Meeting Goals

DuQuoin, Illinois (3/15/2023)…. Mariah Ede kicked off her 2023 Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series campaign this past weekend at the Southern Illinois Center in DuQuoin, Illinois.

On Friday, Ede clocked in second in Group Qualifying with a 10.273. From there she finished where she started, third in her Heat Race. Ede’s efforts locked her into the thirteenth starting position for the A-Main. After getting tangled up in an incident in turns three and four, Ede had to go to the end of the pack. She climbed her way back into the fourteenth by the end of the thirty lap feature.

Despite the track being indoors, the racing surface was vastly different from the evening before containing much more moisture. Time were faster, yet the racing lane was much smaller. Mariah placed fifth in Group Qualifying and fifth in Heat Race Three. In the feature, Ede started twentieth and was able to gain five positions to place fifteenth.

The different racing conditions from night one to two created a learning opportunity for Mariah and her Keith Kunz Motorsports team. “The track was totally different than night one, it just had a lot of moisture. We were tight all night long. I had to drive it in a lot harder and be careful to not throw the nose. On corner exit, it was tough to drive the car harder, we tried to free it up, but then the nose would get light and push. We worked hard on my car and my teammate Mitchel (Moles) all night long to get comfortable. We made progress and learned a lot.”

Even though Mariah was faced with a learning curve, she met her goal for the weekend. “I feel I had a fairly decent weekend at DuQuoin. My goal was to make the feature both nights and we made that happen! It was hard to pass on night two with the track being small and one lane. Overall I was happy with the outcome and can’t wait to build off what we learned! A huge thank you to my Dad, Keith, Chuck, and Tate Gurney for the help and amazing car they give me each week.”