SHARK SWEEPS: Karter Sarff Wins Second-Straight at I-55, Takes Ironman Weekend
PEVELY, MO (August 3, 2024) — Karter Sarff won the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota for the first time last year at Federated Auto Parts Raceway on I-55. Fast forward to 2024, and he has won the track’s most prestigious event.
Sarff, a 21-year-old racer from Mason City, IL, led flag-to-flag for the win Friday night and then made it back-to-back trips to Victory Lane with his fourth Series victory Saturday, taking the lead from Ryan Timms late in the race and leading the rest of the way untouched to claim the $7,500 grand prize, the largest winner’s share in Series history.
“It’s just super cool, especially with this night paying $7,500 to win,” Sarff mentioned. “Obviously, the Saturday event is the major one to win – I believe there are a lot more people here, and the [World of] Outlaws race the Ironman 55.
“It’s just a prestigious race and it’s turning into a prestigious Midget race too; just happy to put my name in the record books [and get my] biggest Midget win this year so far.”
Sarff has won three of his seven career starts in the Series at Interstate 55. Saturday’s victory, co-sanctioned by the POWRi National Midget League, was his fourth of the season with the Xtreme Outlaw Series, second only to points leader Cannon McIntosh, and sixth overall.
The driver known as “The Shark” pulled double duty on both nights of the event, driving his own No. 21K Midget and the Chase Briscoe Racing No. 5 Sprint Car for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.
“I was already worn out from running the Sprint Car all night too,” Sarff said. “That was extremely tiresome, and it seemed to go on all night. I was fatigued before the Midget Feature race even begun. “I had noodle arms throughout the race.”
While Sarff emerged victorious, points leaders Cannon McIntosh and Ryan Timms kicked off the Feature. McIntosh led the first four circuits around the 1/3-mile track until striking a rut in Turn 1 and giving up the lead to Timms.
Timms took the lead and continued to pull away until a red flag stopped the race on Lap 9. On the restart, Timms struck a bump in the track approaching Turn 3 and lost the lead to McIntosh, but only for two corners before Timms regained the lead with his own move down the bottom of Turns 1-2.
“I was so good on the top there before the red and was running Ryan down just that little bit the couple laps I changed my line,” McIntosh, 21, of Bixby, OK, said. “We had the red but couldn’t shoot off the same. I feel like we sat for too long.”
Meanwhile, Sarff was working on his move to the front of the pack. Sitting third for a restart on Lap 17, Sarff put his own slider on McIntosh in Turns 3-4 to take second place, racing into the middle groove.
“I thought for sure Cannon would rip it through the middle there right in front of me and kinda block it,” Sarff told reporters. “He just went up and I was able to do the same exact thing.”
Sarff, now in second place, earned his first chance at the lead on a restart three circuits later. Timms led the pack into Turn 3 after taking the green and then jumped another rut, allowing Sarff to slip by out of Turn 4.
Though Timms reclaimed the spot with a slide job in Turns 1-2, he encountered another bump in Turn 1 on Lap 23 and blasted up the track, allowing Sarff to grab the lead for good.
“I got to Ryan and got real lucky with him hitting the holes wrong,” according to Sarff. “I could just get through them really good; our stuff is usually always good through the rough.”
“I knew the bottom was coming in, and when the 21 got to second, I knew he was really good on the bottom here,” Timms, 17, of Oklahoma City, OK, said. “I knew he was going to be there, but I figured as long as I didn’t hop so far that it messed me up and got under us, everything would be great. That’s exactly what occurred.
Now that he had the race lead, Sarff proceeded to pull away from the pack. He quickly cleared the lapped traffic in front of him, and by the time he came under the checkered flag, he had a 1.6-second lead on Timms.
McIntosh finished third, re-entering the top five after his streak of 18 consecutive top-five races ended with a sixth-place effort on Friday.
“Good podium finish but still disappointing for leading there at the beginning, losing the lead, getting it back and losing it again,” according to McIntosh. “Obviously wanted more when you start on the pole; the only goal is to win.”
Seventh-starting Zach Daum finished fourth in the Trifecta Motorsports No. 7U, while Thomas Meseraull drove the Engler Machine & Tool No. 7x to complete out the top five.
Joe Wirth won the Whitz Racing Products Quick Time Award during Qualifying. McIntosh won Toyota Racing Heat 1; Sarff won TJ Forged Heat 2, and Gavin Miller won Heat 3.
