LEWISTOWN, IL (July 20, 2024) – Lining up eighth on the starting grid, racing one of the fastest tracks on the schedule and a host of talent in front of him. No problem for Cannon McIntosh.
The 21-year-old from Bixby, OK, put on a display of speed and racetrack smarts Saturday night at Spoon River Speedway, taking the lead from Hayden Reinbold late in the race and leading the rest of the way to bag the win in the finale of the Tom Knowles Memorial.
The main event, co-sanctioned by the POWRi National Midget League, stood as McIntosh’s fifth win of the season with the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota and second as part of the Xtreme Outlaw-POWRi Challenge Series – both of which he now leads the points standings in.
From eighth on the grid, McIntosh also becomes the deepest-starting Xtreme Outlaw Series Feature winner this season. So, how’d he do it?
“Really just trying to go where they aren’t at that point, you’re already starting eighth and really have nothing to lose there,” McIntosh said. “I didn’t really jump all the way up there right from the beginning, I kinda was searching and got to about third and decided to just commit to the top and get on the very edge.
“It took time to build the momentum, but once I got it, I was able to get to the lead and try to run away.”
While third-starting Reinbold got out to the early lead, fending off early challenges from polesitter Ashton Torgerson, McIntosh searched for the fast lane further back in the field. By the halfway point, he was up to fourth and challenging his Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports (KKM) teammates Gavin Miller and Torgerson for a spot on the podium and got it with a great burst of speed off the top side of Turn 2 on Lap 16.
After getting by Torgerson for third, McIntosh set his sights on Miller. By this point, McIntosh had made the decision to commit to the top side around the high-banked, 3/8-mile oval and build his speed for a run at Miller in second and Reinbold at the head of the field.
“During that long run, I could just work up to the cushion slower and slower,” McIntosh said. “Once you’re on it, you’re already in a rhythm at that point. I think it was just a matter of getting the laps together and how long it to get the speed.”
As Miller followed in Reinbold’s tracks on the bottom, McIntosh’s high side momentum began to showcase the speed as he zoomed past Miller for second on Lap 19. Two laps later, he did the same to Reinbold for the lead, beating the Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports No. 19AZ to the stripe by .225 seconds on Lap 21.
Reinbold said it was all about hitting his marks on the bottom side of the racetrack, which he said became more difficult to do as the race progressed.
“It was kind of a gamble – you could drive it hard in and it would maybe stick or maybe not, and I just took too many where I just floated it and missed it,” Reinbold said. “[Cannon] would just get out and get a run and building momentum up.”
As McIntosh began to open up a gap on the field, his progress was soon halted by a red flag displayed on Lap 23. Mark McMahill made contact with McIntosh going into Turn 1 and ended up flipping numerous times in the air before coming to a rest outside Turns 1 and 2. McMahill climbed from his car under his own power, uninjured in the incident.
On the restart, McIntosh went back to the top as the laps wound down, but he soon switched to running the low lines at both ends of the track in an effort to keep Reinbold at bay behind him.
“At the end, with the red, tires just change a little bit, and you lose your rhythm too,” McIntosh said. “I kinda struggled to get back into that rhythm and just started falling over that cushion out of (Turn) 4, and I saw the 19 car poke a nose there right at the end, so I just decided to go down and protect.”
The strategy worked as McIntosh held off all challengers to collect the win and the $5,000 prize.
Reinbold crossed the line in second, setting a new personal best finish with the Series in 2024. Try as he may on the last restart, he was unable to catch McIntosh despite his best effort.
“I knew the bottom was still there and I was gonna have a good chance, so I took time to mess with my shocks and stuff and get it dialed-in,” Reinbold said. “Tied the right-rear down, opened-up the fronts and just got better with the car. Made sure I hit my marks and gave it a good shot.”
Ohio racer Jacob Denney crossed the stripe in third after a fruitful last five laps. Coming from 11th on the grid, Denney piloted the Tom Malloy-owned No. 25 car up to fifth by the final restart. He chose the bottom lane at the drop of the green and, even after slipping back to sixth at one point, picked off three spots in the last five laps to finish third.
Inaugural Series champion Zach Daum crossed the stripe fourth in the Trifecta Motorsports No. 7U while KKM’s own Ryan Timms drove the No. 67 to a fifth-place run after winning at the track Friday night.
UP NEXT
The Xtreme Outlaw Midgets are back in action next weekend for a doubleheader in Oklahoma – Friday, July 26 at Arrowhead Speedway in Colcord, and Saturday, July 27 at Tulsa Speedway in Tulsa.
Tickets for both events will be on sale at the gate on race day. If you can’t be there to watch in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 71K-Cannon McIntosh[8]; 2. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold[3]; 3. 25-Jacob Denney[11]; 4. 7U-Zach Daum[7]; 5. 67-Ryan Timms[6]; 6. 67K-Ashton Torgerson[1]; 7. 40-Chase McDermand[4]; 8. 56D-Mitchell Davis[10]; 9. 97-Gavin Miller[5]; 10. 21K-Karter Sarff[13]; 11. 98-Gunnar Setser[15]; 12. 55-Trevor Cline[12]; 13. 14S-Tyler Edwards[2]; 14. 7T-Adam Taylor[16]; 15. 8-Zach Wigal[9]; 16. 66-Jayden Clay[17]; 17. 1K-Brayton Lynch[14]; 18. 00-John Heitzman[20]; 19. 57-Mark McMahill[18]; 20. 83-Will Armitage[19]