KUTZTOWN, PA (Aug. 9, 2023) – Before the start of Appalachian Midget Week, Chase McDermand had never once competed in the State of Pennsylvania. Two races in, and he’s got two Feature wins.
With a swift move in traffic around the bottom of Action Track USA, McDermand took the lead from polesitter Kyle Jones before the halfway point and held the field off the rest of the way to secure his second win in two nights with the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota.
“I’d be lying if I told you I expected to win the first two,” he said.
A win in similar fashion Tuesday night at Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway started McDermand and the Mounce/Stout Motorsports team off on the right foot, taking the lead in the first half of the race and holding on for the win. He began Wednesday night’s main event almost identically, starting from outside Row 2 and quickly advancing inside the top two spots in the first 15 laps.
Once McDermand made the move to take second three laps in, he was a second-and-a-half behind Jones. As Jones dipped into lapped traffic, McDermand began to rapidly close the gap.
“I was really trying to watch the lapped traffic probably even more than I was watching [Jones], just to figure out where they were gonna go,” McDermand said. “The lapped traffic was having their own race, too, switching lines up, so I was mainly just trying to stay out of trouble and figure out how to get a run on [Jones] at the same time.”
By Lap 10, McDermand had closed all the way in on Jones. Coming across the stripe to complete the lap, Jones reached a cluster of slower cars all racing for position. McDermand drove it in hard on the bottom and Jones slid up slightly, opening the door for a pass for the lead.
“We were dicing in lapped traffic, and I saw him get underneath me, and I was trying to pass a lapped car at the same time,” Jones said. “It was getting pretty hairy, but it was all clean. Can’t ask for a cleaner racecar driver than Chase.”
McDermand got a great run out of Turn 2 and down the backstretch, taking the spot away for good on Lap 11. Now in control of the race, McDermand hit the nitrous and scampered away from the field, opening up a three-second advantage on Jones before the first break in the action came with a red flag on Lap 20.
Before the red, McDermand was turning some of the fastest laps on the track.
“I was just trying to find a smooth line, trying to avoid all the holes, trying to upset the car as little as possible, and we were able to do that,” McDermand said. “The car had good drive in it to where I could really switch up my lines, and it was pretty much good everywhere.”
McDermand was forced to survive multiple restarts in the final 10 laps, defending the top spot from several challengers behind him. One of which was Keith Kunz Motorsports entrant Taylor Reimer, who was hot on Jones’ trail for second in the final laps.
“I saw on the board that Reimer was in second, so I was trying to play offense just as much as I was defense those last few laps,” McDermand said. “Try to play it smart and not be vulnerable to her sliding me on those last couple laps.”
Reimer, 23, of Tulsa, OK, was busy in the final 10 laps fending off Series points leader Cannon McIntosh behind her, as well as looking for a way by Jones to take second.
“Once I was able to get going and I got Cannon behind me, I was able to enter high in Turns 1-2 and diamond it off a little bit,” Reimer said. “That’s where [Jones] slid-up into 2.
“I got a run off of 2 and slid him into 3, hit a rough patch, but I didn’t see him after that.”
Reimer crossed the stripe in second, tying her best Xtreme Outlaw finish of the season. The run marked her eighth-straight top-five finish, and though she’s happy with the results, she still hungers for her first national Midget series win in proper fashion, crossing the finish line first.
“I’m getting tired of seeing everyone get the confetti and just watching them,” Reimer said. “My goal was to be more consistent, and to win. But in order to win, you have to be consistent, running up in the top. Super proud of my team, they’ve done a great job all year, and I finally feel like our results are showing.”
Jones was able to hang onto third in the end in the John Levecque-owned #60x. The 29-year-old Texan linked up with the North Carolina-based team specifically for Appalachian Midget Week, and despite some concerns in the closing laps, Jones still bagged his second podium of the season with the Xtreme Outlaws.
“At the end there, I think we were a little low on fuel,” Jones said. “It started sputtering, and that’s how Taylor got by me. Chase was just in a league of his own; he was gone as soon as he got by us.”
UP NEXT
Appalachian Midget Week continues Thursday, Aug. 10 with a visit to Linda’s Speedway in Jonestown, PA. Tickets will be available for purchase at the gate. If you can’t make it to the track, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 40-Chase McDermand[4]; 2. 25K-Taylor Reimer[2]; 3. 60X-Kyle Jones[1]; 4. 97-Gavin Miller[3]; 5. 08-Cannon McIntosh[8]; 6. 19M-Ethan Mitchell[10]; 7. 19-Daison Pursley[6]; 8. 7U-Zach Daum[7]; 9. 29-Tim Buckwalter[13]; 10. 71-Jade Avedisian[5]; 11. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold[9]; 12. 23-Preston Lattomus[11]; 13. 25-Steve Buckwalter[21]; 14. 76-Michael Smith[12]; 15. 17B-Austin Barnhill[14]; 16. 75-Michael Markey[17]; 17. 55-Trevor Cline[16]; 18. 98-Briggs Danner[18]; 19. 0W-Kevin Woody Jr[15]; 20. 50-Mark Sokol[20]; 21. 4-Ayden Hare[19]