Chase Austin

Nationwide Series

Chase Austin spent most of his childhood weekends playing at dirt tracks in the Midwest while his father raced. He took his first green flag at the age of eight in a worn out little go-kart pieced together by a father and son who shared a love of racing. After posting a record number of wins his second season in a go-kart, Chase became the focus of the families racing endeavors and Dad “retired his driving suit.” Chase worked his way up from go-karts to micro sprints, then to full size sprint cars, dirt modifieds, super dirt late models, and finally to asphalt late models and Busch and Cup type cars.

Chase amazed the racing industry by winning races as a thirteen year old in a 750 horsepower super dirt late model. He topped off his dirt late model career by winning the "Future Dirt Track World Championship," racing against a dozen of the country's top teenage drivers. By age fifteen Chase had amassed more than 100 feature wins. He won races in almost every type of car he has driven, and captured several Points Championships and Rookie of the Year honors in the process.

Hendrick Motorsports signed Chase Austin to a Driver Development agreement in late 2004. In his rookie season on pavement, Chase earned two wins, one top five and six top ten finishes along with a pole award and a fast time award. Chase lost good friends, as well as the Hendrick opportunity, due to the tragic plane crash which took the lives of those involved with Driver Development at Hendrick Motorsports.

2006 was a challenging, character-building year for Chase. His technical competency grew immeasurably as he served as both driver and crew chief for his family-owned team. As a sixteen year old, he was responsible for the set-up, maintenance and driving duties for several dirt and asphalt cars, while maintaining a full-time high school curriculum. With limited funding and little previous chassis set-up experience, Chase posted an impressive three wins, six top fives and eight top tens in twenty-three completed races on both dirt and asphalt. He also won the "Hard Charger Award" for gaining nineteen positions in his first-ever USAR Pro Cup race.

Chase joined Rusty Wallace Inc. (RWI) in 2007. He competed in eleven NASCAR Grand National Busch East races and made his debut in the ARCA and NASCAR Busch series. The Busch East series gave Chase an opportunity to race on NASCAR sanctioned tracks against the best up and coming NASCAR developmental drivers as well as Busch East veterans. Chase posted four top ten finishes, with best finish of sixth place at one of the most difficult tracks in NASCAR, the Dover Monster Mile.

Chase is very grateful for the support of primary RWI sponsor, HomeLife Communities. HomeLife is a third-generation; family-run business offering homeowners top quality homes in four major metropolitan U.S. cities. HomeLife Communities has constructed over 10,000 beautiful new homes and takes pride in customer satisfaction and the 10 year structural warranty on each and every home they build. HomeLife Communities has been honored with the very first Platinum Award ever given in the U.S. by the 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty Corporation for construction and customer service excellence. Also, HomeLife has received 2-10's "Quality Award for Excellence" each of the past 7 years! All of these awards illustrate how well HomeLife Communities is achieving its stated mission: "To provide top quality construction at the most affordable pricing in each and every market we serve."

With fifty-five premier series wins under his belt, Rusty Wallace knows first hand what it takes to be successful on the race track. Both Rusty and his son, up and coming NASCAR Busch driver, Stephen Wallace, have personally coached Chase at racing events. Rusty, Stephen, Crew Chief Steve Darne, and the entire RWI team have been instrumental in leading Chase toward success. Chase is extremely grateful for the support, encouragement and commitment he has received from RWI.

Chase is slated to run fifteen non-companion NASCAR Busch series races along with a number of ARCA races during the 2008 season. Thanks to RWI and HomeLife Communities, the dreams of that eight year old little boy in the worn out go-kart will finally come true.