Two-time Carteret County Speedway champion Chris Burns will make his Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour debut on Saturday night in the Solid Rock Carriers 125 – and Burns has high hopes and expectations.
Burns, 28, from Swansboro, North Carolina, won the Late Model division championship at Bobby Watson’s Carteret County Speedway in 2016 and again in 2019. Since then, he has competed in the Super Truck division with a best finish of second. Now, he’s looking forward to getting back in a Late Model in a deal that came together this week.
“I’m very excited for our first CARS Tour race,” Burns said. “We have wanted to do this for the past couple years but couldn’t ever put the deal together. Thanks to Mark Wertz for loaning us an engine and all of our sponsors, we were finally able to make it happen.”
Burns is one of three former speedway champions competing in Saturday night’s Solid Rock Carriers 125, joining 2017 track champion Tyler Matthews and 2018 track champion Brandon Clements. A win on Saturday would be a meaningful one for Burns in front of the hometown fans.
“I would love to come out with a win this weekend,” Burns stated. “That would mean so much to our little team considering we haven’t ran this car at all since last year. However, if we can come out of here with a top-five, that would be great as well.”
The deal to run this race started to come together late last week with a Facebook post. With the help of a few dedicated sponsors and his team at his Swansboro shop, he was able to get the car ready to race.
“A few people stepped up and got the ball rolling and here we are,” Burns said.
Saturday’s race will be Burns’ first in the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour and his first in a Late Model since November 2019 when he clinched the track championship. Burns has eight career Late Model wins at Carteret County, tied with Brandon Clements for the most Late Model wins, and has also won in a Street Stock.
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