SALISBURY, N.C. — Report and photo by Race Chaser Online Senior Editor Tom Baker — Audio by Tom Baker and Kyle Magda —
For most of the year, Millbridge Speedway is a neat little dirt track nestled quietly between Mooresville and Salisbury, just north of Charlotte, N.C.
However, on Wednesday nights and some Saturdays, the track plays host to mini-outlaw racing, a scaled down version of a World of Outlaws sprint car with almost identical horsepower to weight ratio (in the Open division).
You never know who you’ll see at Millbridge, racing or watching. So far this season, Kenny Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse and Kyle Larson have been among the NASCAR stars who’ve turned laps on the tight little oval. Joe Gibbs, Austin Dillon, Trevor Bayne and many more have been seen walking around, enjoying the action.
Once a year, the neat little dirt track becomes a small city in itself as several thousand people converge for what this year is the second annual QRC Speed Sport Challenge Presented by JGRMX, a pressure cooker of a race dreamed up by our media colleagues at National Speed Sport News.
Last year’s first attempt was so successful that this year the car count was nearly double that of the inaugural running and drivers from across the nation and Canada have traveled in to compete.
A total of 78 open division racers took time Tuesday night.
Due to the car count, the program was expanded to a two-day show for this year. Tuesday night’s qualifying session for the Open division was divided, for scoring purposes, into two groups, with two cars going on the track at a time for a two-lap time trial.
Because World of Outlaw sprint car racers Shane Stewart and Paul McMahan and others were not going to be able to attend Tuesday’s qualifying, others were allowed to qualify their machines for them as a courtesy.
Other national racing stars racing this year include Tanner Thorson, Rico Abreu, Chase Briscoe, Max McLaughlin (son of “Magic Shoes” Mike McLaughlin) Nick Hoffman and last year’s winner Mike Wheeler.
Local racer and mini outlaw builder Kyle Beattie of Locust, N.C. had himself quite a successful evening. He time trialed teammate Nick Tucker’s No. 70 in group one and set fast time for that group. Then he took his own No. 21 Global-CFS Financing machine out in group two and not only set fast time for that group but he knocked out the only 10.1 second lap of the evening to be fast time overall.
NASCAR and open wheel star Kyle Larson also had a multi-car effort — fielding machines for himself, California’s Colby Copeland and Shane Stewart. Stewart was busy racing his World of Outlaw sprint car (along with McMahan) at New Egypt Speedway in New Jersey, so Larson timed Stewart’s No. 15 in fourth quickest overall and his own No. 1k in sixth overall.
Copeland, who attended last year’s event and was excited at the chance to come back and team with Larson, was third quickest.
Today’s Millbridge schedule will see gates opening at 3 p.m., with practice starting at 7 p.m. Only the open division will be in action tonight, with heats, 15-lap last chance qualifiers and the 30-lap A-Main.
Fans should be aware that after 5 p.m., parking will be at the fire department just up the road from the facility. Parking is free, and shuttle buses will be provided. Admission is $15 adults and $10 for kids.
For complete heat race lineups, along with track information, visit Millbridge Speedway’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MillbridgeRacin.
Audio with fast timer Kyle Beattie:
Audio with third-quick Colby Copeland:
Audio with 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year and sixth-quick Kyle Larson:
RESULTS: QRC SPEED SPORT Challenge; Open Division Qualifying; Millbridge Speedway; May 19, 2015
- 21B Beattie – 10.190
- 70 Tucker – 10.202
- 2C Copeland – 10.209
- 15S Stewart – 10.234
- Z8 McLaughlin – 10.246
- 1K Larson – 10.251
- 03S Smith – 10.255
- 19M Mitchell – 10.255
- 13J James – 10.287
- 1ST Surniak – 10.308
- 17M Millington – 10.328
- 2S Setters – 10.336
- 71W Welch – 10.402
- 88S Seavey – 10.404
- 16C Hagen – 10.414
- 88T Thorson – 10.447
- 7B Burnett – 10.465
- 81H Hoffman – 10.467
- 3E Elledge – 10.494
- 15G Gray – 10.505
- 51S Seavey – 10.509
- 08B Boutot – 10.517
- 57C Cofer – 10.525
- 21F Foster – 10.537
- 22D Deyarmon – 10.543
- 32B Boat – 10.553
- 38T Thackeray – 10.553
- 93C Coomes – 10.558
- 25W Wolfe – 10.563
- 51W Woodward – 10.570
- 19RFC Moberley – 10.583
- A51 Hays – 10.590
- 4D Desbiens – 10.593
- 1W Wheeler – 10.617
- 03J Ball – 10.621
- 83JR Carrick – 10.621
- 24X Briscoe – 10.629
- 98 Abreu – 10.649
- 1KT McMahan – 10.661
- 2Y Yeley – 10.674
- 96P Philips – 10.715
- 33 1/3 Brown – 10.717
- 34C Chesterman – 10.72
- 9G Goss – 10.723
- 47R Riggins – 10.736
- 6K Mahoney – 10.741
- 33B Brown – 10.761
- 33A Ashe – 10.764
- K11 Knudson – 10.767
- 7NY Allen – 10.769
- 4W Whitley – 10.773
- 6H Houston – 10.783
- 77H Hudson – 10.785
- 77H Huisenga – 10.787
- 62R Richards – 10.806
- 7B Barker – 10.819
- 8F Ferrell – 10.823
- 2K Knupp – 10.825
- 32T Tuckhorn – 10.827
- 86V Vardell – 10.835
- 77X Park – 10.841
- 3M McIntire – 10.856
- 16D Dees – 10.861
- 00 Benge – 10.879
- T1 Taylor – 10.887
- 9T Tuxhorn – 10.909
- 24S Siliker – 10.946
- 33S Mingus – 10.964
- 7M Miller – 10.997
- H22 Horn – 11.042
- 7C Chesterman – 11.047
- 62A Allison – 11.078
- 15C Smith – 11.083
- 20R Hilling – 11.187
- 76M Maynard – 11.199
- 21A Ashley – 11.255
- K98 Shano – 11.274
- 86J Colwell – 16.00