GARDEN CITY, Kan. – Cannon McIntosh hopped back in his family owned No. 08 midget for the weekend with POWRi Lucas Oil West Midget League and on Friday he found himself in victory lane.
McIntosh opened the fifth annual Midget Roundup at Airport Raceway with a victory, conquering all challengers at the sixth-mile dirt oval.
McIntosh led the field to the green flag at the start of the feature with Bob Harr to his outside. McIntosh took the early lead on the top side, while Harr, Tristin Thomas, Robert Dalby and Trey Gropp fought for positions inside the top-five.
The car of Adam Trimble soon slowed on the frontstretch to bring out the caution. Once racing resumed McIntosh would once again stretch his lead over the field. At the same time Gropp took over second from Thomas.
McIntosh soon found himself dealing with lapped traffic, allowing Gropp to reel him in.
As McIntosh battled with a lap car on the top side, Gropp took the bottom of the race track to take over the race lead. Gropp led a lap then got into the back of a lap car, which slowed him down enough for McIntosh to get the lead back.
McIntosh led the rest of the way to pick up the victory, with Gropp and Dalby completing the podium.
“Gropp got by me there, and I just wasn’t driving hard enough. I was way tight, I just started working hard through traffic and I got back by him. I just needed to drive the car harder,” said McIntosh. “It’s cool that when Keith and the team aren’t racing, I can come down here and we can put something together and go win.”
“I followed the lapped car into the corner, and I caught him with the right front,” Gropp said. “The engine actually died, but somehow I kept it running.”
The finish:
Cannon McIntosh, Trey Gropp, Robert Dalby, Tristin Thomas, Zac Taylor, Troy Simpson, Keith Rauch, Mike Woodruff, Michelle Decker, Chris Sheil, Shannon McQueen, Andrew Felker, Dustin Weland, Carson Garrett, A.J. Valim, Adam Trimble, Kyle Wilson, Randy Oerter, Cade Cowles, Bob Harr.