INDIANAPOLIS — There are plenty of national midget races Ryan Timms feels he should’ve won this year.
While he’s managed to knock out three victories on the USAC National Midget Championship tour, the Oklahoma native remains winless in his Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series campaign with three races to go in the season.
But the bad luck isn’t necessarily Timms’ fault.
After leading 24 laps at Illinois’ Tri-City Speedway, his right-rear tire blew on his No. 67 Keith Kunz Motorsports machine. While leading at Davenport (Iowa) Speedway, a rock blew a hole through the oil tank and the engine blew with five laps to go.
On the final lap at Paragon (Ind.) Speedway, Chase McDermand attempted to throw a slider on Timms to take the lead, but plowed into the left front of the No. 67, allowing Jade Avedisian to sneak past and steal the checkered flag.
“What do I gotta do to win an Xtreme race?” Timms later lamented on Twitter.
On the flip slide, the Toyota development driver has fared better in USAC competition, filing six top-five finishes and 12 top 10s in 19 races.
“We’re getting more consistent in this USAC deal and still trying to knock out wins,” said Timms, who is fourth in the USAC national midget standings.
Though he’d love to lay claim to an Xtreme Outlaw victory before the season ends, it’s not the highest priority with seven races remaining on the USAC circuit.
“It’s not really something I feel like I have to do. It’s just something I feel like should have happened by now,” the lanky teenager explained.
“I’m not running Xtreme for points or anything, so I’m glad this silly stuff happens in the Xtreme races and not USAC.”
Timms has still experienced a fair bit of hardship on the USAC circuit. Early in the season, he struggled to crack the top 10 at six of the first seven races. But, while not ideal, Timms agreed he’s learned more in his loss than in his wins.
“When you’re not doing good, you start learning a little bit more on how to be better. And then randomly, after all those rough nights, we got a win at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway,” Timms said.
Since then, the worst finish for Timms and his No. 67 crew has been 11th, while lowering his average finish to 8.3.
“The more you keep running the midget, the easier things get,” Timms said. “Now I feel like we’re at the point where we can run inside the top 10 consistently. And then I’d say seven times out of 10, we’re battling for the lead or have a shot at the win.”
As this weekend will mark his third visit to the Driven2SaveLives BC39 at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the 17-year-old is eager to put his experience to the test and bump up his best BC39 finish up from sixth.
“This place, you’ve got to have it (the car) a lot more sideways than most places, just with it being so small,” Timms remarked about the quarter-mile dirt track. “It’s definitely a different driving style, but every time I come here, I remind myself of that and do the best I can.
“It gets really gnarly here sometimes — the curb will be half the size of the car, all the way up against the wall. So, you’ve got to be pretty smart to run it, and you’ve got to drive it hard at the same time. It’s just kind of about finding that balance.”
Timms will roll onto the track on Friday night for his preliminary performance.