DAVENPORT, Iowa — Midgets. Late Models. A banked, sweeping, quarter-mile oval known to produce some of the most exciting short track racing in the country. It’s time for the My Place Hotels Quad Cities 150 presented by Hoker Trucking.
For the second consecutive year, Davenport Speedway hosts the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota and the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series in a three-day marquee event this Thursday-Saturday, Aug. 24-26. Midgets are slated for an evening of practice sessions on Thursday before a $4,000-to-win show on Friday and a $5,000-to-win main event on Saturday. Late Models will compete all three nights.
With 19 races complete and 10 left on the schedule, the late-season push is beginning for drivers in the thick of the championship points battle. Each of the top five drivers in the standings are within 103 points of each other; four of which have three or more Toyota Racing feature wins this season, making this the single tightest championship battle in national dirt midget series racing this year.
Both midget races will also count for Xtreme Outlaw-POWRi Challenge Series points. Through five races, Jade Avedisian sits atop the standings with two feature wins and 1061 points, followed by Zach Daum (-9) and Taylor Reimer (-33).
WORK TO DO
Though he’s back on top of the series points standings, Cannon McIntosh has some work to do in Davenport.
With only three top-five finishes in the last nine Xtreme Outlaw main events, the 20-year-old from Bixby, Okla., has been unable to replicate the consistency he had to start the season. Four wins, eight podiums, one DNF and a worst finish of sixth through the first 10 races put him far above his competition, growing his points lead out to 121 at its largest before the summer break at the beginning of June. Since then, he and the Dave Mac-Dalby Motorsports team have been trying to get jumpstarted again after watching their points lead evaporate.
Last year, Davenport was not kind to McIntosh. After scoring the Whitz Racing Products Quick Time Award in Qualifying on Friday, he suffered terminal mechanical failure while leading his Heat Race, forcing him to call it an early night. He came back on Saturday, however, crossing the stripe 10th in the main event. He and the team will need some better luck this time around to build on the seven-point lead they hold in the standings.
IN THE HUNT
What began as a rough road on the Appalachian Midget Week trail two weekends ago turned out better than projected for Jade Avedisian.
Avedisian, 16, of Clovis, Calif., experienced one of the toughest nights in her career at Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway, crashing and flipping over twice within 15 minutes after leading several laps early in the feature. The next night was another struggle, fading from fifth on the grid down to 10th by the checkers. She was, however, able to rebound in the final race of the week at Path Valley Speedway, battling for the lead with Daison Pursley in the final laps before coming home runner-up.
She now sits only seven points behind McIntosh in the championship standings as the season begins to wind down. The young Californian also leads the Xtreme Outlaw-POWRi Challenge Series by nine points over Zach Daum and will meet the POWRi contenders this weekend as she tries to better finishes of 17th and 12th at Davenport last year.
HOMECOMING
One year ago, Chase McDermand garnered his first career national midget series victory with the Xtreme Outlaws on Friday night at Davenport.
The 23-year-old from Springfield, Ill., returns to the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds this weekend riding a wave of newfound momentum as newly crowned champion of the inaugural Appalachian Midget Week. Back-to-back victories to start the week, followed by a third-place effort to cap the miniseries sealed the title for him and Mounce/Stout Motorsports, bouncing McDermand up to third in the points standings.
Now only 74 points behind McIntosh from where it once stood at 176, McDermand will have some work to do to keep the Xtreme flame alive after a tough weekend in USAC competition. After taking a DNF on Friday, McDermand grinded out a ninth-place run Saturday at Macon Speedway from 17th on the starting grid.
SHARK SWIMMING
There’s a rising talent on the national dirt midget scene, and he’s making his mark in 2023.
Karter Sarff, 20, of Mason City, Ill., scored his first career series victory on Friday night of Ironman 55 weekend at I-55 Raceway three weekends ago, outrunning the entire Xtreme Outlaw roster. The next night, he nearly did it again, leading multiple laps before Avedisian passed him on a restart, but still claimed a runner-up finish and the POWRi National Midget League points lead.
This past weekend in USAC competition, Sarff bagged two top-10 finishes – one of which was a fifth place after starting on the pole. He’ll look to carry that momentum into Davenport this weekend, where finishes of 13th and 22nd troubled him last year.
LATE SEASON PUSH
Despite a solid Appalachian Midget Week, Zach Daum dropped to fifth in the series points standings. However, things are looking up for he and Trifecta Motorsports to make a run at the championship.
Daum, the 32-year-old open-wheel veteran from Pocahontas, Ill., posted finishes of second, eighth and fourth during Appalachian Midget Week, chopping his points gap down to 103. The defending series champion had a solid two days out with USAC this past weekend, running third and fourth.
He was also a factor at Davenport last year, charging from 15th-to-ninth on Friday night before a runner-up finish to Bryant Wiedeman on Saturday.