Mike Chase

Mike Chase
Born (1952-04-17) April 17, 1952 (age 72)
Redding, California
Achievements1994 NASCAR Winston West Series Champion
1987 NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour Champion
Awards1990 Winston West Series Rookie of the Year
West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame (2010)
NASCAR Cup Series career
13 races run over 5 years
Best finish47th (1991)
First race1990 Banquet Frozen Foods 300 (Sonoma)
Last race1994 Slick 50 500 (Phoenix)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
4 races run over 2 years
Best finish89th (2001)
First race1986 Gatorade 200 (Darlington)
Last race2001 NAPA Autocare 250 (Pikes Peak)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
15 races run over 2 years
Best finish30th (1995)
First race1995 Pizza Plus 150 (Bristol)
Last race1996 Carquest 420K (Las Vegas)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0

Mike Chase (born April 17, 1952) is an American former stock car racing driver. Winner of the 1994 series championship in the NASCAR Winston West Series, he has also competed in the Winston Cup Series, Busch Series, and Craftsman Truck Series and currently works for Penske Racing as a crewman.

Personal life

Born in Redding, California, Chase moved to the Charlotte, North Carolina area in 1993 to further his racing career.[1]

Early career

Growing up competing at Shasta Speedway in his native California, Chase began competing in NASCAR touring series in the mid-1980s, winning the 1987 championship in the Featherlite Southwest Tour;[2] Chase also made his debut in the Busch Series in 1986 at Darlington Raceway, finishing 32nd.[3]

Chase moved up to the Winston West Series in 1990 where he won Rookie of the Year.[4] In 1991 he made his debut in the Winston Cup Series, competing in a combination race at Sears Point Raceway; he finished 25th in the event. Chase would run selected races in Winston Cup over the next few years, in addition to selected Winston West events; his best finish in Cup came at Michigan International Speedway in 1990 where he finished 24th.[5]

In addition to his racing career, in the early 1990s Chase worked as the head of stock car racing for A. J. Foyt Enterprises; he planned to attempt to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 on two occasions with the team, but was not approved by USAC for competition.[1][6]

Brickyard and Trucks

In 1994, Chase qualified for the 1994 Brickyard 400, the inaugural stock car race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The event, although on the Winston Cup Series schedule, was a combination race between Cup and the Winston West Series;[1] despite running too slow to make the field for the race on time, Chase started 43rd in the event due to being eligible for a provisional starting spot as the then-current Winston West Series points leader.[7] He came into the event with car #50 but another #50 car made the race in A. J. Foyt and Chase switched to #58 for the race. He finished 42nd in the race, being involved in an accident after completing 91 of the race's 160 laps.[1]

Chase would go on to win the 1994 Winston West series championship,[8] winning five times over the course of the season.[9][N 1] Chase moved to the Winston Cup Series in 1995, intending to run full-time for Rookie of the Year in the No. 32 Active Racing Chevrolet; however, after failing to qualify for the first race of the season, the Daytona 500,[10] Chase was released by team owner Dean Myers and replaced by Jimmy Hensley.[8]

Chase returned part-time to the West Series for the remainder of 1995, winning twice, as well as running eight races in the SuperTruck Series, making his first race in the series at Bristol Motor Speedway for Chesrown Racing, where he finished 27th;[11] later that year he replaced P. J. Jones in the No. 1 DieHard Chevrolet for team owner Scoop Vessels,[12] posting a best finish of 16th in seven races.[11]

In 1996, Chase returned to the renamed Craftsman Truck Series, driving for Steve Sellers Racing; driving in seven events for the team, he posted a best finish of 13th at Portland Speedway.[13] Chase would run selected races in the Winston West Series in 1998, before returning to the series for a full season in 1999 with Green Light Racing; he failed to win a race but finished seventh in points.[14]

Chase would run three races in the Nationwide Series for ST Motorsports in 2001,[15] with a best finish of 27th; these would be his final races in NASCAR competition.[3]

After racing

After retiring from competition, Chase worked for several race teams, including Wood Brothers Racing; he currently works for Penske Racing as a fabricator.[1] Chase has also worked as a crew chief in the Nationwide Series.[16]

Chase was inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2010.[17]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 NWCC Pts Ref
1990 Freymiller Racing 23 Buick DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON
25 		POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN PHO
39 		ATL 57th 230 [18]
Tri-Star Motorsports 68 Pontiac MCH
24 		BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR
1991 Freymiller Racing 23 Ford DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON
40 		POC MCH 47th 356 [19]
A. J. Foyt Enterprises 14 Olds DAY
33 		POC TAL
25 		GLN MCH
29 		BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR
Chevy PHO
26 		ATL
1992 Kaylan Young Racing 60 Pontiac DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON
35 		POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 84th 58 [20]
1993 JTC Racing 50 Chevy DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO
39 		ATL 87th 46 [21]
1994 DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON
31 		CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL PHO
31 		ATL 56th 177 [22]
58 IND
42 		GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR
1995 Active Racing 32 Chevy DAY
DNQ 		CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL NA - [23]

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 NBSC Pts Ref
1986 Clark Racing 06 Pontiac DAY CAR HCY MAR BRI DAR SBO LGY JFC DOV CLT SBO HCY OCS IRP SBO RAL OXF SBO HCY LGY OCS BRI DAR
32 		RCH DOV MAR OCS CLT CAR MAR 124th 67 [24]
2001 ST Motorsports 91 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL
43 		RCH NHA NZH CLT DOV KEN MLW GLN CHI 89th 161 [25]
59 GTY
27 		PPR
28 		IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CHA MEM PHO CAR HOM
2002 DAY CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX NSH
QL† 		TAL CAL RCH NHA NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI GTY PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL CAR PHO HOM N/A N/A [26]
† - Qualified for Stacy Compton

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 NCTC Pts Ref
1995 Chesrown Racing 62 Chevy PHO TUS SGS MMR POR EVG I70 LVL BRI
27 		MLW CNS HPT IRP 30th 767 [27]
Vestar Motorsports 1 Chevy FLM
24 		RCH
28 		MAR
18 		NWS
19 		SON
19 		MMR
28 		PHO
16
1996 Steve Sellers Racing 78 Ford HOM
DNQ 		PHO
29 		POR
13 		EVG
19 		TUS CNS
13 		HPT
33 		BRI
30 		NZH MLW LVL I70 IRP FLM GLN NSV RCH NHA MAR NWS SON MMR PHO LVS
26 		35th 692 [28]

References

Notes
  1. ^ The total of five wins includes Chase's 42nd place finish at the Brickyard 400; as the highest-finishing (and only) Winston West Series driver in the field for the combination race, he was credited with a victory in the West Series.[9]
Citations
  1. ^ a b c d e Shaffer, Jan (July 24, 2010). "Where Are They Now? Mike Chase". Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  2. ^ Glick, Shav (November 3, 1988). "Phoenix Takes Riverside Date for Stock Cars". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, CA. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  3. ^ a b "Mike Chase - NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  4. ^ "Mike Chase places first in Winston". The Dispatch. Lexington, NC. July 1, 1991. p. 2A. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  5. ^ "Mike Chase - NASCAR Sprint Cup Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  6. ^ "Mike Chase". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  7. ^ Smethers, Jimmy (August 6, 1994). "Grissom misses field by only .137 of a second". The Gadsden Times. Gadsden, AL. p. D4. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  8. ^ a b "Record puts Gordon on Rockingham pole". The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte, NC. February 25, 1995. p. 1B. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  9. ^ a b "Mike Chase - 1994 NASCAR Winston West Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  10. ^ "1995 Sprint Cup Series Results". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
  11. ^ a b "Mike Chase - 1995 NASCAR SuperTruck Series by Craftsman Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  12. ^ Fox, John Jay (August 18, 1995). "Trucker Can't Wait to Begin His Chase at Flemington". The Morning Call. Allentown, CA. p. C1. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  13. ^ "Mike Chase - 1996 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  14. ^ "Bobby Dotter Teams Up With Green Light Racing". RacingWest. March 13, 2000. Archived from the original on January 4, 2015. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  15. ^ "Rick Bickle gets benched". The Daily Union. Junction City, KS. July 20, 2001. p. 16. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  16. ^ "Mike Chase - Crew chief stats". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  17. ^ "Eleven Set For Induction Into West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame". West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  18. ^ "Mike Chase – 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  19. ^ "Mike Chase – 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  20. ^ "Mike Chase – 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  21. ^ "Mike Chase – 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  22. ^ "Mike Chase – 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  23. ^ "Mike Chase – 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  24. ^ "Mike Chase – 1986 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  25. ^ "Mike Chase – 2001 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  26. ^ "Mike Chase – 2002 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  27. ^ "Mike Chase – 1995 NASCAR SuperTruck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  28. ^ "Mike Chase – 1996 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
Sporting positions
Preceded by NASCAR Winston West Series champion
1994 		Succeeded by
Preceded by NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour Champion
1987 		Succeeded by