Cannon McIntosh took the lead on lap three and went on to dominate the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Championship feature at the Gas City I-69 Speedway Friday night, leading the final 28 laps on the way to winning for the second time in the last three USAC events. It marked the third consecutive USAC win for the Keith Kunz Motorsports (KKM) Toyota team.
McIntosh has earned five national midget victories this season as the only driver to win features in USAC, POWRi and Chili Bowl Nationals competition. Overall, Toyota-powered drivers have registered 27 national midget car feature victories in 2020.
McIntosh’s KKM teammate Daison Pursley started from the pole and would go to the lead at the drop of the green flag, with McIntosh starting from the fourth position. McIntosh quickly began moving up in the field and by lap three, he would overtake Pursley for the top spot.
The Bixby, Oklahoma, native then quickly began to pull away from the field, stretching out a 2.3-second lead. As McIntosh opened up a healthy advantage, the action began to heat up behind him. Pursley remained in the second spot through the early going, but fellow Toyota driver Thomas Meseraull climbed from the seventh starting position to challenge Pursley. The two would eventually get together between turns one and two on lap 11, bringing out a caution as Meseraull would spin to a halt.
Heading into the restart, McIntosh would lead Pursley, Tyler Courtney, Kyle Cummins and Andrew Layer back to the flag.
Courtney would overtake Pursley for second by the mid-way point of the 30-lap event, but could do little in closing the gap with McIntosh, as he once again pulled out more than a two-second advantage.
As McIntosh maintained a comfortable lead, behind him the driver on the move was Tanner Thorson, who started the race from the 17th position. By lap 20, he would climb into the fifth position and then eventually overtake Pursley for fourth two laps later.
No one had an answer for McIntosh up front, though, who, despite coming up on heavy lapped traffic in the final 10 laps, would go on to win by 1.791 seconds over Courtney. Cummins would place third, while Thorson and Emerson Axsom made it three Toyotas in the top-five by finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.
“We weren’t that great in the heat race, but it was enough to put us in a decent spot for the feature,” said the 17-year-old McIntosh. “We made some changes and the car was killer in the feature. We got caught up a little in traffic at the end, but my car was just dialed in tonight. Thanks to my family and everyone on this KKM team. I couldn’t do it without Toyota, Mobil 1, JBL and everyone who supports us.”
Toyota-powered drivers also captured positions six through ten with Justin Grant, Buddy Kofoid, Pursley, Chris Windom and Tanner Carrick rounding out the top-10.
The USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Championship is back in action Saturday night at Kokomo Speedway.
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