After finishing 14th in the No. 71k Keith Kunz Motorsports midget during his Chili Bowl Nationals debut, Kale Drake will spend the year working and racing with the famed dirt track team.
The Oklahoma native has relocated near KKM headquarters in Taylorsville, Ind., to continue chasing the dream that’s unfolded over the last several months.
While Drake’s primary role will be on the crew, working on the micro sprint side of the KKM operation where he’s most knowledgeable, the 18-year-old is also hoping to make a few starts behind the wheel.
“When I went to Keith (Kunz), I said, ‘Obviously I don’t want to give up on racing. I feel like I’m good enough to stay behind the wheel and win races with the right people,’” Drake said.
As of now, he’s planning to run a few of the KKM Challenge races in one of Kunz’ micro sprints, starting with the $10,000-to-win opener in California on March 20-23.
There are seven races on the KKM Challenges calendar.
“I don’t have too many races on the schedule other than those, but hey, those are all across the country and you know, getting out here and making my name known is really what I’m trying to do and working at,” Drake said.
His journey with Kunz and crew ironically started at the KKM Giveback Classic last October at Oklahoma’s Port City Raceway, where Drake drove from 15th to second in the 67-lap race.
His performance indirectly earned him a ride to the Chili Bowl Nationals with Kunz, who was present at Port City to witness his charge to the front.
Following Drake’s impressive showing at Port City, he did a tune-up race with KKM at USAC’s Turkey Night Grand Prix in November. In only the third national midget start, Drake raced in the top three until a few problems interrupted his run.
In January, Drake recorded a 14th-place result in the renowned A main at the Chili Bowl during his first appearance at the indoor midget race. He was named rookie of the year for his outstanding effort.
The stout finish directly influenced Kunz to open another door for the youngster.
“After we posed that result, I felt like I was really capable of taking (the next) step,” Drake said. “About a week and a half after the Chili Bowl, I gave (Keith) a call and I was like, ‘I really want to make this happen and I wanna make this dream become reality.
“’I’ll work however hard I need to in order to make it happen. Like just tell me what I need to do and I’ll get it done.’”
Kunz had a quick response.
“He basically said, ‘I’d love to have you working with me and work by my side for the year. If you can let me know when you can get up here, the sooner the better,’” Drake recalled.
With Kunz’s stamp of approval, Drake gave his two months notice to his previous micro sprint car owner, Scott Rueschenberg, as well as the boss he worked for in Arizona, hanging garage doors.
Drake headed to Indiana on March 1, where he spent his first day in the KKM shop mounting tires. According to him, it’s been a smooth adjustment so far.
In a little over a week, Drake will hit the road with KKM and heading to the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series season opener at Southern Illinois Center in DuQuoin, Ill. He won’t be racing, but will be on the crew to help with the team’s multiple entries.
Drake noted that Kunz has promised to give him a few opportunities to hop in a midget and run a few USAC races, starting with the Kokomo Grand Prix in late April.
The number of midget races Drake will run will likely depend on what sponsorship he can accrue, but the 18-year-old is determined to work hard to take advantage of his situation.
“I’ve had really high expectations throughout the end of the year and really been working on trying to take the next step into making racing my full-time career and kind of stepping back from working in the ‘outside world’ to try and make this dream a reality,” Drake said. “I love working in the shop just as much as I love racing, so as long as I can make myself useful in putting in the extra work, I’m gonna keep doing that.”