McINTOSH ON THE TRAIL FOR 2ND WIN FOLLOWING INITIAL SUCCESS INDOORS
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Sweet Springs, Missouri (September 3, 2020)………Cannon McIntosh’s success came early in his USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget career. In just his second career series start in March of 2019, the Bixby, Okla. driver scored what, at the time, was a surprising victory indoors at the Shamrock Classic in Du Quoin.
He’s proven to be no one-trick pony as he prepares for his first appearance with the series at Missouri’s Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex this Friday & Saturday, September 4-5, where the 17-year-old driver remains on the hunt for his first victory since that night 18 months ago.
McIntosh has had a strong campaign on the 2020 trail, his first full run with the series, residing 5th in the standings with seven top-fives and 11 top-tens in 17 feature starts and shares the series’ lead with three fast qualifying times and six heat race wins while leading 32 feature laps and tallying 3rd place finishes at both Indiana’s Lincoln Park Speedway and at Lanco in Pennsylvania.
While a victory seems imminent with McIntosh frequently in the hunt at the front, victory number two has eluded him thus far in USAC competition. However, not to fret, history and the “eye test” tell us there’s a lot more to come from McIntosh this year and in years to come.
McIntosh’s interesting statistical quirk is that he won his first career USAC National Midget feature with a roof over his head on an indoor track. There’s an exclusive list of just 25 who’ve previously achieved the feat of winning their first series race indoors, with the bulk coming in the era when indoor racing was more prevalent on the schedule in the 1950-60s-70s. In fact, the first ever USAC National Midget race was held indoors in January of 1956 at the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Memorial Coliseum.
That race was won by Gene Hartley, a man who went on to win 31 career USAC National Midget features (9th all-time) as well as the 1959 series championship, something McIntosh is striving to become.
For Hartley and the remaining 15 others, the first win indoors served as a launching pad to more USAC National Midget wins down the road. In addition to Hartley, Steve Lotshaw won his first indoors in 1976 at Ft. Wayne, then translated that into the 1979 series championship. Logan Seavey followed in those footsteps, winning his first race indoors at Du Quoin in 2018 then later capturing the championship that same year. Hartley, Lotshaw and Seavey remain the only three to go on to win a USAC National Midget championship after winning their first race on an indoor track.
Additional winners from that group who won their first series race indoors, that includes Henry Pens, who tallied a total of 16 wins in his short racing career. Seven-time USAC National Midget winner Les Scott (1965) and six-time victor Dana Carter (1975) are in that group along with five-time winners Mike Fedorcak (1983) and Justin Grant (2017), who’ll be in action this weekend at Sweet Springs.
Dale Swaim (1960), Ray Elliott (1964) and Ken Nichols (1975) are in that group as well as four-time USAC Midget winners along with three-time winner Bob Hare (1967), whose three victories all came indoors. A trio of drivers who ultimately won two after winning their first career USAC Midget race on an indoor venue are Johnny White (1960), Terry Wente (1980) and Alan Brown (1982).
Of the list of 26 total drivers who won their first USAC National Midget race indoors, for 10 of them, it has remained their only career series win to this point: Dick Northam (1960), Bill Kollman (1969), Gary Byers (1974), Jerry Stone (1977), Dick Pole (1982), Todd Forbes (1983), Blake Hollingsworth (1986), Danny Pens (1988), John Meyers (1990) and Shane Golobic (2016).
Don’t expect McIntosh to stay on that last list for too long. For, his growth and development as a midget racer is only on the rise, indoors or out, you can count on him to be a contender.
Pits open for this Friday and Saturday’s races at Sweet Springs, Mo. each night at 3pm ET with grandstands opening at 4pm, the drivers meeting set for 6pm and hot laps at 6:30pm. Tickets are $20 for adults with pit passes $35 apiece. Two-night tickets are now on sale at www.usactickets.com. Order early and you’ll receive a free USAC Midget T-shirt. Outlaw Micros are also on the event card both nights.
You can watch both nights of USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget racing from Sweet Springs, Mo. live on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/3frPoW6.
WON FIRST USAC MIDGET RACE INDOORS, THEN WON MORE:
Gene Hartley (1956 at Ft. Wayne, Ind.) / (31 career USAC National Midget wins) / (1959 USAC Midget Champ)
Steve Lotshaw (1976 at Ft. Wayne, Ind.) / (10 career USAC National Midget wins) / (1979 USAC Midget Champ)
Logan Seavey (2018 at Du Quoin, Ill.) / (6 career USAC National Midget wins) / (2018 USAC Midget Champ)
Henry Pens (1965 at Cincinnati, Ohio) / (16 career USAC National Midget wins)
Les Scott (1965 at Ft. Wayne, Ind.) / (7 career USAC National Midget wins)
Dana Carter (1975 at Indianapolis, Ind.) / (6 career USAC National Midget wins)
Mike Fedorcak (1983 at Ft. Wayne, Ind.) / (5 career USAC National Midget wins)
Justin Grant (2017 at Du Quoin, Ill.) / (5 career USAC National Midget wins)
Dale Swaim (1959 at Ft. Wayne, Ind.) (4 career USAC National Midget wins)
Ray Elliott (1964 at Chicago, Ill.) (4 career USAC National Midget wins)
Ken Nichols (1975 at Indianapolis, Ind.) (4 career USAC National Midget wins)
Bob Hare (1967 at Cincinnati, Ohio) (3 career USAC National Midget wins)
Johnny White (1960 at Ft. Wayne, Ind.) (2 career USAC National Midget wins)
Terry Wente (1980 at Ft. Wayne, Ind.) (2 career USAC National Midget wins)
Alan Brown (1982 at Ft. Wayne, Ind.) (2 career USAC National Midget wins)
WON FIRST & ONLY USAC MIDGET RACE INDOORS:
Dick Northam (1960 at Louisville, Ky.)
Bill Kollman (1969 at Ft. Wayne, Ind.)
Gary Byers (1974 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds)
Jerry Stone (1977 at Seattle, Wash.)
Dick Pole (1982 at Ft. Wayne, Ind.)
Todd Forbes (1983 at Ft. Wayne, Ind.)
Blake Hollingsworth (1986 at Springfield, Ill)
Danny Pens (1988 at Rosemont, Ill.)
John Meyers (1990 at Milwaukee, Wisc.)
Shane Golobic (2016 at Du Quoin, Ill.)