Story By: JORDAN DELUCIA / XTREME OUTLAW SERIES – HUMBOLDT, KS – The Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota returns to competition this weekend with a doubleheader in Kansas, Friday and Saturday night.
A visit to the banked 1/4-mile oval of Humboldt Speedway in Humboldt, KS will kick things off on Friday, May 10, featuring a $4,000-to-win main event. Pit gates are set to open at 4 p.m. CT and grandstand gates at 6 p.m. Hot Laps and Qualifying will follow at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 11, brings the Series back to the fast, 3/8-mile oval of 81 Speedway in Park City, KS for the second-straight year with a $4,000 grand prize on the line. Pit gates will open at 3 p.m. CT and grandstand gates at 5 p.m. Hot Laps and Qualifying will follow at 6:15 p.m.
As an added bonus, all regular competitors of the Rocky Mountain Midget Racing Association (RMMRA) are invited to compete in both Xtreme Outlaw Series events over the weekend. These races will present a $200 bonus check to the highest-finishing RMMRA racer and a $100 check to the second-highest RMMRA finisher on both nights.
Tickets for both events will be on sale at the gate on race day.
Here are the drivers to watch and the storylines to follow this weekend:
GRAB A BROOM – No driver on the Xtreme Outlaw Series roster is more ready for a weekend of Midget racing in Kansas than Chase McDermand.
Currently, McDermand, the 23-year-old racer from Springfield, IL, sits third in the standings – 56 points out of the lead – and is the only driver inside the top five in points without a Feature win on tour thus far. However, he won both Series races at Humboldt and 81 last year, beating points leader Cannon McIntosh on back-to-back nights for a sweep of the weekend in Kansas.
Though it’s been a full year since those triumphs, McDermand has been rolling as of late, posting top-five finishes in each of the last four races, including a podium at Farmer City. He’s been open about his fondness for the larger, faster tracks in the past, and will be a contender for his first win of the season at both venues this weekend.
BRIDESMAID – After finishing second to McDermand at both races in Kansas last year, Cannon McIntosh is ready for another shot at Humboldt and 81.
The 21-year-old from Bixby, OK, came from ninth on the starting grid at Humboldt in 2023 and challenged McDermand for the lead late in the race, but came up one spot short. The next night at 81, he took the lead on Lap 11 and led through Lap 18 but was unable to fend off the challenge from McDermand, who took the lead on Lap 19 and brought the field back around to the checkered to bag his second-straight win over McIntosh.
McIntosh currently leads Series points by 27 over Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports (KKM) teammate Ryan Timms and will be trying for his second win of the season after winning the second race of the season-opening weekend in March.
READY TO POUNCE – Sitting only 27 points behind leader Cannon McIntosh in the standings, Ryan Timms enters the weekend looking to make a move for the points lead as he returns to a track he’s already won at.
Timms, the 17-year-old open-wheel star from Oklahoma City, OK, has yet to compete in a Midget at Humboldt but has had laps around 81 in the past, scoring a win with the American Sprint Car Series at the 3/8-mile oval in 2021.
That experience will play into his favor as he seeks his second win of the season this weekend – four weeks after breaking through to Victory Lane at Farmer City Raceway.
PATCHED UP – Jade Avedisian returns to the seat of the KKM No. 71 this week, now fully recovered from a concussion suffered in a hard crash during a Heat Race at Farmer City Raceway nearly four weeks ago.
Avedisian, the reigning Series champion from Clovis, CA, represented at both Kansas venues last year, running sixth at Humboldt after starting third and led the first 10 laps of the main event at 81 before dropping back to finish fourth.
She’s also coming off another weekend in action with the Toyota GR Cup Series at Sebring International Raceway in Florida, racing twice and posting a best finish of 14th in a field of 29 cars.
BEEN HERE BEFORE – One year ago, Ashton Torgerson made his Xtreme Outlaw Series debut with Tanner Thorson Racing at Humboldt and shined, scoring his first career podium finish with a national Midget series.
Torgerson, of Glendale, AZ, led the opening 21 laps at the 1/4-mile oval before eventual winner McDermand swiped the lead away from him late in the race to secure the win. He fell back to an 11th-place run the next night at 81 but still turned heads in his national Midget debut.
Fast forward to 2024 and the 17-year-old racer is driving as part of the KKM squad and already has two national Midget series Feature wins thus far, scoring one win with POWRi in March and his first with the Xtreme Outlaw Series in the most recent Series event at Farmer City Raceway in April.