(May 31, 2024) Mattoon, IL – Ashton Torgerson entered his rookie season in the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota with uncertainty about his performance. Now, halfway through the season, the 17-year-old from Glendale, AZ, has secured three Feature wins, the second-most among all drivers. Torgerson’s latest victory came Friday night at Coles County Speedway, where he took the lead from 2022 Series champion Zach Daum on Lap 10 and maintained his position to the finish in the POWRi co-sanctioned Xtreme Outlaw-POWRi Challenge Series event.
“We weren’t sure if we were gonna be the best since it’s my first Midget year,” Torgerson said. “We have three wins already this year with Xtreme and one with POWRi. Overall, so far, it’s been amazing already, and we’re only halfway through.”
Strong Start to the Night
Torgerson’s night began strong with the fastest lap in his Qualifying group and a Heat Race win from the outside of Row 2. Starting fourth in the Feature, he quickly advanced, showing his intent to challenge the leaders early in the race.
A red flag on Lap 5 for a Kale Drake rollover restacked the field. On the restart, Daum led with Gavin Miller and Torgerson in pursuit. Torgerson found the top side of the track to his liking and closed in on the leaders, eventually passing Miller for second on Lap 7.
Taking the Lead
On Lap 10, Torgerson made his move on Daum, passing him on the outside in Turns 1 and 2 and taking the lead down the backstretch. From there, he extended his lead, expertly navigating through lapped traffic and maintaining a nearly two-second gap over second-place Chase McDermand in the final laps.
“Really, I was just hoping Daum wouldn’t come up in (Turns) 1 and 2 to block me the one or two times I showed him I had momentum, and luckily he didn’t,” Torgerson said. “After that, I was able to jump up top in 3 and 4 pretty much set sail after that.”
Securing the Win
Torgerson crossed the finish line with a comfortable lead, securing his third win of the season. McDermand finished second, marking his fourth podium finish of the year. Despite a fierce battle with Daum, McDermand was unable to challenge Torgerson for the lead in the closing stages.
“I think, like everybody else, I just needed a caution,” McDermand said. “Just couldn’t get there in the dirty air. I feel like we were better in clean air. I ran him down, but then right when I caught him, we were getting into lapped traffic and there really wasn’t any opportunity to get by him.”
Upcoming Events
Following the postponement of Saturday’s events at Wayne County Speedway (IL), the Xtreme Outlaw Midgets will now take a summer break and resume competition Friday-Saturday, July 19-20, at Spoon River Speedway in Lewistown, IL. Tickets for the event are on sale now at XtremeOutlawSeries.com and will also be available at the gate on race day. If you can’t be there to watch in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
Feature Results (30 Laps)
- Ashton Torgerson [4]
- Chase McDermand [3]
- Zach Daum [1]
- Ryan Timms [5]
- Cannon McIntosh [12]
- Jade Avedisian [8]
- Gavin Miller [2]
- Karter Sarff [10]
- Kyle Jones [17]
- Trevor Cline [6]
- Hayden Reinbold [9]
- Mitchell Davis [18]
- Tyler Edwards [19]
- Michael Pickens [11]
- Brayton Lynch [13]
- Kale Drake [16]
- Gunnar Setser [20]
- Jayden Clay [21]
- Elijah Gile [15]
- Mark McMahill [22]
- Ethan Mitchell [7]
- Shane Cottle [14]
