- Chase Austin
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Chase Austin 
Born October 3, 1989 NASCAR Nationwide Series career 6 races run over 3 years 2010 position 135th Best finish 89th - 2009 First race 2007 Sam's Town 250 (Memphis) Last race 2010 Carfax 250 (Michigan) Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career 3 races run over 2 years 2010 position 118th Best finish 63rd - 2009 First race 2009 NextEra Energy Resources 250 (Daytona) Last race 2010 VFW 200 (Michigan) Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0 Statistics current as of November 19, 2011. Chase Austin (born October 3, 1989) is an American racecar driver. He is a former development driver with Hendrick Motorsports and Rusty Wallace Racing. He is currently a part-time driver in the INDYCAR Firestone Indy Lights series.
Contents
Background
Austin started racing when he was 8,in an old worn out go kart he built with his Dad. He earned over 60 wins while racing karts in the late 1990s to early 2000s.[1] In 2001, he raced in micro sprint cars and won 16 features in two years.[1] Then he moved up to full size sprint cars, dirt track racing modifieds, and late models on dirt and asphalt.[1] While competing in the Kansas area, he won over 100 features in karts, sprint cars and stock cars.[1] He won the "Future Dirt Track World Championship", a dirt late model race for around a dozen of the United State's top teenaged drivers.[2]
NASCAR career
In late 2004, at age 14, he signed a driver development deal with Hendrick Motorsports.[1] Hendrick assigned him to race for the team's ally SS Racing in the ASA Late Model Series.[1]
In 2005, he won two races, with one top five, six top ten finishes and a pole position.[2]
Hendrick dissolved its driver development program in 2006.[3] Originally backed by the new STAR Motorsports team, the deal fell through after STAR failed to fulfill its financial obligations. His family was given a race shop and car parts, so they used the parts to race in numerous series. While a 16 year old in high school, Austin was the driver and crew chief for the family effort. He raced in 23 events in the season, with 3 wins, six Top fives, and eight Top tens.[2] He competed on dirt and asphalt. He competed in his first USAR Hooters Procup Series race.[2]
He made one start at the 2007 Sam's Town 250 at Memphis Motorsports Park for RWI, finishing 41st after crashing out.[4] In that start, he became the first African American driver to start in a NASCAR Busch Series (then the name of the Nationwide Series) oval track race, and the second African American driver to start in the series' history.[5] He started in eleven NASCAR Grand National Division, Busch East Series races, with four top ten finishes.[2] He had his first start in ARCA that season. He was scheduled to run 15 races for RWI in the Nationwide Series in 2008, but those plans were postponed. He left the team later in the season. He was announced as the driver of the #32 Trail Motorsport Chevrolet Silverado for Camping World Truck Series team in 2009, but the team closed very early in the season. During the Nationwide Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 21, 2009, he crashed heavily with Kyle Busch and Reed Sorenson while dropping down the track following a punctured tire.
He ran a NASCAR Camping World Truck and Nationwide race in 2010 for the newly formed United Racing Group with sponsorship from Walgreens and Forgotton Harvest.
Indy Lights
When unable to find a ride in NASCAR in 2011, Austin signed on with African-American former IndyCar driver Willy T. Ribbs in association with Brooks Associates Racing to make his Firestone Indy Lights debut in the Firestone Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Personal life
Austin is the son of an African American father and a Caucasian mother.[3] He lives in Mooresville, North Carolina.
References
- ^ a b c d e f Hendrick Motorsports Signs Chase Austin, Hendrick Motorsports, October 6, 2004; Retrieved December 11, 2007
- ^ a b c d e Chase Austin: Driver Profile and History, Chase Austin Official website, Retrieved December 11, 2007
- ^ a b At 16, driver at diversity crossroad, St. Petersburg Times; June 17, 2006, Brant James; Retrieved December 11, 2007
- ^ NASCAR statistics, Retrieved December 10, 2007
- ^ Chase Austin and Rusty Wallace Racing make history at Memphis, October 27, 2007, Retrieved December 11, 2007
Categories:- 1989 births
- African American automobile racing people
- Living people
- NASCAR drivers
- People from Douglas County, Kansas
- Indy Lights drivers
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