OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Cannon McIntosh has been one of the most dominant forces in midget racing this season and on Friday night he led the final 22 laps to win the opening night of the 18th annual Charlene Meents Memorial at I-44 Riverside Speedway.
McIntosh’s 15th national midget victory of the season made him the ninth different winner in nine Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series events this season.
Despite his success at the national level this year, McIntosh said it’s been tough sledding for he and the Dave Mac-Dalby Motorsports team as of late. They experienced engine issues in Thursday’s event at Port City Raceway, taking them out of the running while contending for a win at the head of the field, but rebounded nicely with a backup car and a trip to victory lane Friday night.
“I feel like going into every Xtreme race, I had a shot to win and had a car to win; we just haven’t been able to put the cap on it,” McIntosh said. “To be able to rebound tonight and finally get the monkey off of my back was a good feeling.”
Taking the green from inside row two, McIntosh put himself in good position early. Inside of the first 10 laps, he was already chomping at the bit for the lead, hounding the tail tank of polesitter Jonathan Beason. Using the top side around the fifth-mile track, McIntosh wound-up the momentum and surged past Beason to take the lead on lap nine.
“I felt like we were carrying momentum up there,” McIntosh said. “The top seemed to have a little bit more speed early.
“Beason having to lift and getting tight there in the center – it was a little tricky getting by him with him running a wide lane down the straightaway. But once I was able to get by him, I was good.”
From there on out, it was all McIntosh out front. The 19-year-old from Bixby, Okla., led each of the remaining 22 laps to score the $4,000 grand prize and complete a 180-degree turnaround from their 24th-place DNF on Thursday night.
“When we’re down, I think it’s been how well we’re able to turn it around and how fast we’re able to do that,” McIntosh said. “We turn things around pretty quick when things aren’t as good. Recently, we’ve struggled a little bit and kinda got out of rhythm. But tonight, we got back on the horse, pulled the backup car down and did what we needed to do.”
Daison Pursley was going on a mission through the top-10, picking off one car every few laps until he was at the front of the field with only 10 laps to go.
“I felt like the top came in pretty good later in the race; the bottom slicked-off and I was kinda just the first one up there trying it,” Pursley said. “That definitely played to my advantage.”
Similar in style to Pursley’s runner-up finish, Chance Crum came to the front in similar fashion. From 15th on the starting grid, Crum drove the Rudeen Racing entry to the front in a hurry, advancing 10 spots inside of the first 20 laps.
“That middle lane started coming in toward the end,” Crum said. “In the second half of the race, I was able to keep my momentum up through there.
“A little bit of attrition helped, and I just kinda survived until the end.”
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 08-Cannon McIntosh[3]; 2. 71-Daison Pursley[8]; 3. 26-Chance Crum[15]; 4. 55-Jonathan Beason[1]; 5. 71M-Gavin Miller[6]; 6. 97-Brenham Crouch[17]; 7. 7U-Kyle Jones[12]; 8. 71K-Dominic Gorden[21]; 9. 01-Bryant Wiedeman[14]; 10. 32T-Trey Marcham[22]; 11. 21-Emilio Hoover[24]; 12. 9M-Zach Daum[2]; 13. 84-Jade Avedisian[4]; 14. 25K-Taylor Reimer[5]; 15. 17B-Austin Barnhill[10]; 16. 11A-Andrew Felker[20]; 17. 57-Daniel Whitley[19]; 18. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold[16]; 19. 71E-Mariah Ede[23]; 20. 81G-Greyson Springer[18]; 21. 19M-Ethan Mitchell[7]; 22. 61-Kale Drake[13]; 23. 06-Rylan Gray[9]; 24. 14J-Jody Rosenboom[11]