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 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 moved up to the Winston West Series in 1990 where he won Rookie of the Year. 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.

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 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 Nationwide 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 Pts Ref 1990 Freymiller Racing 23 Buick DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON25 POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN PHO39 ATL 57th 230 Tri-Star Motorsports 68 Pontiac MCH24 BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR 1991 Freymiller Racing 23 Ford DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON40 POC MCH 47th 356 A. J. Foyt Enterprises 14 Olds DAY33 POC TAL25 GLN MCH29 BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR Chevy PHO26 ATL 1992 Kaylan Young Racing 60 Pontiac DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON35 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 PHO39 ATL 87th 46 1994 DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON31 CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL PHO31 ATL 56th 177 58 IND42 GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR 1995 Active Racing 32 Chevy DAYDNQ 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 -

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 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 DAR32 RCH DOV MAR OCS CLT CAR MAR 124th 67 2001 ST Motorsports 91 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL43 RCH NHA NZH CLT DOV KEN MLW GLN CHI 89th 161 59 GTY27 PPR28 IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CHA MEM PHO CAR HOM 2002 DAY CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX NSHQL† 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 † - 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 Pts Ref 1995 Chesrown Racing 62 Chevy PHO TUS SGS MMR POR EVG I70 LVL BRI27 MLW CNS HPT IRP 30th 767 Vestar Motorsports 1 Chevy FLM24 RCH28 MAR18 NWS19 SON19 MMR28 PHO16 1996 Steve Sellers Racing 78 Ford HOMDNQ PHO29 POR13 EVG19 TUS CNS13 HPT33BRI30 NZH MLW LVL I70 IRP FLM GLN NSV RCH NHA MAR NWS SON MMR PHO LVS26 35th 692

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