Finishing third in the season finale at I-44 Riverside Speedway in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Jade Avedisian, 17, easily outpaced Zach Daum for the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series championship to become the first female racer to win a national midget championship.
“It means the world to me,” Avedisian said in a press release. “Not only to me, but my team.”
Avedisian and Daum each won five times during the season. Daum held the advantage in top-fives with 21 to 16, but fewer mistakes and greater consistency prevailed and allowed Avedisian, a Toyota development driver, to accumulate 59 more points than Daum.
Avedisian set the tone early, finishing fourth in Race 1 of a double-header and winning Race 2 from the pole when the season kicked off at Southern Illinois Center, a .166-mile bullring in DuQuoin, Illinois. Her last win of the season came in Round 23 at Paragon (Indiana) Speedway on a larger third-mile track.
Along the way, Avedisian finished worse than 10th only twice in 29 rounds. One of these was an 11th.
Even with consistent speed, the championship came down to the final race. Avedisian entered the event 27 points ahead of Cannon McIntosh in second. But McIntosh experienced trouble from the start of the second race of the double-header. Finishing sixth in his heat, McIntosh was forced into the Last Chance Qualifier. He won that race and lined up 15th.
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McIntosh narrowly avoided a multi-car tangle on the first lap but later retired with mechanical failure on Lap 8.
“I’m just so happy to do it for [Keith Kunz Motorsports], Mobil 1, Toyota Racing,” Avedisian said. “So many people believe in me, and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them. I’m truly grateful, and I’m excited to write my name in the history books.”
With the championship decided after McIntosh’s retirement, Avedisian was able to concentrate on her podium battle.
Avedisian started on the outside pole and never held the lead but she remained with the leaders throughout the night. Hayden Reinbold started to her inside and led all 30 laps on his way to the first Xtreme Midget win of his career.
Coming from the back of the pack in 18th after also advancing through the LCQ, Karter Sarff tracked down Avedisian and took second-place.
Daum’s fifth-place finish in the feature elevated him to second in the championship; McIntosh fell to third by one point.
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