Story By: JORDAN DELUCIA / XTREME OUTLAW SERIES – WASHINGTON, WV – The Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota takes national Midget racing into unchartered territory this Friday-Sunday, July 28-30, with visits to Ohio Valley Speedway, Atomic Speedway and Brushcreek Motorsports Complex.
Never before has a national dirt Midget tour turned laps around these tracks; that is until the Series makes its debut in West Virginia to kick off the weekend tripleheader with a visit to Ohio Valley Speedway. The semi-banked, 3/8-mile oval, noted for its weekly Modified racing and Late Model special events, will host the Midgets in addition to its weekly lineup of classes.
Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, OH, hosts the Xtreme Outlaws Saturday night alongside its weekly 410 Sprint Car and Sport Mod divisions, followed by a trip to Brushcreek Motorsports Complex in Peebles, OH, on Sunday to wrap-up the weekend. All three shows are $4,000-to-win, $300-to-start programs, and will pay an additional $250 to the highest-finishing SpeeD2 Midget driver in each Feature.
Here are the drivers to watch and storylines to follow this weekend:
NEW PLACES, DIFFERENT FACES – Three new local fanbases will be introduced to national-level Midget racing as the Series travels to Ohio Valley (WV), Atomic (OH) and Brushcreek (OH).
Never before have any of these venues put on a national Midget race, though Atomic and Brushcreek have hosted the USAC Midwest Thunder Midget Series for D2 Midgets at various points since 2020. The Xtreme Outlaw Series has extended a special invitation toward the Midwest Thunder regulars to attend this weekend’s races, offering up an extra $250 check to the highest-finishing D2 driver in all three Features.
Midwest Thunder points leader Zach Wigal, 16, of Belpre, OH, is tied with Bryce Massingill for most wins with the series this year at four. Multiple drivers, including the points leaders, could potentially join the Xtreme Outlaw roster this weekend.
BACK IN THE HUNT – A runner-up effort last Friday and her second Toyota Racing Feature win of the season Saturday put Jade Avedisian back in the thick of the battle for the 2023 Xtreme Outlaw championship.
Avedisian, 16, of Clovis, CA, led 22 laps of Friday’s Feature at Doe Run Raceway before defending Series champion Zach Daum took it from her coming to the white flag and stole the victory. She was able to find redemption less than 24 hours later at Southern Illinois Raceway (SIR), driving by Kyle Jones on the outside for the lead on a late restart and bringing the field back around to the checkers to score her fourth career Series victory and second of the season.
For her efforts, Avedisian advanced two spots in the Series points standings and is now only 67 points out of the lead with over half of the schedule remaining. She and the Keith Kunz Motorsports team have the momentum back on their side after breaking the nine-race dry spell since their previous Feature win in Du Quoin, IL, to start the season.
TOOK A TUMBLE – Until this past weekend, it looked like nothing was going to stop Cannon McIntosh. A tally of four Feature wins and streak of eight podium finishes through the first 10 races did not carry momentum for him, spawning his second DNF of the season Friday night, though he was able to rebound on Saturday.
McIntosh, 20, of Bixby, OK, got behind early in Friday’s program, suffering a mechanical malfunction with the fuel system in his Heat before rolling it over in the Feature, leaving him with his second DNF of the season. He was able to right the ship on Saturday, however, charging all the way from 15th to finish fifth.
Despite the rebound, he lost a big chunk of his points lead in the two-race stretch, down to 67 points from 121 where it stood entering the weekend. McIntosh and the Dave Mac-Dalby Motorsports team will look to build the lead back up in the three-race stretch this weekend as they continue down the road to their first national Midget championship.
DAUM’S NEW GROOVE – Before the summer break, Zach Daum was winning. The break is over, and Daum is still winning.
Daum, the defending Series champion from Pocahontas, IL, is continuing his great stretch of Midget racing with his new team at Trifecta Motorsports, now riding a streak of four podium finishes in the last five Xtreme Outlaw races. After making back-to-back Victory Lane trips in their first weekend together at Wayne County Speedway (IL) last month, Daum and the Trifecta squad did it again last Friday at Doe Run, passing Avedisian coming to the white flag to score their third-straight Series victory. An 11th-to-second charge on Saturday at SIR capped the weekend.
Daum gained big in the Series points standings, chopping what was a 270-point deficit down to 169 points where he sits coming into this weekend, as he and the Oklahoma-based Trifecta team aim to keep their streak of top-two finishes going.
NEW LIGHT SHINING – After a successful second venture out on the Xtreme Outlaw trail, Daniel Whitley and the Abacus Racing team are headed back out for more this weekend.
Whitley, 20, of Ferndale, CA, joined the Indiana-based Abacus Racing team for the 2023 season and has been strong in Xtreme Outlaw competition thus far, posting two top-fives and three top-10s in four starts. He led six laps in Friday’s Feature at Doe run, taking the lead from Avedisian with a slide job in the early going and going on to finish fifth.
He and teammate Laci Ferno have plans to tackle all three stops on the schedule this weekend. Whitley, a former Outlaw Kart and Sprint Car driver, shoots for his first career Feature win in a Midget.