Millbridge Champ Cline Going Xtreme Midget Racing

Trevor Cline will race national midgets with the Xtreme Outlaw Series this year. (Jacy Norgaard photo)

CONCORD, N.C. – Trevor Cline’s roots will grow beyond Millbridge Speedway this year, as the micro sprint champion will join the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota full time.

The 16-year-old native of Mooresville, N.C., will trade in his micro experience and take his family-owned, Bellwood Auto Body-backed, Spike/Stanton No. 55 on the road with the Xtreme Outlaw Series in his first venture on a national midget tour.

“We’ve learned a lot through Millbridge and racing with all the guys; a lot of the national midget guys run there all time,” Cline said. “I’ve already been able to race a bunch of them, and I know what to expect going into the year.”

Cline, along with his father and brother, make up one of the few teams coming from the East Coast to race at the national level this year, which was a big factor in their decision to chase the Xtreme Outlaw Series schedule.

“I feel like that the best option was to go with the Xtreme [Outlaw Series], just for how many races they run, all the two-day shows, and it makes it worth our time with how far we’ve got to drive,” Cline said.

Cline has raced at Millbridge, in Salisbury, N.C. – where the Xtreme Outlaw Series ran its inaugural event in 2022 – for eight seasons, competing in several of the track’s weekly divisions before his climb to the top of the 600cc non-winged micro sprint ranks.

He logged one of the best seasons of his career at Millbridge last year, collecting two wins and the most top-five and top-10 finishes of any driver en route to his second Millbridge micro sprint championship.

Cline will take that accolade with him when the series visits the track for the third annual DIAEDGE Double Down Showdown, May 21-22, aiming for his first career midget win.

“Millbridge is pretty early on in the season; I think that’ll be our best shot,” Cline said. “I’ve got more laps there than probably anybody there in a micro. I’ve ran almost all the midget races we’ve run there.”

Cline made his midget debut with the Xtreme Outlaw Series last year inside the Southern Illinois Center, counting for two of his 11 total starts with the tour. His best finish was eighth on two occasions – first at Paragon Speedway in Indiana and again two weeks later at Highland Speedway in Illinois.

He’s got higher goals for his second season in the midget but is keeping it realistic for his first year on a national tour.

“Obviously, everybody wants to get out there and win, but [it’s] our first year, and I don’t have many races in a midget,” Cline said. “I think we’ll be pretty good just with all my experience coming up from the micro ranks. I don’t think we’re going go out there and win a national championship, but I think we can compete for wins, [good finishes], and hopefully be pretty good.”

Cline begins his first venture on the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota with the season opener, March 15-16 inside the Southern Illinois Center in DuQuoin, Ill. Tickets for both days will be available at the gate.

For fans unable to watch the track, every lap can be streamed live on DIRTvision.