By Jordan DeLucia, Xtreme Outlaw Midgets Series (Oklahoma City, OK) -- When the pressure turned up, the heroes emerged Saturday night at I-44 Riverside Speedway.
PHOTO CREDIT: Jacy Norgaard
It was a nail-biting conclusion to the inaugural season for the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota, where the first-ever repeat winner was found and the first-ever champion was crowned by the end of the night.
Jade Avedisian all 35 laps of the 18th annual Charlene Meents Memorial to become the first-ever two-time winner of the Series and the first-ever two-time female Feature winner of a national Midget tour, while Zach Daum piloted one of Avedisian’s backup cars from the CB Industries stable to a ninth-place finish, earning him enough points to clinch the inaugural Series championship.
“The first one was awesome, but I think this one’s just a little more special that I could do it twice,” Avedisian said after the Feature, reflecting on the significance of her trailblazing accomplishment.
Starting from the pole after setting quick time in Group 4 Qualifying and a third-place Heat finish, Avedisian jumped out to the lead at the drop of the green and began setting a torrid pace. She stretched her lead as large as two seconds on more than one occasion and was able to hold the lead through even the toughest restarts.
But after the final restart just before the halfway point, Avedisian found herself riding on another two-second gap with lots of traffic ahead and a hungry pack of drivers behind her. The hungriest of which was Bryant Wiedeman, who was in the midst of a points battle with Daum that was coming right down to the wire.
If Wiedeman won the race, a 15th-or-worse finish for Daum would have been enough to earn Weideman the title. Both were dangerously close to those exact positions in the final laps, and every position mattered. With five laps-to-go and a two second gap to Avedisian, Wiedeman pinned the throttle.
A smooth line, a few smart moves in traffic and some help from the slower cars allowed Wiedeman to reel-in Avedisian in only three laps.
“I didn’t know exactly [how far back], but I knew [someone] was right there because I kinda felt my pace slow down in lapped traffic,” Avedisian said. “I wasn’t sure where to go, and this lapper changed lanes on the straightaway, and I was on the outside. I knew someone was close, but just wasn’t sure who.”
The two stayed relatively close as they took the white flag until Wiedeman attempted a last-ditch slide job in Turn 3. But Avedisian held strong on the top and denied the Keith Kunz Motorsports driver out of Turn 4 to collect the win and the $5,000 paycheck.
“Thanks to [Wiedeman] for driving me clean because we all want to win, and I know what he could’ve done to win,” she said.
Wiedeman crossed the stripe in second to record his best Series finish since the win at Davenport in August. But in the end, it was not enough to make up the points he needed to win the title. Daum had climbed all the way from a provisional starting spot in 23rd to finish 9th and clinch the inaugural season championship.
“I needed the bottom to get slicker so them guys couldn’t run the bottom,” Daum said. “Once that happened, then I got better and could just start picking them off.
“I just tried not to do anything dumb, put myself in a bad position to get crashed that late in the race. Just had to play it smart, play it like a veteran should.”
In his words, this was the hardest he’s ever worked to clinch a national Midget title. As fate would have it, Daum broke an engine after Friday’s event, forcing him to swipe the engine out of teammate Ethan Mitchell’s car to compete Saturday. Then, while leading coming to the white flag in his Heat Race, engine issues snakebit Daum once more, sending him to the pits with limited time to ready another car for the Feature.
In Daum’s hour of need, CB Industries leader Chad Boat offered up a spare car, primarily fitted for Avedisian, to Daum to finish out the night. With crew members from several different teams furiously wrenching and drilling on it, the car was readied just in time for Daum to take his provisional starting spot in the Feature.
“There were other people offering cars, and I appreciate every last one of them,” Daum said. “There were more people in the hot pit and in Chad’s pit tonight than I could even begin to think about. And I thank every one of them, because without them, we wouldn’t have made it in time.”
The thrash effort proved fruitful, giving Daum the avenue to collect the $10,000 title for he and Bundy Built Motorsports. Though they may not have all the shiniest, new equipment in the pit area, Daum and his team let their resiliency power through and proved how far determination can really go.
“Everybody on this team – I can’t explain the shoestring that they race on,” Daum said. “It’s rinky-dink stuff, and we somehow make it work every night. We have nice stuff; we just don’t have any extra stuff.
“Hopefully, 30 years from now, this [series] has exploded and we’re [remembered as] the inaugural champion.”
RESULTS
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 84-Jade Avedisian[1]; 2. 01-Bryant Wiedeman[4]; 3. 55-Jonathan Beason[3]; 4. 71-Daison Pursley[11]; 5. 08-Cannon McIntosh[17]; 6. 97-Brenham Crouch[6]; 7. 71M-Gavin Miller[2]; 8. 26-Chance Crum[13]; 9. 9M-Zach Daum[23]; 10. 25K-Taylor Reimer[8]; 11. 71K-Dominic Gorden[15]; 12. 19M-Ethan Mitchell[7]; 13. 72J-Sam Johnson[22]; 14. 11A-Andrew Felker[12]; 15. 14X-Chelby Hinton[9]; 16. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold[21]; 17. 57-Daniel Whitley[14]; 18. 71E-Mariah Ede[10]; 19. 32T-Trey Marcham[24]; 20. 80-Josh Hawkins[18]; 21. 40-Chase McDermand[5]; 22. 50-Daniel Adler[20]; 23. 81G-Greyson Springer[19]; 24. 00-Talin Turner[16]
Last Chance Showdown 1 (12 Laps): 1. 08-Cannon McIntosh[2]; 2. 80-Josh Hawkins[4]; 3. 81G-Greyson Springer[12]; 4. 50-Daniel Adler[8]; 5. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold[11]; 6. 72J-Sam Johnson[15]; 7. 32T-Trey Marcham[3]; 8. 17B-Austin Barnhill[1]; 9. 21E-Emilio Hoover[7]; 10. 06-Rylan Gray[16]; 11. 19U-Pierce Urbanosky[5]; 12. 1H-Henry Chambers[18]; 13. 52J-Corey Joyner[14]; 14. 29K-Brian Harvey[17]; 15. 61-Corbin Rueschenberg[13]; 16. 80HD-Joshua Hanna[6]; 17. 7U-Kyle Jones[9]; 18. 9M-Zach Daum[10]
Toyota Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 14X-Chelby Hinton[1]; 2. 97-Brenham Crouch[4]; 3. 71E-Mariah Ede[3]; 4. 26-Chance Crum[2]; 5. 19U-Pierce Urbanosky[7]; 6. 80HD-Joshua Hanna[5]; 7. 52J-Corey Joyner[8]; 8. 29K-Brian Harvey[9]; 9. 72J-Sam Johnson[6]
TJ Forged Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 40-Chase McDermand[2]; 2. 11A-Andrew Felker[1]; 3. 71-Daison Pursley[3]; 4. 00-Talin Turner[5]; 5. 80-Josh Hawkins[6]; 6. 50-Daniel Adler[8]; 7. 61-Corbin Rueschenberg[7]; 8. 06-Rylan Gray[9]; 9. 7U-Kyle Jones[4]
Shoenfeld Headers Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 25K-Taylor Reimer[1]; 2. 01-Bryant Wiedeman[3]; 3. 71M-Gavin Miller[4]; 4. 71K-Dominic Gorden[7]; 5. 08-Cannon McIntosh[5]; 6. 17B-Austin Barnhill[2]; 7. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold[6]; 8. 1H-Henry Chambers[8]
DMI Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 19M-Ethan Mitchell[1]; 2. 55-Jonathan Beason[3]; 3. 84-Jade Avedisian[4]; 4. 57-Daniel Whitley[5]; 5. 32T-Trey Marcham[6]; 6. 21E-Emilio Hoover[7]; 7. 81G-Greyson Springer[8]; 8. 9M-Zach Daum[2]
Qualifying 1 (6 Laps): 1. 97-Brenham Crouch, 00:11.001[9]; 2. 71E-Mariah Ede, 00:11.004[1]; 3. 26-Chance Crum, 00:11.095[7]; 4. 14X-Chelby Hinton, 00:11.293[4]; 5. 80HD-Joshua Hanna, 00:11.327[2]; 6. 72J-Sam Johnson, 00:11.381[6]; 7. 19U-Pierce Urbanosky, 00:11.399[5]; 8. 52J-Corey Joyner, 00:12.037[8]; 9. 29K-Brian Harvey, 00:12.211[3]
Qualifying 2 (6 Laps): 1. 7U-Kyle Jones, 00:10.965[7]; 2. 71-Daison Pursley, 00:11.191[1]; 3. 40-Chase McDermand, 00:11.222[8]; 4. 11A-Andrew Felker, 00:11.285[6]; 5. 00-Talin Turner, 00:11.310[5]; 6. 80-Josh Hawkins, 00:11.355[4]; 7. 61-Corbin Rueschenberg, 00:11.507[9]; 8. 50-Daniel Adler, 00:11.519[2]; 9. 06-Rylan Gray, 00:11.569[3]
Qualifying 3 (6 Laps): 1. 71M-Gavin Miller, 00:10.890[6]; 2. 01-Bryant Wiedeman, 00:10.986[3]; 3. 17B-Austin Barnhill, 00:11.070[7]; 4. 25K-Taylor Reimer, 00:11.112[5]; 5. 08-Cannon McIntosh, 00:11.115[2]; 6. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold, 00:11.251[1]; 7. 71K-Dominic Gorden, 00:11.294[8]; 8. 1H-Henry Chambers, 00:12.497[4]
Qualifying 4 (6 Laps): 1. 84-Jade Avedisian, 00:10.935[6]; 2. 55-Jonathan Beason, 00:10.998[8]; 3. 9M-Zach Daum, 00:11.034[5]; 4. 19M-Ethan Mitchell, 00:11.064[4]; 5. 57-Daniel Whitley, 00:11.172[7]; 6. 32T-Trey Marcham, 00:11.235[3]; 7. 21E-Emilio Hoover, 00:11.364[2]; 8. 81G-Greyson Springer, 00:11.412[1]
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DARYN STARK SCORES SEASON-ENDING WIN WITH POWRi OUTLAW MICRO LEAGUE
By POWRi PR (Oklahoma City, OK) -- Daryn Stark would win in dominating fashion notching his second career feature victory in the Saturday night feature event with the POWRi Outlaw Micro League presented by Engler Machine and Tool in support of the Night Two in the Meents Memorial at I-44 Riverside Speedway.
Entering a stout field of competitors in the POWRi Outlaw Micro League at I-44 Riverside would find Talin Turner start the night quickest with an 11.292-second hot-lap time as Talin Turner and Daryn Stark would earn the heat race victories.
Racing into the feature event would witness inside front-row starter Daryn Stark battle with the front-row companion and previous night winner John Barnard as Stark would seize the lead on the opening lap.
Maintaining perfection on the track as well as his front-end run for the entire feature, Daryn Stark would not be denied in victory while claiming his second career league win in an action-packed feature with seasonal champion John Barnard resulting in a terrific runner-up finish.
“We came out here to prove something to ourselves and notch two National wins this season it means so much to this team. Special thanks to all those who believe in and supported this team. Also, I want to thank the Barnard team for everything over the season,” said the dominant Daryn Stark in the I-44 Riverside Speedway winner’s circle.
Staying in the hunt for the front all event, Brant Woods would notch a solid third with Cole Roberts placing fourth as Case Piper rounded out the top-five finishers in the POWRi Outlaw Micro League presented by Engler Machine and Tool feature in support of Night Two in the Meents Memorial at I-44 Riverside Speedway.
I-44 Riverside Speedway | POWRi Outlaw Micro League | 10/15/22:
Hoosier Racing Tire Quickest Hot-Lap Time: 10T-Talin Turner (11.292)
Advanced Racing Suspensions Heat Race 1 Winner: 10T-Talin Turner
Driven Midwest Heat Race 2 Winner: 55S-Daryn Stark
MVT Services High Point Qualifier: 10T-Talin Turner
Toyota Racing Development Hard Charger: 55S-Daryn Stark
Lucas Oil/Engler Machine A-Feature Winner: 55S-Daryn Stark
Lucas Oil A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 55S-Daryn Stark[3]; 2. B8-John Barnard[2]; 3. 83-Brant Woods[5]; 4. 3-Cole Roberts[4]; 5. 21C-Case Piper[7]; 6. 25C-Josh Toho[6]; 7. 5E-Bobby Chapa[8]; 8. 20X-David Nix[9]; 9. 5W-Cody Wiegert[10]; 10. 34-Richie Harvey[12]; 11. 10T-Talin Turner[1]; 12. 55H-Hayden Harvey[11].
Advanced Racing Suspension Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 10T-Talin Turner[3]; 2. B8-John Barnard[4]; 3. 21C-Case Piper[2]; 4. 25C-Josh Toho[6]; 5. 5W-Cody Wiegert[5]; 6. 55H-Hayden Harvey[1].
Driven Midwest Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 55S-Daryn Stark[1]; 2. 3-Cole Roberts[3]; 3. 83-Brant Woods[5]; 4. 5E-Bobby Chapa[4]; 5. 20X-David Nix[6]; 6. (DNS) 34-Richie Harvey.
Follow along for more information such as race recaps, updates, full results, and press releases online at http://www.powri.com, on Twitter & Instagram at @POWRi_Racing, or on Facebook at POWRi.
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POWRI MOD'S
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 93-Reno Madore[2]; 2. 22B-Dalton Burley[1]; 3. 89-Dan Enockson[4]; 4. 11-Bradin Wheat[11]; 5. 78C-Chance Cody[5]; 6. 14V-Tony Penick[8]; 7. 117-Bryce Evans[14]; 8. 93B-Brodan Brown[12]; 9. 37-Jordan Griffin[16]; 10. 13-Zachary Pendleton[3]; 11. (DNF) 1-Brandon Harris[9]; 12. (DNF) 31-JR Cicoria[7]; 13. (DNF) 1$-Gary Wheat[6]; 14. (DNF) 80-Gary Helms Sr[10]; 15. (DNF) 357-James Mason[18]; 16. (DNS) 15H-Mark Hodgkins; 17. (DNS) 33-Robert Harley; 18. (DNS) 44H-Keith Hutton
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 93-Reno Madore[2]; 2. 89-Dan Enockson[4]; 3. 78C-Chance Cody[6]; 4. 80-Gary Helms Sr[3]; 5. 11-Bradin Wheat[1]; 6. (DNF) 37-Jordan Griffin[5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 22B-Dalton Burley[3]; 2. 14V-Tony Penick[1]; 3. 1$-Gary Wheat[6]; 4. (DNF) 93B-Brodan Brown[4]; 5. (DNS) 44H-Keith Hutton; 6. (DNS) 357-James Mason
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Zachary Pendleton[2]; 2. 31-JR Cicoria[3]; 3. 1-Brandon Harris[4]; 4. (DNF) 15H-Mark Hodgkins[1]; 5. (DNF) 117-Bryce Evans[5]; 6. (DNF) 33-Robert Harley[6]
POWRI A-CLASS WING MICROS
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 26-Kale Drake[2]; 2. 3-Cole Roberts[4]; 3. 25C-Josh Toho[1]; 4. 2B-Brandon Boggs[5]; 5. 21C-Case Piper[6]; 6. 83-Brant Woods[7]; 7. 66J-Holden Jennings[3]; 8. 54-Trey Gropp[15]; 9. 5E-Bobby Chapa[9]; 10. 34-Richie Harvey[12]; 11. 78C-Chance Cody[14]; 12. 8-Coleten Agee[11]; 13. 64-Tim Ballew[13]; 14. 10K-Koda Oller[8]; 15. (DNF) 20X-David Nix[10]; 16. (DNS) 16X-Danny Davidson; 17. (DNS) 16-Brady Amos
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 25C-Josh Toho[4]; 2. 21C-Case Piper[3]; 3. 66J-Holden Jennings[6]; 4. 8-Coleten Agee[2]; 5. 64-Tim Ballew[5]; 6. (DNF) 16X-Danny Davidson[1]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 26-Kale Drake[2]; 2. 5E-Bobby Chapa[1]; 3. 3-Cole Roberts[6]; 4. 20X-David Nix[4]; 5. 78C-Chance Cody[5]; 6. (DNS) 16-Brady Amos
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 2B-Brandon Boggs[1]; 2. 83-Brant Woods[3]; 3. 10K-Koda Oller[5]; 4. 34-Richie Harvey[2]; 5. (DNF) 54-Trey Gropp[4]