LINCOLN, Ill. – Cannon McIntosh capitalized on a tough track and a few cautions to take his family-owned No. 08 to victory lane for the first time on night two of POWRi Illinois Speedweek for the Lucas Oil POWRi National Midget League Thursday at Lincoln Speedway.
Young gun Bryant Wiedeman and Karter Sarff followed him to the checkered flag.
Starting seventh on the grid, McIntosh went to work and made his way through the pack. At the front of the field, reigning champion Jake Neuman led the way. Neuman continued to gap himself from the rest of the field, while hard charging Buddy Kofoid found himself in second. With 14 laps to go, Neuman found himself in lapped traffic, which allowed Kofoid to catch up. Kofoid and Neuman both entered into turn one on the bottom and both drivers slide up the track, which led to Neuman crashing and ending his night.
Kofoid assumed the lead after the caution with teammate Daison Pursley following in second and Brent Crews in third. Kofoid and Pursley made contact and both drivers ended their night upside down shortly thereafter. Emerson Axsom assumed the lead thereafter, with McIntosh now in second and Kaylee Bryson in third.
Axsom stuck to the bottom on the restart, but McIntosh went to the top and made it work. He took the lead from Axsom and drove to his first win of the season and his first POWRi win with the Dave Mac Motorsports team.
Wiedeman was second ahead of Karter Sarff, Axsom and Tayler Reimer.
“We got all the way to fifth on the bottom and I seen Dalby on the fence telling me elbows up,” McIntosh said. “I don’t know how much more we could have done on the bottom, but the top was really good. I got up there on the restart and stayed committed to it and got around Axsom. We are pretty ecstatic with this win; it’s been a long time coming this year.”
The finish:
1. 08-Cannon McIntosh 2. 01-Bryant Wiedeman 3. 21K-Karter Sarff 4. 15-Emerson Axsom 5. 25-Taylor Reimer 6. 21-Emilio Hoover 7. 71K-Daison Pursley 8. 67K-Cade Lewis 9. 91-Zach Daum 10. 5-Gavin Boschele 11. 71-Kaylee Bryson 12. 3B-Shelby Boise 13. 00-Trey Gropp 14. 56-Mitchell Davis 15. 3W-Brandon Waelti 16. 17B-Austin Barnhill 17. 72-Sam Johnson 18. 3N-Jake Neuman 19. 67-Buddy Kofoid 20. 86-Brent Crews 21. 85T-Ryan Timms 22. 37-Terry Babb