SALISBURY, N.C. — Carson Kvapil capped off his 2017 season with a flourish Saturday afternoon at Millbridge Speedway, capturing the Open division feature win during the third race of the sixth-mile’s annual Winter Series.

Kvapil started from the pole in the 15-lap main event and never trailed, racing away to a 4.485 second victory over fellow teenager Joey Robinson.

The victory marked Kvapil’s 12th Millbridge win of the year and his eighth in the premier Open class.

“Our car was really good today,” Kvapil said after climbing from his kart. “This is a great way to end the season, and I can’t thank CorvetteParts.net, Keen Parts and all our supporters for what they do for us all year long.”

In other racing, Matt Brellsford replicated Kvapil’s performance in the 15-lap Mini Cup feature, dominating the field and pulling away to a five-second win over Brett Suggs.

Daniel Durham completed the podium in third.

Despite consistent pressure from Tyler Letarte, Caden Kvapil made it a family sweep of the top two outlaw kart classes, leading all 20 laps from the pole to notch the win by .678 of a second over Letarte.

Brent Crews rallied back from a spin on lap nine, which drew the only caution flag of the 20-lap run, to finish third ahead of Robinson and Ben Studer.

The most entertaining race of the day was the 20-lap Box Stock main event, in which Matt Francis fought off a spirited drive from Aiden Turner to capture the victory in a thrilling finish.

Turner started from the pole with Francis to his right flank, leading the first two laps despite an early five-car melee in turns one and two that illuminated the yellow lights on the opening round.

Francis finally powered inside to take the lead down the backstretch on lap three, holding steady out front until a caution at halfway for a spinning Jonathan Shafer slowed the pace again and restacked the field, giving Turner a chance to regroup and attempt to pounce.

None of Turner’s advances would work however, despite another yellow with two to go that set up a green-white-checkered finish.

That incident allowed Hunter Kohn to surge to second with a last-lap, last-turn pass of Turner, while Francis scooted home to the win by .433 of a second.

Lucas Sipka notched a career-best fourth-place finish, with Sam Corry completing the top five.

Coen McDaniel scored his third-straight Beginner Box Stock winter win with his new Phantom Chassis kart, beating out Dallas Griggs, Chase Spaulding, Jonathan Paulk and Jackson Shafer in that 15-lap feature.

The next activity for Millbridge Speedway will be to honor the track’s 2017 champions during the annual awards banquet on Jan. 6.

RESULTS: Millbridge Speedway; Winter Series Race No. 3; Dec. 16, 2017

Beginner Box Stock Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Chase Spaulding, 2. Dallas Griggs, 3. Jackson Shafer, 4. Reed Cregger.

Beginner Box Stock Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Coen McDaniel, 2. Karter Beattie, 3. Jonathan Paulk, 4. Chase Johnston.

Box Stock Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Caden Kvapil, 2. Aiden Turner, 3. Sam Corry, 4. Cole Daugherty, 5. Lucas Sipka, 6. Lucas Sandifer, 7. Colt Currie, 8. Dylan Mollet, 9. Hank Hall.

Box Stock Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Matt Francis, 2. Ethan Burdett, 3. Hunter Kohn, 4. Josh Souza, 5. Griffen Hjortsburg, 6. Hunter Aiken, 7. Tyler Dolack, 8. Jonathan Shafer.

Intermediate Heat Race (8 laps): 1. Caden Kvapil, 2. Tyler Letarte, 3. Brent Crews, 4. Joey Robinson, 5. Ben Studer, 6. Jordyn Bregoli (DNS).

Mini Cup Heat Race (8 laps): 1. Matt Brellsford, 2. Brett Suggs, 3. Daniel Durham.

Open Class Heat Race (8 laps): 1. Carson Kvapil, 2. Joey Robinson.

Beginner Box Stock A-Feature (15 laps): 1. Coen McDaniel, 2. Dallas Griggs, 3. Chase Spaulding, 4. Jonathan Paulk, 5. Jackson Shafer, 6. Karter Beattie, 7. Chase Johnston, 8. Reed Cregger.

Box Stock A-Feature (20 laps): 1. Matt Francis, 2. Hunter Kohn, 3. Aiden Turner, 4. Lucas Sipka, 5. Sam Corry, 6. Caden Kvapil, 7. Hunter Aiken, 8. Ethan Burdett, 9. Josh Souza, 10. Colt Currie, 11. Griffen Hjortsberg, 12. Tyler Dolack, 13. Cole Daugherty, 14. Lucas Sandifer, 15. Hank Hall, 16. Jonathan Shafer, 17. Dylan Mollet (DNS).

Intermediate A-Feature (20 laps): 1. Caden Kvapil, 2. Tyler Letarte, 3. Brent Crews, 4. Joey Robinson, 5. Ben Studer, 6. Jordyn Bregoli (DNS).

Mini Cup A-Feature (15 laps): 1. Matt Brellsford, 2. Brett Suggs, 3. Daniel Durham.

Open Class A-Feature (15 laps): 1. Carson Kvapil, 2. Joey Robinson.

About the Writer

Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network, as well as a periodic contributor to SPEED SPORT Magazine.

Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.

The 23-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.

SALISBURY, N.C. — Millbridge Speedway’s 12th week of Wednesday Series outlaw kart competition will arguably be one of its most important of the season, as the fast sixth-mile gears up for its annual ‘Back to School’ Night on Aug. 2.

Highlighting the kids that help make racing fun at Millbridge, the Beginner Box Stocks and Box Stocks will run qualifying practice and features only, forgoing heat races for one night to bring live, pre-race driver introductions to both classes.

In addition, the top three feature finishing positions in both classes will pay out that night, with $100 going to the winner in both Beginner Box Stocks and Box Stocks, $50 going to the runner-up and $25 going to third-place in the mains.

Though Gray led from the start, surging around Kvapil from the outside pole to take command on the first lap, Kvapil never lost touch with the NHRA Pro Stock regular, holding station within one second of the top spot for most of the 20-lap distance.

When Gray got high off turn two with 15 laps complete and his kart began tumbling, Kvapil’s No. 35 CorvetteParts.net mini outlaw inherited the point and the die was cast.

“The only thing that was going through my head is, ‘He’s up in the air, so I need to get out of the way and not be involved in this,’” Kvapil said in Race City Steel victory lane. “Once we got the lead, the kart handled really well on the top and I could hook the power up pretty easily.”

Once Kvapil got the lead, it appeared to be game-set-match, but a final incident with three laps left set up one more restart, after Karsyn Elledge got sideways in turn four and collected Justin Haley as the two battled inside the top five.

Buddy Wise took a look to the bottom on Kvapil when the race went green for the final time, but to no avail, as Kvapil sprinted off to his fourth-career Open win at Millbridge and first of the season by 1.050 seconds.

“I wasn’t really nervous on the last restart,” Kvapil explained. “I had seen him on the restart before, and had a pretty good idea of where he was going to go … so I just tried to squeeze him down so he couldn’t get under me and we led it from there.”

Behind the front duo, Nick O’Dell notched a career-best Wednesday night finish in the Open class, followed by Hickory Motor Speedway late model points leader Ryan Millington and Elledge.

Meanwhile, Gray was left wondering what might have been, after a sure-fire second win of the season at the sixth-mile slipped through his fingertips and turned into a DNF in 10th.

“This kart was awesome tonight … probably the best mini outlaw I’ve ever driven (at Millbridge),” Gray lamented. “Greg Price and everyone who helped work on it tonight had this thing ripping (around the top).”

“I did my job for a little bit more than half the race … I don’t know. When I realized I had a pretty good lead, I thought, ‘Okay, I’ll just ride,’ but just caught a rut in the middle of turn two. I didn’t think anything was happening until it dropped off the side … and I was along for the ride at that point. It’s a bummer, but we’ll be back.”

Notably, Gray was running Nick Hoffman’s No. 2 to accrue points for the current track points leader, who was at Eldora Speedway Wednesday in preparation for the Dirt Late Model Dream.

Also absent were second-place points man Ethan Mitchell, who is putting his outlaw kart racing on hold to race a midget in Illinois this summer for car owner Steve Reynolds, and three-time track champion Tom Hubert, who is out of the car for three months with a broken hand.

Subbing for Tyler Letarte, Jarsocrak came home second ahead of Jordyn Bregoli, Stanley Hayes and Caden Kvapil.In other racing, Brent Crews scored his first-career Wednesday night Intermediate class win, trading sliders with Brandon Jarsocrak on laps 12 and 13 of the 20-lap main before driving away on the 14th round to a big victory.

Class points leader Ryan Israel suffered a shock DNF after his motor blew on lap two, relegating him to 11th.

Trevor Cline (Box Stock) and Cassidy Keitt (Beginner Box Stock) each won their fifth Wednesday series features of the year in their respective classes, leading from start to finish.

Millbridge Speedway’s Wednesday night mini outlaw kart series returns to action on June 21.

        The 4^th annual QRC SPEED51 Open Presented by JGRmx is fast approaching us.  Driver registration is now open and encouraged.  If registered before May 1^st team will save $25 per entry in the open class.  ALSO, duplicate car numbers will have to add a letter or another number to their kart.  (Must be visible on both sides of the wing from the tower).  Numbers will go to the highest in points first then to the entries submitted first.  The entry blank can be found under our “Driver Info-Forms” tab.

There will be 24 starters in the A main.  Provisionals will go to the fastest qualifier who does not make it in through a heat or B main.  Also, the highest in track points, that does not transfer will be locked into the A main as well.

There will be an open tire rule in the Open and Intermediate classes.  Beginner and Box Stock will have to run Hoosier D20 slicks that were purchased through the track.   All of the rules are posted on our website.  Working RACECEIVERS are MANDATORY in every class.

The SPEED51 Open will be broadcast LIVE on www.SPEED51.com.  Be sure to sign up for their monthly membership to see all of the race highlights from every Wednesday Night outlaw kart race!

For more information contact Jeremy at 704.701.1665 or JBDesigns14@yahoo.com

SALISBURY, N.C. – NHRA Pro Stock regular Tanner Gray returned to his oval-racing roots Wednesday night and picked up his first Millbridge Speedway win of the season during the sixth-mile track’s second week of Wild Wednesday Series competition.

Gray started from the pole and led all 20 laps of the headlining 500cc Open division feature, wheeling his black No. 15 Fusion Custom Trailers mini outlaw to Race City Steel/Bryan Clauson Victory Lane after a dominant performance.

The 18-year-old survived two chaotic attempts at the initial start, including one where Ethan Mitchell had to drive through the infield on the frontstretch after outside polesitter and defending track champion Tom Hubert’s machine popped a wheelie and stacked up the grid as a result.

Following one more caution with a lap complete, when Kyle Beattie spun on the backstretch, the final 19 circuits ran uninterrupted and saw Gray run out to a one-second victory over longtime rival Ethan Mitchell.

“Traffic was rough tonight,” Gray said after climbing from his kart. “The track’s been really rough the last few times out here, so the key is just to get to the fence, get that clean air and then see if you can move down to the middle as the race goes on. We did that tonight, kept it as straight as we could and it paid off.”

“The bump (coming) out of (turn) two was getting me pretty bad tonight, but I did what I could. I didn’t know if it was Tom (Hubert) or who it was coming up behind me, but I figured they’d be coming on me at the end … they just never got there.”

Gray has had the support of former Millbridge track champion and current big block modified racer Max McLaughlin this season, with McLaughlin serving as his crew chief for the opening two races of the season.

The partnership is one that Gray said has buoyed his team and led to his early-season success.

“Max came back and he’s done a great job helping me with this piece,” he explained. “It’s been pretty good so far. We were a little bit loose last weekend and ran fifth, but we came back and he knew exactly what changes we needed to make to get the most speed out of the kart. It’s fun working with him and it’s obviously led to some success so far … hopefully we can keep it going.”

Mitchell, Hubert, Buddy Wise and opening night winner Nick Hoffman completed the top five.

Ryan Israel continued his dominance of the Intermediate division for 250cc motors, winning his second-straight race in the class to start the season with another wire-to-wire performance.

The 13-year-old has led all 40 laps that the class has contested at the sixth-mile so far this season.

Track co-owner Jeremy Burnett told Race Chaser Online after the conclusion of the racing program that a $100 bounty will be up for grabs for any Intermediate driver that can defeat Israel in next Wednesday’s event.

Trevor Cline got redemption in the 20-lap Box Stock main event, winning for the first time this season after spinning out of the lead with four laps to go in last week’s feature, while Cassidy Keitt scored the Beginner Box Stock victory in their 15-lap race.

Millbridge Speedway returns to action on April 5 for week three of the Wild Wednesday Series for winged mini outlaw karts.

$30,000 On the Line for Millbridge’s Speed51 Open

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y3NVLeZfsv4″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe> 

Salisbury, NC – The Speed51 Open has become one of the premier Outlaw Kart events in America and now the winner could walk away with more than $30,000.  Jeremy and Ashly Burnett, owners of Millbridge Speedway, announced today a $25,000 “Front Row Challenge” for the Speed51 Open on Wednesday, May 24, 2017 at the Salisbury, NC race track.

The purse still guarantees a hefty $5,151 to the winner, but there is a chance one driver could win an additional $25,000 as part of the “Front Row Challenge.”  One driver will be able to take the challenge of starting at the rear of the field to race for chance at an additional $25,000.  If that driver is able to win the 51-lap race, then he or she would pocket $30,151.  More details will be forthcoming.

“We like to do things big at Millbridge and we had to top last year’s Speed51 Open,” said Ashly Burnett.  “We hope this draws a lot of attention and buzz on who will take the challenge and will someone be able to come from last to win.  It will definitely be something for all our fans to watch throughout the race.”

Speed51.com, the 100% Short Track Racing News Source, will stand behind the event as a partner of the 1/6-mile clay oval and offer a live online pay-per-view broadcast to those who can’t make it to the race track.

The Speed51 Open is a two-day event on May 23-24.  Millbridge Speedway is located just up the road from the NASCAR events held during “May Speedweeks” in North Carolina. 

The Speed51 Open will be a 51-lap Outlaw Kart Open Division main event.  $500 will also go to the winner of the Intermediate Class, now on the Wednesday night card, as well as the winner of the non-qualifier race.

“Last years Speed51 Open was great; even qualifying night was exciting to watch,” said Jeremy Burnett.  “We are really pumped up for this years even as we believe we will draw a record number of cars and fans.  I think the ‘Front Row Challenge’ will get people amped up to see another epic event at Millbridge.”  Big names from the short track racing world and beyond are expected to enter the event and take their shot at earning bragging rights in the biggest Outlaw Karts race of the year.

Millbridge Speedway’s extra-distance event during the month of May has been won by the likes of Mike Wheeler (2014), Logan Seavey (2015) and Kyle Larson (2016) in recent years.

Racing kicks off at the Speed51 Open on Tuesday, May 23rd with open practice and qualifying for the Open and Intermediate Divisions.  Support classes including the Beginner Box Stocks and Box Stocks will run group qualifying and features only that night.  Speed51.com will carry a live PPV video stream of these events.  Following the conclusion of the on-track action there will be an after-party featuring a live performance by the band “Dirty Grass Soul.”

Wednesday night’s schedule includes the Open Division for the Outlaw Karts, as well as the $500 to win Intermediate race.  Open Division heat races are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. and will be lined up based upon Tuesday night’s time trial results.  There will be a “Revenge Draw” for heat race winners.  That draw will line up the grid for the “Pole Shuffle” to determine the front part of the starting line-up for the Speed51 Open.  Following the Pole Shuffle, several other preliminary main events will help set the field for the main event.

More information about the live pay-per-view broadcast on Speed51 TV, as well as the event itself, will be announced soon.

If you would like to be part of one of the rising forms of racing in the US, contact QRC Factory Karts through its website at www.qrckarts.com.   JGR MX has all the latest products and parts for the Motocross industry; visit their website at www.jgrmx.com.

For more information on Millbridge Speedway, visit www.millbridgespeedway.com.

-51 Sports Press Release

2017 Friday Night Flat Kart

Millbridge Speedway will be running 12 Friday Night Flat Kart races in 2017.  We will follow NKA Rules and our full rulebook is posted on the website.  Below is a list of classes that we will start the 2017 season with.  Each class will be on “probation” for the first 3 events of the year.  If a class does not average 5 or more karts per race we will not continue running that particular class the remainder of the season.  At Millbridge we DO NOT wait on anyone at the starting grid.  If your class is ready to roll out you will be left.

Gates will open at 4pm Hot Laps at 6:30 Qualifying at 7:30. If we do not get done the first night at a decent time we will make changes to our format so we all leave at a decent.

We are extremely excited to add this program to our schedule for 2017 and look forward to giving the flat karts a new home on Friday nights.  ALL Classes will be open tire rule with the exception of NO VEGA tires allowed.  There will be more class announcements soon as well.

Clone Lite, Clone Medium, Clone Heavy, Clone 425 (2 classes), Predator Lite, Predator Heavy, JR1, JR2, JR3, Peewee Champ 410 and Champ 425.

Clone Heavy and Predator Heavy will be $200 to win guaranteed every week (If we get enough karts this will go up weekly).  All other classes will be 100% payback.  There will be money added to random classes throughout the year as well.  We are also working on a few bigger paying races as well and those details will be release soon.  Opening Night March 24^th will be $500 to win Clone Heavy and $200 to win JR3.

Checkered Flag will be providing a parts trailer at each of our events.  So, if you need any parts be sure to check them out.  Also Thanks to Nitro Karting for helping us make this happen!