SALISBURY, N.C. – Colby Horn had already viewed a lot of sights prior to arriving in the pit area for Wednesday night’s weekly outlaw kart program at Millbridge Speedway.
After all, a two-day drive of 941.6 miles from Horn’s hometown of Longview, Texas, gave the 13-year-old plenty of time to take in the scenery.
It also gave Horn a good bit of time to think over strategies for learning the sixth-mile dirt oval ahead of the invitation-only Keith Kunz Motorsports Giveback Classic on Oct. 31, which offers a top prize of a Kunz-fielded, Toyota-powered Chili Bowl Nationals ride to the winner.
While Horn will not be old enough to take part in the Chili Bowl – set for Jan. 14-19, 2019 – he would be privy to a Kunz ride at another race should he win on Halloween night.
Horn first heard about the race from fellow racer, friend and quasi-teammate Blake Carrick, whose family helps to maintain Horn’s backup car out in California, and was also the first driver whose entry into the race was approved by event officials.
“Blake was one of the people who really got me excited about the Giveback Classic and made me want to take part in it,” explained Horn. “He and I trade places sometimes … he’ll come to Texas and race his extra car on occasion and sometimes I’ll go to California and race my extra car. But he was the one that told be about the KKM Giveback Classic and after running here (at Millbridge) in May, I knew I needed more laps to be able to win.”
The Giveback Classic was the race Horn was envisioning winning during his ride to the East Coast early in the week. It was also the reason he and his father drew up plans to travel from Texas to North Carolina on a more regular basis from June to October, so that Horn could have extra track time under his belt before the Giveback Classic.
Horn never pictured a scenario where he got to celebrate victory at Millbridge in his debut as a weekly driver.
However, that situation is exactly what played out Wednesday night, when a fortuitous invert moved Horn from fourth on the grid up to the pole position and allowed him to take off from the field.
Horn led all 20 laps and held off a hard-charging Tom Hubert for his first-ever Millbridge Speedway victory, providing a huge shot of momentum to the kickoff of his pursuit of the Giveback Classic later in the season.
“After driving all the way from Texas, to come out in our first race of doing this (regularly) here at Millbridge … it’s unreal,” said Horn. “Winning, leading every lap, holding off a veteran like Tom (Hubert) … that’s the kind of night you dream of as a kid and as a racer and to pull that off tonight makes everything we did to get here worth it. I can’t thank my dad enough for all the work he’s put into this and to all my family watching back home for all their support.”
Horn’s father Jason explained afterwards that the plan to start chasing races at Millbridge came in two parts: Colby agreeing to it and then drawing up the strategy to actually make everything work.
“We had been down in the pool earlier that day, but I came up to his room (Sunday) night and said, ‘Hey, what if we leave tomorrow (Monday) and go out to Millbridge?’ He looked up at me and was like, ‘Really? I’m in, let’s go!’” recalled Jason Horn. “When I told him we were gonna leave our stuff in North Carolina and fly back and forth he goes, ‘You’re kidding, right?’ But that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
The Horns’ primary car and trailer are now parked in the Millbridge Speedway pit area for the remainder of the summer, while father and son will fly back and forth from Texas to North Carolina for just about every Wednesday night show until the Giveback Classic.
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