SALISBURY, N.C. – The driver pool for the inaugural Keith Kunz Motorsports Giveback Classic presented by Toyota Racing Development now stands at 135 accepted entries with just four weeks remaining before the crown-jewel outlaw kart event.
Set to be held at North Carolina’s Millbridge Speedway on Oct. 31, the KKM Giveback Classic will award the winning Open division outlaw-kart driver with a ride in a Keith Kunz Motorsports-prepared, Toyota-powered midget during the 33rd annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Okla., in January.
Should the winning driver not turn 16 prior to the Chili Bowl – which runs from Jan. 14-19, 2019 – KKM will provide a midget ride for the recipient in another event.
“All along, we hoped that we would get a lot of interest from across the country, but we never imagined it would be this big … and it continues to grow,” noted team owner Keith Kunz. “This race began as my way of giving back to the karting community, and to receive this much interest from all corners of the United States is incredible. We can’t wait to get out to Millbridge Speedway at the end of the month and watch what I’m sure will be an exciting night for everyone involved.”
Toyota Racing officials confirmed on Wednesday that the entry process, originally scheduled to close on Oct. 1, remains open to apply for the event.
Four of Millbridge Speedway’s rising young stars will headline the local contingent that hopes to defend the sixth-mile dirt oval from invaders ranging from Rhode Island and Minnesota to California, Oregon, Texas and more.
Seventeen-year-old Andrew Wehrli, originally from Norwich N.Y., now calls the Tar Heel State home and has been racing at Millbridge regularly since September of 2017. He recently picked up his first Open division feature win at the track and wrapped up the track’s Saturday series championship on Sept. 22.
Another 17-year-old, Alex Bodine, will be seeking his first-ever Open division feature win at the sixth-mile during the KKM Giveback Classic. Bodine is the son of former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Brett Bodine and currently ranks fourth in Open division points at Millbridge.
The youngest driver entered into the KKM Giveback Classic field is 10-year-old Brent Crews, who has won races in both the Box Stock and Intermediate classes this season at Millbridge and moved up into the Opens mid-season. Crews is second in Intermediate track points and ninth in the Open standings.
Clark Houston is hoping that the KKM Giveback Classic can be his breakout moment. The 17-year-old from Hickory, N.C. has – in his own words – lost races at Millbridge “every way there is to lose them” and wants nothing more than to end that winless streak on Halloween night. Houston is third in the track’s Open division standings entering the month of October.
Among the outsiders looking to leave their marks on Millbridge Speedway during the Giveback Classic are Oregon’s Tanner Holmes and California’s Daniel Whitley.
Holmes picked up his first three career wins in a winged sprint car over the last month and has competed during the annual QRC Open at Millbridge each of the last two years, finishing 18th in May.
Meanwhile, Whitley enters the Giveback Classic fresh off a solid season at California’s Cycleland Speedway, where he finished second in points on the strength of three feature victories. Whitley also made the QRC Open in May, finishing 13th after late mechanical issues forced him out of the feature.
