SALISBURY, N.C. — The box score shows a nearly perfect night for Cannon McIntosh as he won Wednesday night’s Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota at Millbridge Speedway, but the 19-year-old pilot had to fend off some ferocious phenoms behind him to capture the second event in series history.
The likes of Larson, Boschele, Crews, Reimer and Wiedeman all had their names in the hat, but none could stop the Dave Mac/Dalby Motorsports Spike/Toyota No. 08 from taking the $5,000 loot.
McIntosh earned the pole for the 40-lapper with a 33-point performance for going QuickTime in his Whitz Racing qualifying group and winning his heat from fourth.
His first of many battles was the race into turn one with outside polesitter Bryant Wiedeman eyeing redemption from Tuesday after leading 21 laps before being spun around from the lead.
He survived that dual and promptly controlled the first half with ease, but then the cross flags flew, traffic became a factor, and the real battle begin. Local teenagers Gavan Boschele and Brent Crews entered play and made McIntosh earn every ounce of his win as the trio set a torrid pace with daunting moves around every corner amid the backmarkers.
With five-to-go, things heated up as McIntosh & Boschele, who won Tuesday’s debut in the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports, Curb Records, Bullet/Toyota No. 5, split the middle and took the lappers three-wide with some spectacular sliders. It then became 1-v-1 as Boschele lined up McIntosh and tossed a slider his way to officially lead the 36th circuit.
A counter ensued, though, and McIntosh throttled up and slid right back across Boschele’s nose to regain command. That’s when the perception of the race changed completely as in a desperate attempt to get it back, Boschele bounced his right rear off the cushion, lifted the front end, and went flipping in turn three as his chance of doubling down vanished. Innocently collected in the mess was third-running Crews, left with nowhere to go in the Diaedge No. 71m.
From there, McIntosh handled a pair of restarts and four more laps for the victory.
“I didn’t know how close they were behind me, but I knew there was nowhere I could go,” McIntosh said. “I was trying to sit on the bumpers as long as I could until I knew I needed to make a move in traffic. The minute I saw a lane open, I knew I had to take it. I was a little unsure how things would end once those sliders started, but obviously, Boschele got upside down. I think he was just driving it so hard, whereas I was just trying to keep my pace and not overdo it.”
Bringing home a runner-up effort was Taylor Reimer in the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports Bullet/Toyota No. 25k. With her second-place finish, she matched the best finish by a woman in the history of national midget racing.
“It means a lot,” Reimer said. “I’ve been working hard these last few months and I’m finally done with school, so I can prioritize racing now. I want it bad. I know it’s gonna come soon, I will win a Midget race soon. It’s just gonna take some time. It’s so hard to jump in here against these guys on such a competitive level, but I’m a competitive person and I’m ready for the challenge.”
Leaving Millbridge as the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series championship leader is Zach Daum, who claimed a third-place finish on Wednesday to become the only driver to finish on the podium in both shows aboard the Bundy Built No. 9m.
Kyle Larson won the companion micro sprint feature.
The finish:
Feature (40 Laps): – 1. Cannon McIntosh (1); 2. Taylor Reimer (3); 3. Zach Daum (6); 4. Ethan Mitchell (10); 5. Bryant Wiedeman (2); 6. Nick Hoffman (13); 7. Kaylee Bryson (15); 8. Rylan Gray (17); 9. Chase Briscoe (16); 10. Kyle Jones (9); 11. Brent Crews (5); 12. Nick Drake (19); 13. DJ Vanderley (20); 14. Brenham Crouch (18); 15. Chance Crum (14); 16. Sam Johnson (12); 17. Ryan Timms (7); 18. Gavan Boschele (4); 19. Kyle Larson (11); 20. Jace Park (8).