World of Outlaws Ironman 55

Sharks can typically smell blood up to a quarter of a mile away. Some myths say a mile. At I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park, it’s measured in time.

Twenty-four hours after losing the chance at a win with the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota, “The Shark” Karter Sarff smelled blood in the water starting on the pole of Saturday’s 25-lap Feature during the World of Outlaws Ironman 55 weekend.

That hunger turned into determination and grit as he led all but one lap, fending off a battle from his teammate, to score his 11th Xtreme Outlaw victory and fifth at I-55.

“We were really good all week. I love this place,” Sarff said in Victory Lane. “I feel like I have a really good package coming here. Just can’t thank everyone that is a part of Trifecta Motorsports that helps make it happen.”

Sarff, of Mason City, IL, was the high points earner and a favorite to win on Friday night. But a part failure on Lap 1 hindered his chance for another I-55 win as he then had to fight his way from the back once it was fixed. He recovered to finish eighth, a result far from what was expected.

Twenty-four hours later, with a little luck from the invert draw, Sarff found himself on the pole for Saturday’s Feature. Blood was in the water.

Sarff hit the throttle and pulled away from second-place Kyle Jones on the start, sliding his Trifecta Motorsports No. 7U to the wall in Turn 2 and launching away from the field.

Behind him, his Trifecta teammate Kameron Key turned on videogame mode, rolling the bottom to go from eighth to third by the time he exited Turn 2 for the first time. He kept the run going the next lap to get by Jones for second and then planned his own hunt for the lead.

A caution on Lap 3 grouped everyone back together, setting up a Trifecta front row battle. The teammates picked their lanes on the restart – Sarff to the top, Key to the bottom.

Key gave Sarff a quick scare, perfecting the bottom well enough to pull ahead of the No. 7U car after the first circuit back, leading Lap 4. But “The Shark” was territorial. He powered back around Key through Turns 1 and 2 and then dove to the bottom the next lap to steal the lane. The move allowed Sarff to put distance between them and leave Key in a three-way battle for second with Jones and Cullen Hutchison.

While Sarff pulled away, Key was in a constant contest of slide jobs. His battle with Jones was short-lived, but the 14-year-old Hutchison made him work to keep second every lap. Key lost second to the teenager for a couple of laps while the top three drivers battled through traffic with less than 10 laps to go. But Key put an end to the sliderfest with six laps to go and looked to set a course to challenge Sarff.

However, Sarff was already two seconds ahead of him.

“The Shark” swam to the checkered flag and finally got to taste victory again with the Xtreme Outlaw Midgets.

“I felt really good everywhere, besides getting through (Turn) three and out of (Turn) four. You had to catch that real thin strip out of four, and when I hit it good, I knew we were really good, but when you missed it, you just lost a lot of time,” Sarff said. “I was just trying to hit my marks and stay up front. Just super grateful to pull this one off.”

Key crossed the line second, giving Trifecta Motorsports a one-two finish, and earned the Smith Titanium Hard Charger Award for the second straight night.

“I feel like in the Heat Races there everyone was just pounding the top and that’s where you needed to be, but then the Sprint Cars go out there and put 20 more laps on it, and the bottom; the Midget are smaller and we can get lower than the Sprint Cars, so there’s a grip strip right on the bottom there,” Key said. “I knew everyone was going to go shooting to the top, so I said I might as well try it. The seas parted, and to the front we went.

“Karter was just really good on the top, and I was going to stick to the bottom. I thought the top was better, but the bottom was a lot safer. I was just waiting until we got to traffic or if he made a mistake, but he’s a really good race car driver and didn’t make any mistakes. Just a lot of fun, man. I’m so glad to get back here.”

Hutchison, who made his Series debut and I-55 debut this weekend with Chase McDermand Racing, was one of the most impressive drivers all weekend. He won his Heat Race both nights and finished third both nights, making him the current Xtreme Outlaw points leader.

“Yeah, it was a really good weekend. I can’t thank Chase, Drake, Caleb, Kevin, for giving me the opportunity to run this car,” Hutchison said. “We’ve been really good in this car, and I’ve had very strong finishes so far. Hopefully we can keep the momentum going.”

QUICK NOTES
Federated Auto Parts Quick Time: Jacob Denney (13.000-second lap)
Toyota Heat 1 Winner: Kale Drake
TheGreatestStoreonDirt.com Heat 2 Winner: Cullen Hutchison
Smith Titanium Hard Charger: Kameron Key (8th to second)

RESULTS
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 7U-Karter Sarff[1]; 2. 3U-Kameron Key[8]; 3. 40-Cullen Hutchison[3]; 4. 67-Jacob Denney[6]; 5. 97-Gavin Miller[4]; 6. 7TX-Kyle Jones[2]; 7. 4-Kale Drake[5]; 8. 67K-Colton Robinson[7]; 9. 51B-Joe B Miller[13]; 10. 7-Shannon McQueen[9]; 11. 11-Alex Midkiff[11]; 12. 50-Daniel Adler[12]; 13. 7T-Adam Taylor[10]; 14. 4M-Sheldon Males[14]

UP NEXT
The Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota returns for the World Championship doubleheader at Millbridge Speedway, Monday-Tuesday, Nov. 2-3, serving as the prelude to the World of Outlaws World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.