5/13/2024
81 Speedway
Cannon McIntosh Finds Redemption at 81 Speedway for Second Win of 2024
*One year after losing out on victory at 81 Speedway, Cannon McIntosh has found redemption and his second win of the season with the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota.
*McIntosh – 21, of Bixby, OK – led several laps of the Feature during the Series debut at the 3/8-mile oval in 2023 but ultimately came up one spot short, giving up the lead in the final laps. Fast forward a full calendar year to Saturday night, and the story ended far more different.
*McIntosh spent most of the 25-lap main event chasing teammate Ryan Timms for the top spot, but later found himself holding the race lead on a restart with only six laps left when Timms’ left-rear tire blew out, bringing out the caution flag. McIntosh held strong on the restart, and once more through another restart in green-white-checkered fashion to get redemption and his seventh career Xtreme Outlaw Feature win.
*“I was glad to be able to come back here and win after losing it late in the race last year,” McIntosh said. “I thought maybe it was gonna be a broken record again after having those yellows and the green-white-checkered. But I was able to get a good restart and get away.”
*The win came as McIntosh’s first since the season-opening weekend inside the Southern Illinois Center in March and second since reuniting with Keith Kunz Curb-Agajanian Motorsports (KKM). Kansas is now the fifth state in which he has won a Series Feature, joining his triumphs in Oklahoma, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina.
*Reuniting with KKM – for the first time since 2021 – was a big change for McIntosh this year after spending the past three national Midget seasons driving for his father’s team at Dave Mac-Dalby Motorsports. But the change has produced a positive net effect despite its differences – one that McIntosh has taken notice of.
*“We’ve had really good cars every weekend, it’s just been a matter of me adapting and getting used to this thing,” McIntosh said. “It’s just a lot different than our family car. I had to drive it a lot differently.”
*McIntosh started the program off strong, collecting the most passing points over all 21 cars after Qualifying and Heat Races. He took the green from outside Row 2, settled into the runner-up spot on Lap 1 and began his pursuit of Timms leading the field.
*When the caution flag was displayed on Lap 9, McIntosh saw an opportunity to make a move on Timms for the lead on the ensuing restart and took it, throwing a slide job in Turn 3 and completing it out of Turn 4 to take the lead at the start/finish line.
*“We were beating him into (Turn) 1 for sure with the slider, and then I think the frame rail bottomed-out there on the slide job and it just went into a continuous bounce,” McIntosh said. “It took a long time to recover, and by that time I was in third going down the backstretch.”
*McIntosh went with high speeds into Turn 1 and began bouncing as he turned into the corner, upsetting the car and allowing Timms to sneak back by underneath.
*McIntosh (71K) putting a slide job on Timms (67) // Joe Grabianowski Photo
From there, Timms began to expand his gap over McIntosh and the field, leading by as much as two seconds before disaster struck on Lap 20. His left-rear tire blew out in Turn 4 and left him to coast down the frontstretch as the caution flag flew, sending him to the work area and handing the lead back over McIntosh for the restart.
*The green flag dropped and McIntosh took off, defending the lead there and once more on a green-white-checkered finish to seal the win.
*“I knew I had to have been pretty good; I hadn’t seen anyone’s nose,” McIntosh said. “I just knew I needed to get a good restart and beat everybody into (Turn) 1. I knew if no one slid me in 1 and 2 and I could beat everyone into 1, I’d be fine.
*“Once I cleared 2 and I didn’t see anybody, I knew we were good.”
*Crossing the stripe second was the driver who bested McIntosh at 81 last year – Chase McDermand. This time, the scripts were flipped, and McDermand was forced to come from ninth on the starting grid.
*While he was able to secure the runner-up spot in the end, winning a slide job battle with Kale Drake in the final laps, McDermand said starting more forward on the grid would have been the biggest help in getting his first win of the season.
*“Just struggled for points and then had to start from the back, so that really handicapped us,” McDermand, 23, of Springfield, IL, said. “The car was really good, we had a lot of speed, just took too long to get through the field.”
*Under the race’s final caution period with two laps remaining, McDermand devised his plan of attack (and defense) but was unable to get close enough to McIntosh to make a move for the win.
*“I was just trying to play defense as much as offense there on that green-white-checkered,” McDermand said. “I knew if I didn’t get a good start, Kale slides me and then Cannon is gone and our chance at winning is gone too.”
*Oklahoma racer Kale Drake crossed the stripe in third after spending the entire race inside the top five while Gavin Miller and Jade Avedisian rounded-out the top five, giving KKM four of the top five finishers.
*Kyle Jones set the night’s quickest lap time in Qualifying, picking up the Whitz Racing Products Quick Time Award and setting a new track record with a time of 16.625.
*Toyota Heat 1 was won by Jade Avedisian. TJ Forged Heat 2 was won by Kale Drake. Heat Race 3 was won by Cannon McIntosh.
*Hayden Reinbold was awarded with DIRTVision Hard Charger honors on his run from 21st all the way to seventh.
UP NEXT
*The Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota takes next weekend off before returning to competition Tuesday-Wednesday, May 21-22 at Millbridge Speedway.
Article Credit: Jordan DeLucia
Submitted By: J.R. Sartain