McIntosh Makes It Three With Xtreme Outlaw Midgets

Cannon McIntosh celebrates in victory lane Friday at I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park. (Emily Schwanke photo)

PEVELY, Mo. – Cannon McIntosh kept his winning momentum rolling forward Friday night with another Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota victory, this time at I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park.

The reigning champion had to work from a seventh-place starting spot to score his third feature win in the last four races, but did so commandingly once he worked his way to the front.

Zach Daum, the 2022 Xtreme Outlaw champion, and rookie Michael Faccinto led the field to the green flag and Daum quickly took the lead in familiar territory on the bottom lane of the racetrack.

While the majority of the field followed Daum on the bottom, a handful of drivers found speed on the upper cushion of the track to chase down the leaders.

The first driver to take the high lane was McIntosh, who made easy work of it with speed off the corners to pass Karter Sarff for third place on lap four, Faccinto for second on lap five, and then Daum for the lead on lap six.

Daum fought back on the bottom, but could not match McIntosh’s pace and surrendered the lead to the Mobil 1-sponsored No. 71K at that point.

The Bixby, Okla., driver did not peel off from the top side once he began to use it, which helped him extend the lead. At the same time, the field behind him lost valuable time through jostling positions in the second half of the 20-lap feature.

Sarff moved to second place with five to go and Gavin Miller followed McIntosh on the cushion for third.

As McIntosh drew a 3.5-second lead over the field at the sight of the twin checkered flags, he solidified his 14th career Xtreme Outlaw Midgets win, and his second at the Pevely, Mo., facility.

“We all kind of followed in line on the bottom at first, obviously being the short way around,” McIntosh said. “I think there was an OK amount of moisture down there, but not a lot. I was aware of that and could see there was something on the top. I didn’t know exactly what with running in fourth, but you don’t have much to lose there by trying something different.

“I was trying to be the first guy to get up there, and fortunately, I was. I think by the time I had enough momentum that once the lane got going, it was really good,” he added. “I had seen Sarff slide up, but we had enough speed to clear them. Hats off to the track crew and this whole Mobil 1 KKM team.”

After series point leader Jacob Denney won three of the first four races of the year, McIntosh has now matched that run with his three wins in the most recent quartet of events.

Sarff finished the night in second place after going outside of his comfort zone to ride the cushion towards his end result at I-55.

“I never dreamed that I was going to be up there, honestly,” Sarff said. “I was glad that Cannon showed that, so it made for a decent race to watch. I’m just kind of bummed we didn’t find that first, but I guess that’s just part of it. Hopefully, tomorrow ends up being somewhat similar.”

Miller wrapped the night third for his fifth podium in the last six races, but continues to seek his first  win of the season.

“From the beginning, I knew it was going to be good around the top,” Miller said. “I was hoping there was just a stretch of green flag laps so I could build my momentum. There were a lot of guys that moved towards the top that got us all jumbled up, and I was a little stuck.

“Once (Cannon and Karter) got to the top, it became really hard to pass. It’s kind of hard to tell what tomorrow’s gonna look like, but getting those laps around the top and being comfortable there definitely helps us out.”

Denney finished fourth, and Daum ended the night with a top-five finish.

Sixth through 10th were Michael Faccinto, Chase McDermand, Joe Wirth, Colton Robinson, and Kameron Key.

Night two of the St. Louis Firecracker Faceoff at I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park rounds out the weekend Saturday, with another complete program for the Xtreme Outlaw Midgets alongside the World of Outlaws Late Models, DIRTcar Summer Nationals, and Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals.

The finish:

Feature (20 laps): 1. 71K-Cannon McIntosh [7]; 2. 21K-Karter Sarff [5]; 3. 97-Gavin Miller [8]; 4. 67-Jacob Denney [10]; 5. 97D-Zach Daum [1]; 6. 5U-Michael Faccinto [2]; 7. 40-Chase McDermand [6]; 8. 77W-Joe Wirth [3]; 9. 67K-Colton Robinson [4]; 10. 9U-Kameron Key [9]; 11. 56E-Tyler Edwards [15]; 12. 51-Zach Boden [12]; 13. 50-Daniel Adler [16]; 14. 94-Hayden Wise [11]; 15. 00-Brecken Reese [13]; 16. 91-Lance Bennett [17]; 17. 44-Branigan Roark [18]; 18. 56X-Mark Chisholm [23]; 19. 98K-Brandon Carr [14]; 20. 22G-Myles Tomlinson [25]; 21. 7-Shannon McQueen [22]; 22. 19-Jacob McFarlin [21]; 23. 2D-Luke Icke [24]; 24. 05-Alex Midkiff [20]; 25. 72-Alex Karpowicz [19].