Chase Austin spent most of his childhood weekends playing at dirt tracks in the Midwest while his father raced. At the early age of eight, he had dreams of being behind the wheel of a race car.
With that big dream at such a young age, he took his first green flag in a worn out little go-kart that he built with his father, who inspired his love of racing. After posting a record number of wins in his second season in a go-kart, at only nine-years-old, Chase became the focus of his family's racing activities. It was then that his father retired and packed away his driving suit to help Chase fulfill his own dreams.
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 Nationwide and Cup stock cars.
At 13 years old, Chase amazed the racing industry by winning races 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 some of the top American teenage drivers of his time. By age 15, Chase had collected more than 100 wins and won in almost every type of car. In the process, he captured several Championships and Rookie of the Year honors.
Chase Austin became part of Hendrick Motorsports' driver development program in 2005 by entering a full-time season of competition in the American Speed Association Late Model Series with Hendrick ally SS Racing. In his rookie season with Hendrick, Chase earned two wins, one top-five and six top-10 finishes, along with a pole award and "fast time" award. Due to the tragic plane crash which took the lives of those involved with Driver Development at Hendrick Motorsports, Chase lost good friends as well as his opportunity to continue racing at Hendrick Motorsports.
2006 was challenging, but Chase went back to his roots, where he served as both driver and crew chief for his family-owned team. It was a character-building year for him, and he advanced in his technical skills as well. At only 16, he was responsible for the set-up, maintenance, and driving duties for several dirt and asphalt cars. At the same time, Chase maintained a full-time high school curriculum. He didn't have significant funding and attained little experience, but aside from those odds, he posted an impressive three wins, six top-fives, and eight top-10s in 23 completed races on both dirt and asphalt tracks. In his first-ever USAR Pro Cup race, Chase was awarded the "Hard Charger Award" for coming from behind and gaining 19 positions.
2007 was yet another year of transition for Chase; he joined Rusty Wallace Inc. (RWI). Rusty Wallace, a driver with 55 of his own premier series wins under his belt, knows first hand what it takes to be a successful race car driver. Rusty, his son, Stephen Wallace, and Crew Chief Steve Darne, have personally coached Chase at racing events and have been instrumental in guiding Chase toward success.
In 2007, Chase got a taste of NASCAR when he competed in 11 NASCAR Grand National Busch East races, giving him an opportunity to race on NASCAR sanctioned tracks. He drove the No. 64 HomeLife Communities Dodge for Rusty Wallace in the Nationwide Series. Chase posted four top-10 finishes, with best finish of sixth place at the Dover Monster Mile, one of the most competitive tracks in NASCAR. Chase also made his debut in the ARCA series in 2007.
Chase is set to run in 15 Nationwide series races for RWI driving the No. 64 Atreus Homes Chevrolet in 2008, as well as compete in a number of ARCA races. Thanks to RWI and HomeLife Communities, the life long dreams of a little boy in the worn out go-kart, finally came true.
