ELDON, Mo. – It may have taken Cannon McIntosh more than a year to win his first POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League feature, but it took him just one race to win his second.
McIntosh cruised to back-to-back victories with POWRi during the opening night of a weekend doubleheader at Lake Ozark Speedway on Friday night. He powered past Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports teammate Buddy Kofoid on lap 11 of the 30-lap feature and led the rest of the way.
Despite the fact that McIntosh paced the final 20 circuits uninterrupted, he had to fend off several challenges from both Kofoid and series point leader Jake Neuman along the way.
Neuman took several shots at getting to McIntosh’s inside during the middle stages of the race, but once the scoreboard hit 10 to go Kofoid took on the role of lead chaser and did his best to run McIntosh down.
Kofoid managed the feat coming to the white flag, actually delivering a well-placed shot to McIntosh’s rear nerf bar coming off turn two on the final lap, but Mcintosh pulled away from there en route to his third win overall in 2020.
“As the race was winding down I just started to hold on,” said McIntosh, who gave KKM its third consecutive POWRi win. “To win my third feature with this team so early in the season, I’m just so thankful. I couldn’t have had a better car. I have to thank Toyota and I couldn’t do it without a great team behind me. It’s pretty cool to have Buddy next to me on the podium. It’s really a confidence booster to win two in a row.”
After a false start to open the main event, Kofoid soared to the lead on the outside of turns three and four, setting the early pace while Neuman stayed largely to the inside berm in an effort to challenge.
A caution with six laps complete, for the stalled and spun cars of Emerson Axsom and Emilio Hoover in turn one, set up a restart but offered no challenge to Kofoid’s lead at the front of the field.
It was, however, the point where McIntosh began his charge to the front.
McIntosh easily dispatched Neuman for the runner-up spot on the lap-seven green flag, then stalked Kofoid for three rotations before making the race-winning pass.
From there, despite restarts with 13 and six to go, respectively, McIntosh pulled away from his pursuers on each restart en route to victory lane with the No. 71k Toyota-powered Bullet by Spike.
Kofoid cracked a smile despite coming home as the runner-up, but admitted he was hoping for a little bit more out of his No. 67 Mobil 1 Bullet/Toyota in the closing stages.
“I felt I had the faster car in the last eight to ten laps,” said the 18-year-old Kofoid. “The last lap I got to Cannon’s bumper, so it was a little disappointing, but I’ll take a second for my first time here.”
Neuman completed the podium, followed by Tanner Thorson, who climbed from 11th on the grid to fourth. Zach Daum crossed the finish line in fifth place.
Ace McCarthy, Kaylee Bryson, Daison Pursley, Andrew Felker and Hank Davis filled out the top 10.
With Friday night’s win, McIntosh trimmed Neuman’s lead atop the standings to 90 points.
The POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League season continues with another full show Saturday night at Lake Ozark Speedway. All the action can be viewed live via SPEED SPORT Network affiliate POWRi TV.
RESULTS: POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League; Lake Ozark Speedway; June 12, 2020
Heat #1 (8 laps, all transfer): 1. Buddy Kofoid, 2. Sam Johnson, 3. Shelby Bosie, 4. Tristin Thomas, 5. Mark Chisholm, 6. Andrew Felker, 7. Aubrey Smith, 8. Mark Billings.
Heat #2 (8 laps, all transfer): 1. Ace McCarthy, 2. Daison Pursley, 3. Noah Gass, 4. Tanner Thorson, 5. Zach Daum, 6. Emerson Axsom, 7. Brenham Crouch, 8. Kade Morton.
Heat #3 (8 laps, all transfer): 1. Cannon McIntosh, 2. Kaylee Bryson, 3. Jake Neuman, 4. Hank Davis, 5. Joe B. Miller, 6. Chance Morton, 7. Emilio Hoover, 8. Trey Gropp.
A-Feature (30 laps): 1. 71k-Cannon McIntosh, 2. 67-Buddy Kofoid, 3. 3n-Jake Neuman, 4. 19-Tanner Thorson, 5. 5d-Zach Daum, 6. 28-Ace McCarthy, 7. 71-Kaylee Bryson, 8. 9-Daison Pursley, 9. 44s-Andrew Felker, 10. 42-Hank Davis, 11. 49-Joe B. Miller, 12. 22c-Chance Morton, 13. 21k-Emilio Hoover, 14. 00-Trey Gropp, 15. 08-Noah Gass, 16. 97k-Brenham Crouch, 17. 00a-Aubrey Smith, 18. 72-Sam Johnson, 19. 3b-Shelby Bosie, 20. 60e-Mark Billings, 21. 26-Tristin Thomas, 22. 8m-Kade Morton, 23. 56x-Mark Chisholm, 24. 15-Emerson Axsom.