JACKSONVILLE, Ill. — The final weekend of the season for the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota has arrived, and the chase for the championship has reached fever pitch.
The black dirt, banked quarter-mile of Jacksonville Speedway will play host to the final two races and settle the points championship chase between Cannon McIntosh and Ryan Timms. Two full programs are on tap, including a 25-lap, $4,000-to-win main event on Friday, Oct. 4, and a 30-lap, $5,000-to-win finale on Saturday, Oct. 5.
A championship ceremony will follow the conclusion of Saturday’s feature and include the championship trophy presentation along with the $30,000 championship check.
The Midwest Open Wheel Association (MOWA) 410 Winged Sprint Cars and WFO Winged Outlaw Micro Series are also scheduled to compete on both dates.Â
Here are the drivers to watch and storylines to follow this weekend:
EYES ON THE PRIZE
With two races left, 133 points is all that stands between the two championship contenders Cannon McIntosh and Ryan Timms.
McIntosh, 21, of Bixby, Okla., has been the points leader for nearly the entire season while his teammate at Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports (KKM) Ryan Timms — the 18-year-old from Oklahoma City, OK — has trailed in second place. While that points gap has expanded and contracted intermittently throughout the season, McIntosh remains the top driver with the most wins (six), top fives (19) and top-10 finishes (20) of any driver. Timms trails with three Feature wins and second-most top fives (15) and top 10s (18).
Both drivers have had past success at Jacksonville. McIntosh has the most with two wins in POWRi National Midget League competition (July 2022, June 2023) and finished runner-up to Karter Sarff at the Xtreme Outlaw Series race there last year. Timms has not reached Victory Lane there in a Midget, but has with his 410 Winged Sprint Car, scoring a Feature win with MOWA in April 2023.
In addition to fighting for their first national Midget series championships as drivers, a bit of Xtreme Outlaw Series history is on the line as well in the team category. Either driver can clinch KKM’s 18th national Midget points title and in doing so would make the Columbus, IN-based organization the first in Xtreme history to win back-to-back championships.
PODIUM SPOT
While the spotlight in the battle for the Series championship remains on the points leaders, there’s still a score left to be settled for third place in the standings between Ashton Torgerson and Chase McDermand.
Torgerson, the 18-year-old national Midget rookie from Glendale, Ariz., is one of KKM’s newest breakout stars, garnering three feature wins with Xtreme Outlaw Series this year to compliment six top-fives and 16 top-10 finishes. After finishes of fifth and sixth in the two most recent events at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in August, Torgerson overtook McDermand in the points standings and now sits 35 points ahead.
McDermand, 24, of Springfield, Ill., will attempt to surpass the 35-point gap he faces in the final two races. He’s never been to Jacksonville Victory Lane but has had many laps around the track before, both with the Xtreme Outlaw Series, POWRi and in the D2 Midget ranks. He’ll also be coming in with a surge of momentum after going to Victory Lane with USAC at The Dirt Track at IMS last weekend in the marquee BC39 event.
DEFENDING WINNER
This weekend, Karter Sarff returns to Jacksonville where he defeated the Xtreme Outlaw Series regulars one year ago.
Last September, the 21-year-old from Mason City, Ill., came to challenge the Xtreme Outlaw regulars at Jacksonville and gave them all they could handle, coming from sixth on the starting grid and passing McIntosh with five laps-to-go to score his second career Series win.
Sarff is also the most recent Series winner, going to victory lane in back-to-back fashion at I-55 in August, and will be among the local favorites to potentially win again on Xtreme championship weekend.
HOME COOKING
Local open-wheel favorite Jake Neuman, of New Berlin, Ill., is scheduled to be in action with the Midgets and the MOWA Sprint Cars this weekend at his home track.
The 27-year-old is set for back-to-back nights of double-duty racing at Jacksonville, piloting both his own 410 Winged Sprint Car and the O’Dell Racing No. 3N Midget. He’s had success in the sprint car ranks this season, going to Victory Lane at both Jacksonville and Sycamore Speedway (Maple Park, Ill.) in local competition.
In addition to his two MOWA wins at Jacksonville (2021, 2022), he also won at the quarter-mile bullring with the POWRi National Midget League in 2016, defeating a host of local and regional talent.
A NEW FACE
National Midget series regular Jacob Denney, of Galloway, Ohio, is set to make his first-ever appearance in a KKM-prepared car this weekend.
The 19-year-old racer will get behind the wheel of the Curb Records, Toyota-powered LynK Chassis No. 68 and compete on both nights with the Xtreme Outlaw Series. Denney makes up a packed KKM roster of seven cars this weekend, joining teammates McIntosh and Timms, Gavin Miller, Ashton Torgerson, Kale Drake and Gunnar Setser.
Denney was a winner with the POWRi National Midget League at Jacksonville in June, capturing the checkers and defeating a strong roster of drivers including Drake, Thomas Meseraull, McDermand and McIntosh.