SALISBURY, N.C. – Andrew Wehrli may have just recently picked up his first Millbridge Speedway track championship as a rookie, but he showed no signs of slowing down on Monday night at the sixth-mile dirt oval.
Wehrli led a field of 59 drivers in attendance for a three-hour open practice session, which opened the festivities and the on-track action for the inaugural Keith Kunz Motorsports Giveback Classic presented by Toyota Racing Development.
He turned a lap of 10.118 seconds (59.300 mph) with his No. 54 Sova Motion outlaw kart.
The New York teenager secured the Saturday Open division title at Millbridge in September and hopes to add the trophy from the Giveback Classic to his mantle on Wednesday night. If he is successful in doing so, Wehrli will earn a KKM-prepared, Toyota-powered ride for the 33rd annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals this coming January in Tulsa, Okla.
Wehrli noted that he and his team came into Monday’s practice with a checklist and stuck to it.
“We had a goal to come tonight and see what the track would do with all these cars running on it,” he explained. “The track was good all night and so was the car. I think we made a pretty good statement that it’s going to be hard to come to my home track and beat me and my team on our territory.
“I take a lot of pride and carrying the flag for North Carolina and Millbridge Speedway and we want to do that over the next two days. I may be from New York, but this track is home now and we’re ready to defend it.”
Wehrli added that he believes the track will be a two-groove surface come race time Wednesday night.
“In all honesty, I do believe there will be two lanes for the Wednesday feature,” he said. “I think the two grooves are more even then they have been all year. You have guys in the top eight tonight who ran their fastest laps on the bottom of the race track. I know I ran both lanes and was fast in both. We’ll see.”
Millbridge regulars swept the top three spots on the practice charts, with Ethan Mitchell timing in second-fastest at 10.264 seconds and 11-year-old Caden Kvapil going third-quick at 10.280 seconds.
California invader Max Mittry was best among the out-of-towners in fourth and Tyler Letarte – son of NASCAR on NBC analyst Steve Letarte – completed the top five.
Two-time reigning Wednesday Open champion Carson Kvapil and 10-year-old Brent Crews were sixth and seventh, respectively, giving locals six of the top seven spots on the night.
Michael Hubert, Landon Brooks and Jesse Colwell made up the balance of the top 10.
Texas native and former Millbridge feature winner Colby Horn ended the night 20th overall, while inaugural QRC Speed51 Open winner Mike Wheeler was 24th.
Two-lap time trials for the inaugural KKM Giveback Classic take place Tuesday night.
For full practice results, click here.
