Mike Chase

Mike Chase
Born(1952-04-17)April 17, 1952
Redding, California, U.S.
DiedApril 18, 2025(2025-04-18) (aged 73)
Achievements1994 NASCAR Winston Transcontinental Series Champion
1987 NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour Champion
Awards1990 NASCAR 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 O'Reilly Auto Parts 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 FedEx Freight 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
ARCA Menards Series West career
71 races run over 14 years
Best finish1st (1994)
First race1975 Memorial 100 (Ascot Park)
Last race1999 NASCAR Coca-Cola 500 (Motegi)
First win1990 Spears Manufacturing 400 (Mesa Marin)
Last win1995 Carquest Auto Parts / AC Sparkplug 250 (Mesa Marin)
Wins Top tens Poles
10 38 3
Statistics up to date as of April 26, 2025.

Mike Chase (April 17, 1952 – April 18, 2025) was an American professional stock car racing driver. Winner of the 1994 series championship in the NASCAR Winston West Series, he also competed in the Winston Cup Series, Busch Series, and Craftsman Truck Series and worked for Penske Racing as a crewman.

Background

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

Chase died on April 18, 2025, at the age of 73.

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; Chase also made his debut in the Busch Series in 1986 at Darlington Raceway, finishing 32nd.

Chase ran full-time in the Winston West Series for the first time in 1990, where he won Rookie of the Year. This schedule included 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.

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.

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; 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. He came into the event with car No. 50 but another No. 50 car made the race in A. J. Foyt and Chase switched to No. 58 for the race. He finished 42nd in the race, being involved in an accident after completing 91 of the race's 160 laps.

Chase would go on to win the 1994 Winston West series championship, winning five times over the course of the season. 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, Chase was released by team owner Dean Myers and replaced by Jimmy Hensley.

Chase returned part-time to the West Series part-time 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; later that year he replaced P. J. Jones in the No. 1 DieHard Chevrolet for team owner Scoop Vessels, posting a best finish of sixteenth in seven races.

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 thirteenth at Portland Speedway. 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.

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

After racing

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

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

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
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
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
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
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
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 72nd 0

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
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
59 GTY
27		 PPR
28		 IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT 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 155th 0
† - 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
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

Winston West Series

NASCAR Winston West 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 NWWSC Pts Ref
1975 Kord Racing 94 Chevy RSD LAG MSP ASP
5		 RSD ASP USP POR EVG SMS CRS CSP ASP EVG YAK POR MSP ONT NA 70.25
1978 Hal Callentine 74 Chevy RSD AAS S99
4		 SHA
19		 PET MMR RSD IFS YAK WSP LSP EVG POR CRS ASP SON SHA CBS YAK OSS ONT PHO NA 79
1980 Kieper Racing 98 Pontiac RSD ONT S99 RSD LAG EVG POR SON MMR ONT PHO
15		 NA 36
1981 Unkown 21 Mercury RSD S99 AAS MMR
19		 RSD LAG POR WSP EVG SHA RSD SON RSD PHO 44th 32
1982 Chase Racing 29 Buick MMR
19		 S99 AAS RSD POR WSP SHA EVG SON CDR RSD RSD PHO NA NA
1986 Stoke Racing 99 Chevy SON RSD EVG
7		 RCS
10		 TAC PIR WSR
18		 RSD 21st 124
1990 Freymiller Racing 23 Buick MMR
20		 SON
25		 SGS
6		 POR
7		 EVG
4		 RAS
6		 TCR
2*		 MMR
1		 PHO
39		 3rd 1278
1991 EVG
1*		 MMR
1*		 SON
40		 SGS
13		 POR
1		 EVG
35		 SSS 9th 1172
A. J. Foyt Enterprises 14 Chevy MMR
13		 PHO
26
1992 Kaylan Young Racing 60 Pontiac MMR SGS SON
35		 SHA POR 18th 417
NorCal Motorsports 5 Ford EVG
14		 SSS CAJ TWS MMR
7		 PHO
1993 TWS MMR
6		 SGS SON TUS SHA EVG POR CBS SSS CAJ 21st 570
JTC Racing 50 Chevy TCR
2		 MMR
26		 PHO
39
1994 MMR
7		 TUS
1*		 SON
31		 SGS
2		 YAK
1		 MMR
1*		 POR
3		 CAJ
4		 TCR
1*		 LVS
17		 MMR
8		 PHO
31		 TUS
12*		 1st 2190
58 IND
42
1995 Steve Sellers Racing 77 Ford TUS MMR
11		 SON CNS
1*		 MMR
1		 POR
20		 SGS
12		 TUS
12		 AMP
2		 MAD POR LVS SON MMR PHO 14th 1027
1998 Green Light Racing 18 Chevy TUS LVS PHO CAL
5		 HPT MMR AMP POR CAL
5		 PPR EVG SON MMR LVS
29		 36th 391
1999 TUS
6		 LVS
6		 PHO
2		 CAL
5		 PPR
5		 MMR
19		 IRW
18		 EVG
9		 POR
3		 IRW
26		 RMR
16		 LVS
10		 MMR
20		 MOT
25		 7th 1838

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.
Citations
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Shaffer, Jan (July 24, 2010). "Where Are They Now? Mike Chase". Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  2. ↑ Shekher, Shubham (April 20, 2025). "Ex-NASCAR Champion & Motorsports Hall of Famer's Death Leaves Racing World Mourning". EssentiallySports.com. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  3. ↑ Glick, Shav (November 3, 1988). "Phoenix Takes Riverside Date for Stock Cars". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, CA. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Mike Chase - NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Mike Chase places first in Winston". The Dispatch. Lexington, NC. July 1, 1991. p. 2A. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Mike Chase - NASCAR Sprint Cup Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Mike Chase". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  8. ↑ Smethers, Jimmy (August 6, 1994). "Grissom misses field by only .137 of a second". The Gadsden Times. Gadsden, AL. p. D4. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  9. 1 2 "Record puts Gordon on Rockingham pole". The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte, NC. February 25, 1995. p. 1B. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  10. 1 2 "Mike Chase - 1994 NASCAR Winston West Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  11. ↑ "1995 Sprint Cup Series Results". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
  12. 1 2 "Mike Chase - 1995 NASCAR SuperTruck Series by Craftsman Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  13. ↑ Fox, John Jay (August 18, 1995). "Trucker Can't Wait to Begin His Chase at Flemington". The Morning Call. Allentown, CA. p. C1. Retrieved August 28, 2012.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  14. ↑ "Mike Chase - 1996 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  15. ↑ "Bobby Dotter Teams Up With Green Light Racing". RacingWest. March 13, 2000. Archived from the original on January 4, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  16. ↑ "Rick Bickle gets benched". The Daily Union. Junction City, KS. July 20, 2001. p. 16. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  17. ↑ "Mike Chase - Crew chief stats". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  18. ↑ "Eleven Set For Induction Into West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame". West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  19. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  21. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  22. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  23. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  24. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  25. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1986 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  26. ↑ "Mike Chase – 2001 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  27. ↑ "Mike Chase – 2002 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  28. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1995 NASCAR SuperTruck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  29. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1996 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  30. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1975 NASCAR Winston West Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
  31. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1978 NASCAR Winston West Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
  32. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1980 NASCAR Winston West Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
  33. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1981 NASCAR Winston West Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
  34. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1982 NASCAR Winston West Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
  35. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1986 NASCAR Winston West Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
  36. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1990 NASCAR Winston West Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
  37. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1991 NASCAR Winston West Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 11, 2026.
  38. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1992 NASCAR Winston West Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
  39. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1993 NASCAR Winston West Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
  40. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1994 NASCAR Winston West Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
  41. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1995 NASCAR Winston West Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
  42. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1998 NASCAR Winston West Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
  43. ↑ "Mike Chase – 1999 NASCAR Winston West Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 10, 2026.