VENTURA, Calif.— Cannon McIntosh’s crusade for the USAC National Midget Championship could finally come to a happy ending on Saturday night at Ventura Raceway.

And if the 23-year-old Bixby, Oklahoma, native pulls off the feat, he would become the first racer to win three different midget tour titles after securing both the Xtreme Outlaw Midgets and the POWRi National Midget League Championships in 2024.

In a wet and wild West Coast Swing, McIntosh enters the USAC NOS Energy Midget National Championship Race with a 52-point advantage over Justin Grant.

“For me, and the whole team, it’s about execution,” McIntosh said. “Do what we did all year long and put our bad nights behind us and take advantage of the nights we have ahead. Just really execute, minimize mistakes and take advantage of every little opportunity we have.

“We’re obviously in a good spot. We just need to continue to plug away and continue to do our thing. The guys have been doing a really great job. I have full confidence in them and I know that they have full confidence in me.

“It always helps when you have belief in your guys and when they believe in you as well. I think we have a good shot at it.”

If McIntosh is holding the championship hardware at the end of the USAC Turkey Night Grand Prix, he’ll be able to reflect on the final two weeks of the 2025 season, when the tide turned for the Toyota driver.

After the first night at Placerville Speedway was canceled due to rain, McIntosh wrecked in the Hangtown 100 but salvaged a seventh-place result. Grant, however, finished fifth and left the NorCal track just seven points behind the No. 71K Keith Kunz Motorsports team.

With torrential rains plaguing the region, the races at Visalia and Tulare were canceled, and Merced Speedway hosted a double-header. The first night, McIntosh seized the lead from Buddy Kofoid just before halfway on the quarter-mile track to score his first win at the track.

McIntosh’s fifth victory of the season extended his lead to 39 points over Grant and tallied the 200th USAC win for KKM.

“I didn’t even know about it—I think we kind of all forgot,” McIntosh said after delivering Kunz’s milestone. “And then we went out and won. It was special. Obviously, there are a lot of drivers, a lot of history and a lot of people who have put their names in that mix. So to be the one to get 200 is pretty cool, especially knowing the guys that have come through here.

“To do that for Keith and Pete (Willoughby, CEO) is pretty special, and I look forward to getting to 201 or 202 this week.”

McIntosh hit a bump in the road the second night at Merced. After qualifying second, he flipped in his heat race. McIntosh was forced to race his way into the A-Main, won the Semi and finished sixth in the feature. 

Heading to Bakersfield Speedway on Tuesday, McIntosh’s points lead was 64 over Grant. But the Chad Boat Industries driver out-qualified McIntosh and came from 12th to finish eighth in the Jason Leffler Memorial—six spots ahead of the No. 71K—and cut McIntosh’s lead to 52.

Still, a maximum of 76 points remain available at Ventura Raceway where Grant won the 2022 Turkey Night Grand Prix. McIntosh won rookie honors in 2019 when he finished a career-best second on the 1/5-mile dirt oval.

“It would be a really cool way to cap off the season by winning that race,” McIntosh said. “Obviously, we don’t run it on Thanksgiving any more, but being around the holidays, it’s a special event and it’s cool for us to be racing right there on the beach. It’s a real, cool event.

“I’ve been very close to winning it a couple of times. It’s an event that everyone highlights on this West Coast Swing. It’s one that all of us want to win.”

The victory would secure the USAC National Midget title for the Oklahoman. For Grant, winning the title would make him the ninth USAC Triple Crown recipient. 

But no driver has completed the Midget Triple.

“It would mean a lot to me,” McIntosh said. “It’s been a long time coming. A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes—and for the team as well. KKM has had much success. 

“But for Beau Binder, he’s never won one as a crew chief, and it would be really cool to win one together. Even Phil, my tire guy and my car chief Spencer (Rolenc), it would be all of our first times at our roles winning it together. 

“It would be really special for this group. They’ve worked really hard for this moment. It just comes down to executing and putting all of the pieces together.”