SALISBURY, N.C. – Event organizers have revealed the first 14 approved entries for the inaugural Keith Kunz Motorsports Giveback Classic presented by Toyota Racing Development, set for Oct. 31 at Millbridge Speedway.
The premier outlaw kart race – which will conclude the season at the sixth-mile dirt oval operated by promoters Ashly and Jeremy Burnett – will award a ride in a Kunz-prepared, Toyota-powered midget at the 33rd annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals to the winner.
Should the race winner not turn 16 prior to the Chili Bowl – which runs from Jan. 14-19, 2019 – they will earn a KKM ride at a different event.
The first driver approved to enter the event was 14-year-old Colby Horn from Longview, Texas, who competed in the recent big-money event at Millbridge in May and finished 15th in the headlining 51-lap Open feature after qualifying directly in through his heat race.
Sam Platt – a 16-year-old now residing in Rock Hill, S.C. but originally from Denver, Iowa – was the second driver whose entry was approved. Platt is a regular at Millbridge Speedway this season and currently ranks fourth in Outlaw division points at the track.
Jake Park, 28, is the third driver in the Giveback Classic entry pool and is a regular with the Red Bluff Outlaws in California. He finished sixth in this year’s 51-lap Open at Millbridge and was eighth during the West Coast Nationals at Red Bluff in March.
Alex Bodine joins Platt as the second of four Millbridge regulars in the first round of Giveback classic entries. Bodine, the 17-year-old son of former NASCAR driver Brett Bodine, is fifth in Open division points at Millbridge as of June 6.
Other Millbridge regulars approved for the Giveback Classic so far are Chaz Woodward and Tucker Scanlon.
Woodward, 23, has turned laps in a 305 dirt sprint car this season but spent several years in outlaw kart racing, while 20-year-old Scanlon nearly beat Kyle Larson for the win during the second week of racing at Millbridge earlier this spring.
Yuba City, California’s Landon Brooks, 15, was the first driver approved for the Giveback Classic that calls Cycleland Speedway home. Brooks is 24th in Cycleland’s Open point standings so far this year.
Additional Cycleland Speedway representatives in the first wave of Giveback Classic entries include 14-year-old Dawson Hammes and 20-year-old Wyatt Brown.
Also among the first 14 entries are Kaleb Wyrick, Kyle Hossfeld, Kirkland Gunnells, Tyler Robbins and Shane Marquez.
Wyrick, 16, is from Sherman, Texas and regularly competes at Heart of Oklahoma Speedway. Hossfeld, 27, races at Black Canyon Speedway and calls Boise, Idaho home.
Gunnells, 22, is from Hanover, W.Va., and frequents 304 Speedway, but picked up his first Millbridge Speedway victory in the Open division feature on May 12.
Robbins, 33, hails from Saint Jacob, Ill., and his home track is Belle-Clair Speedway. Marquez, 16, calls Bells, Texas home and is one of seven teenagers in the first batch of Giveback Classic approved entries.
Entry blanks and entry fees for the drivers approved to-date must be received by Aug. 1.
Drivers wishing to race in the inaugural Keith Kunz Motorsports Giveback Classic can apply for entry at MillbridgeSpeedway.com.
