JACKSONVILLE, Ill. — In her 43rd attempt, Jade Avedisian claimed her first national midget victory on Sunday night at Jacksonville Speedway.
The 15-year-old rising star has enjoyed success with USAC and POWRi, but her most memorable moment to date now belongs with the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota.
The Clovis, Calif., native earned the outside pole of Sunday’s feature and dominated the whole thing, leading from start to finish in the CB Industries No. 84.
Climbing out of the car to a standing ovation, Avedisian was left speechless following the biggest win of her career.
“I don’t even know what to say right now,” Avedisian thought. “I was telling myself please just don’t plug it in the fence on that last lap. I can’t thank this team enough for never giving up on me. I tore up a lot of stuff this week, but we’re walking away with a big win. This is a surreal feeling. I’ve always wanted to stand on top of a midget and celebrate like that.”
In controlling all 30 laps of Sunday’s show, Avedisian joins Gavan Boschele and Taylor Reimer (pending a Cannon McIntosh appeal) as the first three winners in the brief history of the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota.
Brenham Crouch recorded his Xtreme Outlaw career-best with a second-place finish aboard the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports No. 97. He started on the pole of the 30-lapper, but fell to second off the start and found himself enamored in a race-long war with Cannon McIntosh for the runner-up bid as they allowed Avedisian to sneak away.
Also earning his first podium finish with the Xtreme Outlaw Midgets was Jacob Denney, who drove the Mounce/Stout No. 61 to an impressive third-place effort in his debut effort with the Series.
Cannon McIntosh, who is currently appealing the penalties assessed from his Millbridge victory, capped off his Illinois Speedweek championship with the POWRi National Midget League by finishing fourth at Jacksonville.
Local hero Jake Neuman closed out the top five in his Xtreme Outlaw debut.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): – 1. 84-Jade Avedisian; 2. 97-Brenham Crouch; 3. 61-Jacob Denney; 4. 08-Cannon McIntosh; 5. 3N-Jake Neuman; 6. 9M-Zach Daum; 7. 01-Bryant Wiedeman; 8. 51B-Joe B. Miller; 9. 97-Kaidon Brown; 10. 87-Jace Park; 11. 25K-Taylor Reimer; 12. 08X-Trey Gropp; 13. 56-Mitchell Davis; 14. 7U-Kyle Jones; 15. 83-Dominic Gorden; 16. 5-Gavan Boschele; 17. 19M-Ethan Mitchell; 18. 26-Chance Crum; 19. 72J-Sam Johnson; 20. 40-Chase McDermand; 21. 21K-Karter Sarff; 22. 21E-Emilio Hoover; 23. 06-Rylan Gray.