
The fourth-year Series veteran turned the tables on Miller by gaining 0.3 seconds through the final five laps, but it was not enough time to halt the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports (KKM) pilot from capturing his fourth career win – his first since the 2024 finale at Jacksonville Speedway.
The win moves the pilot of the No. 97 SoundGear LynK Chassis to seventh on the all-time wins list, tying his former teammate Ryan Timms.
“It just feels really good to get our first one of 2025,” Miller said. “It was a long season of a lot of podiums, which is not a bad thing, but the crew’s sticking by my side and giving me a phenomenal race car each and every night to put myself in position. It wouldn’t be without Beau (Binder), he gave me a great car.
“Luckily, the invert went our way, and we had a rocketship of a race car that I could’ve pulled a wheelie off (Turn 4) if I wanted to. I didn’t know how far (Chase McDermand) was behind me, so once I got to lapped traffic, they were running the top, so I had to play it safe. I was hesitant getting by some of the cars at the end because they went to the middle, so I went to the top and not potentially loop it. It was a great night, just happy to have that (pressure) off our back.”
McDermand crossed the finish line in second place for his first Series podium appearance since Spoon River Speedway on July 18.
“Definitely satisfying,” McDermand said. “It seems like it’s been a long last few weeks, but luckily, we were able to put a whole night together. The car was really good from start to finish, so I’m glad we’re running good.”
Miller’s KKM teammate Jacob Denney rounded out the night in third place with his eighth consecutive Series podium. Entering the final night of the Appalachian Midget Week, the Galloway, OH driver holds a 35-point lead over Faccinto as he chases the $5,000 prize.
“I was just trying to keep doing what we’re doing,” Denney said. “Obviously, it’s working out well with podiums on all three nights and prior to that. It was tricky. I made a couple mistakes that put me behind there at the beginning, and I had to work throughout the middle part and even at the end.”
Recap Notes:
Smith Titanium Quick Time Award: Gavin Miller
Toyota Heat 1 Winner: Cannon McIntosh
CASM Safety Products Heat 2 Winner: Jacob Denney
High-Point Driver: Jacob Denney
Summit Racing Equipment Hard Charger Award: Kyle Jones (+4)
Honest Abe Roofing 16th Place Finisher: Cord Kisthardt
Up Next: The finale to the 2025 Appalachian Midget Week takes the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota to Newmanstown, PA’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway to present a $5,000 check to the week’s champion on Saturday night, Aug. 9.
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.
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 97-Gavin Miller[2]; 2. 40-Chase McDermand[4]; 3. 67-Jacob Denney[6]; 4. 7X-Kyle Jones[8]; 5. 5U-Michael Faccinto[1]; 6. 94-Hayden Wise[10]; 7. 67K-Colton Robinson[3]; 8. 98K-Brandon Carr[12]; 9. 55-Trevor Cline[9]; 10. 9U-Kameron Key[11]; 11. 19M-Ethan Mitchell[13]; 12. 72-Alex Karpowicz[7]; 13. 71K-Cannon McIntosh[5]; 14. X-Daniel Bennett[14]; 15. 29-Jason Bennett[15]; 16. 21K-Cord Kisthardt[17]; 17. 25B-Ryan Roulette[16]; 18. 7G-Jimmy Glenn[18]
