WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Xtreme Outlaws Collide with POWRi at Doe Run, Southern Illinois
DOE RUN, MO (July 20, 2023) – Summer break is over, and racing is back in session. The Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota returns to action this weekend, bringing national Midget racing back to a pair of tiny Midwest ovals.
Never in the 29-year history of Doe Run Raceway have Midgets raced within its 1/6-mile confines; that is until Friday night, when the Xtreme Outlaws make their Series debut, competing for a $4,000 grand prize.
Southern Illinois Raceway welcomes the return of Midgets to its 1/8-mile course for the first time in four years. The POWRi National Midget League held the last Midget event there in 2019 and teams up with the Xtreme Outlaw Series for a $4,000-to-win show to cap the weekend Saturday night.
Both shows will be run in conjunction with POWRi as part of the Xtreme Outlaw-POWRi Challenge Series, which pays the points champion $2,500 at season’s end.
Tickets for both events will be on sale at the gate on race day. If you can’t make it to your favorite track, stream every lap live with a FAST PASS subscription to DIRTVision.
Here are the drivers to watch and storylines to follow this weekend:
MR. CONSISTENT – Up by 121 points in the Xtreme Outlaw standings, Cannon McIntosh has been nothing but consistent through the first third of the 2023 schedule.
Through the first 10 races, the 20-year-old Oklahoman has podium finishes in every event except for two; one of which he took a DNF after an early incident while running inside the top-five. With four wins and no finishes outside the top-six in Xtreme competition thus far, McIntosh is inching closer toward his first career national Midget championship.
He’s currently riding a wave of momentum from a dominant display through POWRi’s Illinois SPEEDweek, where he won three of the four scheduled races and finished second in the lone race he did not win en route to his third-straight miniseries championship.
McIntosh leads the field into Doe Run on Friday, aiming to become the track’s first-ever Midget Feature winner. He’s also started two previous Midget races at Southern Illinois with POWRi – one in 2018 (17th-place) and the other in 2019, when he took a DNF after starting third.MOST IMPROVED – After coming so close to his first career national Midget Feature win with the Xtreme Outlaws on multiple occasions before the summer break, Gavin Miller finally cashed-in – twice – and is one of the nation’s most rapidly improving Midget drivers.
The 16-year-old from Allentown, PA, nearly won the Xtreme Outlaw Showdown at Wayne County Speedway, leading by a lengthy margin in the final laps before getting into the outside wall and surrendering the top spot to eventual winner Zach Daum. Three nights later in USAC action, he took a hard tumble after leading 12 laps at Circle City Raceway.
On June 9, Miller finally broke through to Victory Lane, beating a stout USAC Indiana Midget Week field to score the win at Bloomington Speedway. Most recently, Miller cashed-in with POWRi, winning the latest national event at Lake Ozark Speedway in Missouri.
With podium finishes in three of his last four Xtreme Outlaw starts, Miller now sits 121 points behind McIntosh in the championship standings.7-UP – Since joining the Trifecta Motorsports team days before the most recent Xtreme Outlaw race weekend in June, Zach Daum dramatically turned a slow start to the season around.
Daum, the 32-year-old open-wheel veteran from Pocahontas, IL, was sitting ninth in Series points after a tough weekend at Millbridge Speedway, getting involved in a wreck that destroyed his new King Chassis that he put together before the start of the season. He soon received a call from car owner Steve Carbone about filling the open seat in the team’s flagship #7U and grabbed his equipment with renewed ambition.
In their first Xtreme race together at Tri-City, Daum drove from 10th on the starting grid up to fifth before sweeping both races Friday-Saturday at Wayne County Speedway. Daum’s first two victories of the season surged him all the way up to fifth in the standings, where he currently sits 270 points back of leader McIntosh.
Daum has two previous starts with POWRi at Southern Illinois, finishing 12th in 2018 and eighth in 2019. He’s back in the Trifecta #7U this weekend in search of his fourth career Series victory.
REBOUND RUN – After surviving a wave of tough luck in the last Xtreme Outlaw race weekend, things are starting to look up again for Jade Avedisian.
A blown tire while running inside the top-five at Tri-City and a pass attempt for the lead gone awry on the first night at Wayne County ruined the 16-year-old Californian’s would’ve-been podium finishes last month. She’s since dropped to fourth in the Series standings, 180 points out of the lead.
However, a fourth-place result in USAC Indiana Midget Week points and three-straight top-five finishes to cap POWRi Illinois SPEEDweek indicate the three-time Xtreme Outlaw winner’s rebound behind the wheel of the Keith Kunz Motorsports, Bullet/Toyota #71 as she prepares to take on Doe Run and Southern Illinois for the first time this weekend.
POWRed-UP – The second and third Xtreme Outlaw-POWRi Challenge Series events on the 2023 schedule will commence this weekend.
The 11-race schedule, now shortened to eight races due to weather cancelations, tabs points across each Xtreme Outlaw & POWRi co-sanctioned race this season, awarding a $2,500 champion’s check to the driver with the most points after the Xtreme Outlaw season finale at I-44 Riverside Speedway in October. Cannon McIntosh (231) leads the current standings after one race by 10 points over Zach Daum (221) and 15 over third-place Kyle Jones (216).
The Xtreme Outlaw stars will take on POWRi’s best in both events this weekend, led by POWRi National Midget League points leader Corbin Rueschenberg, Sweet Springs (MO) winner Karter Sarff (third in points), and Keith Kunz Motorsports’ newest team member Cooper Williams, who sits fourth in points.
THIS WEEKEND AT A GLANCE
When and whereFriday, July 21 at Doe Run Raceway in Doe Run, MOSaturday, July 22 at Southern Illinois Raceway in Marion, IL
On the internetXtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by ToyotaTwitter – @Xtreme_OutlawInstagram – @XtremeOutlawFacebook – @XtremeOutlawSeries.WRG
Live broadcastDIRTVision – DIRTVision.com. Platinum annual FAST PASS for $299 or monthly FAST PASS for $39/month.
Current championship points standings (view full standings)1. Cannon McIntosh (2173pts); 2. Gavin Miller 2052pts (-121); 3. Chase McDermand 1995pts (-178); 4. Jade Avedisian 1993pts (-180); 5. Zach Daum 1903pts (-270); 6. Chance Crum 1847pts (-326); 7. Taylor Reimer 1837pts (-336); 8. Landon Brooks 1734pts (-439); 9. Hayden Reinbold 1629pts (-544); 10. Ethan Mitchell 1579pts (-594).
Toyota Feature winners (5 drivers)4 wins – Cannon McIntosh (Dave Mac-Dalby Motorsports)2 wins – Chase McDermand (Mounce/Stout Motorsports); Zach Daum (Trifecta Motorsports)1 win – Jade Avedisian (Keith Kunz Motorsports); Jesse Love (Chad Boat Industries)
Toyota Feature laps led (13 drivers)78 laps – Cannon McIntosh44 laps – Zach Daum28 laps – Ryan Timms26 laps – Thomas Meseraull24 laps – Jade Avedisian, Chase McDermand23 laps – Gavin Miller22 laps – Shane Cottle21 laps – Ashton Torgerson11 laps – Hayden Reinbold6 laps – Karter Sarff4 laps – Jesse Love1 lap – Nick Drake
Whitz RC Racing Products Quick Time Awards (6 drivers)3 awards – Cannon McIntosh2 awards – Ethan Mitchell1 award – Gavin Miller, Daniel Whitley, Hayden Reinbold, Jesse Love, Kevin Thomas Jr.
Heat Race winners (17 drivers)5 wins – Jade Avedisian4 wins – Cannon McIntosh3 wins – Zach Daum2 wins – Chance Crum, Nick Drake, Chase McDermand, Ethan Mitchell, Hayden Reinbold, Gavin Miller1 win – Austin Barnhill, Shane Cottle, Thomas Meseraull, Corbin Rueschenberg, Kyle Jones, Rico Abreu, Briggs Danner, Daison Pursley
High-points honors (9 drivers)2 honors – Cannon McIntosh1 honor – Gavin Miller, Chance Crum, Rico Abreu, Daniel Whitley, Landon Brooks, Briggs Danner, Hayden Reinbold, Jade Avedisian
Last Chance Showdown wins (10 drivers)2 wins – Kyle Jones1 win – Landon Brooks, Karter Sarff, Howard Moore, Ryan Timms, Taylor Reimer, Henry Chambers, Chance Crum, Chase Briscoe, Mitchell Davis
DIRTVision Hard Charger Awards (10 drivers)1 award – Mitchel Moles, Chase Johnson, Ryan Timms, Chance Crum, Zach Daum, Gavan Boschele, Taylor Reimer, Chase McDermand, Shane Cottle, Cooper Williams
Podium finishes (13 drivers)7 podiums – Cannon McIntosh6 podiums – Chase McDermand4 podiums – Gavin Miller3 podiums – Zach Daum2 podiums – Shane Cottle1 podium – Thomas Meseraull, Jade Avedisian, Kyle Jones, Ryan Timms, Ashton Torgerson, Taylor Reimer, Landon Brooks, Jesse Love
Top-10 finishes (35 drivers)9 top-10s – Cannon McIntosh, Gavin Miller8 top-10s – Jade Avedisian, Chase McDermand7 top-10s – Zach Daum6 top-10s – Chance Crum5 top-10s – Landon Brooks4 top-10s – Kyle Jones, Ethan Mitchell, Taylor Reimer, Gavan Boschele3 top-10s – Thomas Meseraull, Ryan Timms2 top-10s – Corbin Rueschenberg, Briggs Danner, Shane Cottle, Chase Briscoe, Kevin Thomas Jr.1 top-10 – Mitchel Moles, Chase Johnson, Austin Barnhill, Daniel Adler, Sam Johnson, Rico Abreu, Ashton Torgerson, Daniel Whitley, Don Droud Jr., Mariah Ede, Nick Drake, Hayden Reinbold, Karter Sarff, Branigan Roark, Cooper Williams, Jesse Love
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)