SALISBURY, N.C. – Mike Wheeler has been the recipient of a big prize in the past at Millbridge Speedway, but he’s chasing much more than just a cash payday at the sixth-mile dirt track this week.
The 33-year-old native of Medford, Ore., is going after his big break.
Wheeler will join a host of outlaw kart rivals at Millbridge on Tuesday and Wednesday nights for the inaugural Keith Kunz Motorsports Giveback Classic presented by Toyota Racing Development, where the grand prize for winning the 50-lap championship feature is a ride with Kunz’s Toyota-powered midget team during the 33rd annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Okla., in January.
The veteran won the inaugural QRC Open at Millbridge in May of 2014, leading every lap from the pole, but said Monday that picking up his second-career victory at the track is going to be no easier now than it was four years ago.
“This is going to be a tough deal, man,” Wheeler told SPEED SPORT. “There’s going to be a lot of kids here and the prize on the line is anything that any one of us has ever wanted to do, as far as going big-time or anything of that sort at all – it all rides on this one race. I’m definitely going to have to get up on the wheel and give it everything I’ve got, and I’m hoping it’s enough. There’s a lot of tough competition here.”
“We all want the same thing and we’ll see this week if I can be the one to get it.”
Wheeler has fond memories of his first win at Millbridge. Then known as the SPEED SPORT Challenge, the annual big-money race at the sixth-mile bullring was the largest show in outlaw-kart racing at the time, with Wheeler becoming the first driver to add his name to the storied list of winners.
“The race I won here in 2013 was something that I didn’t think I’d ever get the opportunity to accomplish,” said Wheeler. “As far as go-karts are concerned, that was one of the biggest races we had all ever been to at that point, and now they keep doing it every year and it’s gotten bigger and bigger each time they’ve held it here.
“Now this weekend, we’re racing for our careers, and that’s something I didn’t think I’d ever say,” he added. “It’s a great thing for short-track racing that Keith (Kunz) and everyone is doing here at Millbridge … and there’s a lot of people chasing a dream. I think that’s what makes this so special.”
If the race is unique, the track at Millbridge is equally so, with Wheeler noting that conditions can shift at the drop of a hat and that a diverse set of skills is needed to be successful there.
“This track is really tricky. It’ll look like it’s dusting off and then as soon as the sun goes down, the moisture will come right back up and change things just that quickly. There’s a lot of cars here too – more than they normally have – so it will take a lot of factors to be successful in this thing.
“This race is going to come down to who nails the setup with the conditions, and that’s going to be a fun target to try and hit.”
Wheeler is one of the group old enough to claim the Chili Bowl prize at the end of the rainbow if he should be victorious again at Millbridge, and he’s ready for the challenge of racing his way to the front.
However, he knows that the abundance of young talent in the field that will be trying to make their own statements will make his task of winning that much more challenging.
“I feel like the young guys are just as fast as I am, if not faster,” he noted. “There’s knowledge and stuff that I’ve gained over the years that I feel like I can use to my advantage, but I have to play a smart race. It’s 50 laps. That’s a long time in these karts. To win it, you have to be there at the end first.
“A lot of these kids are already up and doing things far and beyond anything I’ve ever done, but we’re definitely going to give it everything we’ve got. I’m ready to represent Oregon Outlaw Speed Shop, Eli (Lattin) Chassis and everyone who’s helped us to get to this point.”
