Xtreme Outlaw Midgets Begin April with Debuts at US 36, Sweet Springs
Photo by Joe Grabianowski
OSBORN, Mo. — The 2024 season for the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota rolls on with two brand-new stops in Missouri to kick off April.
First will be a visit to US 36 Raceway on Friday, April 5, and then a trip to Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex on Saturday, April 6.
The high-banked, 3/8-mile oval of US 36 Raceway has not hosted a national Midget series event since 2013 but welcomes the debut of the Xtreme Outlaw Midgets, featuring a 30-lap, $4,000-to-win, main event. The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will also be in attendance racing adjacent to the Midgets in the first of five nights the two series will pair in 2024.
Then, it’s a trip to Sweet Springs, MO’s popular 1/5-mile bullring. A hotspot for local, regional and national Micro Sprint action, Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex has also been an annual host of national Midget racing with POWRi and USAC but welcomes the Xtreme Outlaws for the first time ever in a 30-lap, $4,000-to-win, main event alongside the WFO Micro Series.
Tickets for both events are on sale in advance at the links below and will also be on sale at the gates on race day. If you can’t be at the tracks to watch in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
BUY US 36 TICKETS ($5 cheaper when purchased in advance)
BUY SWEET SPRINGS TICKETS
Here are the drivers to watch and storylines to follow this weekend:
COMING IN HOT – Cannon McIntosh is once again back on top of the Series points standings and is coming into the weekend with momentum from a strong showing of three-straight podium finishes last weekend with the POWRi National Midget League.
McIntosh, 21, of Bixby, OK, went back to Victory Lane with the Xtreme Outlaw Series on the second night of the season opener inside the Southern Illinois Center, placing him atop the championship points standings by three over Zach Daum. This past weekend, McIntosh was automatic in the POWRi season openers in Oklahoma, posting a runner-up on Thursday at Creek County Speedway and back-to-back third-place finishes at Port City Raceway on Friday-Saturday.
Looking at past results, McIntosh has never competed in a Midget at US 36 but has been dominant at Sweet Springs over the past several seasons. In the 11 national Midget series Features he’s started at the 1/5-mile oval, he’s won five times – three more than the only other driver to win more than one national Midget race there, Buddy Kofoid (USAC 2020, USAC 2022).
BREAKOUT – Ashton Torgerson’s first few starts on the national Midget circuit have made a bold statement to each of his competitors.
The newest Keith Kunz Motorsports racer from Glendale, AZ, missed the transfer spot into the first Toyota Racing Feature of the season on Friday night of the season opener at the Southern Illinois Center but bounced back the next night, transferring to the Feature via a Heat win and then taking home a sixth-place finish in the main event.
He then took the momentum from that strong run in Du Quoin and carried it right into last weekend’s POWRi events in Oklahoma, posting back-to-back fourth-place finishes Thursday-Friday before holding off Tanner Thorson, McIntosh, Daum and more en route to his first career national Midget series Feature win Saturday at Port City Raceway.
He’s back in the Safety-Kleen, LynK/Toyota #67K on Friday at US 36, where he’s never raced, but tackles Sweet Springs on Saturday – a track he visited in 2021 in a Micro Sprint.
IN SYNC – Trifecta Motorsports is off to a solid start for their second season on the Xtreme Outlaw Series trail and has several reasons to look forward to US 36 and Sweet Springs.
Flagship car driver Zach Daum currently ranks second in championship points standings after posting back-to-back third-place finishes in Du Quoin. The inaugural Series champion from Pocahontas, IL, will be one of the few, if not the only driver in the field with prior laps in a Midget around US 36 Raceway, having placed third on two occasions (2011, 2012) and fourth in 2010. This Friday at US 36, he’ll double-dip with both the Midgets and with the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars, also piloting the McGarry Motorsports No. 31 Sprint Car.
Daum, team co-owner Steve Carbone and crew chief Bobby Milliser have collectively been working well together as of late, helping special guest driver and 2022 Chili Bowl Nationals winner Tanner Thorson get to Victory Lane last Friday night in the POWRi event at Port City Raceway – the team’s sixth career national Midget series win and first with the No. 5U car.
REBOUND RUN – The Mounce/Stout Motorsports fleet of drivers will be back in action with the Series this weekend, looking for a rebound after an up-and-down first weekend out in Du Quoin.
Tyler Edwards leads the charge for the Oklahoma-based team as they head for Missouri, sitting 17th in points – the highest of each of the four team cars. Edwards started off strong in the season opener three weekends ago, putting his No. 56E on the outside pole for the Feature, but ultimately fell back to a 15th-place finish after drawing a caution flag late in the race. A DNF cut his eighth-place starting efforts short the next night.
California racer TJ Smith qualified for both Features in Du Quoin but took DNFs in both after getting involved in incidents each night, while fellow teammate Austin Torgerson qualified for only Friday’s Feature and finished 13th. New for this week, the fourth teammate joins them on track, as young Oklahoman Jayden Clay makes his debut with the Series after missing the season opener.
FRONTRUNNERS – Keith Kunz Motorsports has three of the top five drivers in the championship points standings heading into Missouri, already on the path to defending the Series championship they clinched last year.
Reigning champion Jade Avedisian will be away from the team for the weekend, tending to her Toyota GR Cup commitments in Sonoma, CA. However, KKM will still take six cars with them to US 36 and Sweet Springs with McIntosh, Ryan Timms, Taylor Reimer, Luke Drotschie, Ashton Torgerson and Kale Drake on driving duties.
Timms, 17, of Oklahoma City, OK, currently sits fifth in Series points after finishes of 12th and second in Du Quoin. Last Thursday, Timms nearly won the POWRi season opener at Creek County, leading into the final laps before colliding with a lapped car that spun in front of him, ending his chances for victory. However, he bounced back with a runner-up finish to Tanner Thorson the next night at Port City before taking on the World of Outlaws on Saturday, capping his weekend with a 10th-place finish at 81 Speedway in his 410 Sprint Car.
Gavin Miller, 17, of Allentown, PA, sits one spot ahead of Timms in the standings but will not be racing this weekend as he continues his recovery from an injury sustained in an incident during the KKM Challenge Micro Sprint event in California two weeks ago. In his place, 16-year-old Kale Drake will drive Miller’s No. 97 for both races as he makes his first appearance with the Series since 2022.
THIS WEEKEND AT A GLANCE
When and where
Friday, April 5 at US 36 Raceway in Osborn, MO
Saturday, April 6 at Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex in Sweet Springs, MO
On the internet
Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota
Twitter – @Xtreme_Outlaw
Instagram – @XtremeOutlaw
Facebook – @XtremeOutlawSeries.WRG
Live broadcast
DIRTVision – DIRTVision.com. Annual FAST PASS for $299 or monthly FAST PASS for $39/month.
Current championship points standings (view full standings)
1 Cannon McIntosh: 439 points | Keith Kunz Motorsports #71K
2 Zach Daum: 436 points (-3) | Trifecta Motorsports #7U
3 Shane Cottle: 410 points (-29) | Cottle Racing #86
4 Gavin Miller: 407 points (-32) | Keith Kunz Motorsports #97
5 Ryan Timms: 400 points (-39) | Keith Kunz Motorsports #67
6 Joe B. Miller: 389 points (-50) | Joe B. Miller Motorsports #51B
7 Thomas Meseraull: 387 points (-52) | Engler Racing #7x
8 Jade Avedisian: 380 points (-59) | Keith Kunz Motorsports #71
9 Chase McDermand: 379 points (-60) | Chase McDermand Racing #40
10 Karter Sarff: 363 points (-72) | Karter Sarff Motorsports #21
Toyota Feature winners (2 drivers)
1 win – Thomas Meseraull (Engler Racing), Cannon McIntosh (Keith Kunz Motorsports)
Toyota Feature laps led (4 drivers)
35 laps – Joe B. Miller
27 laps – Thomas Meseraull
5 laps – Cannon McIntosh
4 laps – Tyler Edwards
Whitz RC Racing Products Quick Time Awards (1 driver)
2 awards – Ethan Mitchell
Heat Race winners (11 drivers)
2 wins – Tyler Edwards
1 win – Ryan Timms, Thomas Meseraull, Shane Cottle, Gavin Miller, TJ Smith, Chase McDermand, Cannon McIntosh, Jade Avedisian, Nick Hoffman, Ashton Torgerson
High-points honors (2 drivers)
1 honor – Cannon McIntosh, Tyler Edwards
Last Chance Showdown wins (6 drivers)
1 win – Taylor Reimer, Gunnar Setser, Austin Torgerson, Gavin Miller, Shane Cottle, Ethan Mitchell
DIRTVision Hard Charger Awards (2 drivers)
1 award – Will Armitage, Ryan Timms
Podium finishes (5 drivers)
2 podiums – Zach Daum
1 podium – Thomas Meseraull, Gavin Miller, Cannon McIntosh, Ryan Timms
Top-10 finishes (16 drivers)
2 top-10s – Shane Cottle, Cannon McIntosh, Zach Daum, Chase McDermand
1 top-10 – Gavin Miller, Ryan Timms, Joe B. Miller, Thomas Meseraull, Jade Avedisian, Karter Sarff, Will Armitage, Taylor Reimer, Mitchell Davis, Trey Marcham, Ashton Torgerson, Rylan Gray
2023 Schedule & Winners – Race No. Day, Date / Track / Location / Winner (Total Wins)
1. Fri, March 15 / Southern Illinois Center / Du Quoin, IL / Thomas Meseraull (1)
2. Sat, March 16 / Southern Illinois Center / Du Quoin, IL / Cannon McIntosh (1)
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