Ex-NASCAR Champion & Motorsports Hall of Famer’s Death Leaves Racing World Mourning

In 2010, Brad Keselowski was seeing a shift in his career when he signed a multi-year deal with Penske Racing after spending a lot of time in JR Motorsports’ No. 88 car. Shortly after, he made his debut in both the Cup and Xfinity Series. And how he came out swinging in Xfinity—six wins, 29 top-10 finishes, and a NASCAR title. That’s what you call a statement season. But while Brad was taking the checkered flag and holding trophies, one man was in the garage, building his Nationwide car piece by piece.

While the NASCAR world cheered on for Keselowski, the guy in the shadows, turning wrenches and perfecting the build, would eventually miss his own California Hall of Fame induction ceremony the same year. All for the simple reason that Mike Chase had to stay at Daytona, making sure Keselowski’s car was perfect. “I hope I’m at Penske until I decide I don’t want to do it anymore,” he once said. A racer at heart who grew up scraping dirt off his father’s super modified car in a small town called Redding, Cal. that had no more than a population of 30,000, a builder by trade, and a man who always put the team above anything else.

It wasn’t until 1994 when Chase won the Winston West Series title—his first NASCAR Championship. It earned him a shot at the inaugural Brickyard 400, but as fate would have it, he was late for the qualifier. And had he not been the points leader in the West, he would’ve never gotten a provisional start until he had to give that up too for his boss, A. J. Foyt. That meant Chase got relegated from No. 50 to No. 58, meaning he had to start at the rear. But he didn’t complain. “Me missing the show allowed Foyt to get in,” plain and simple. He finished P42 after a crash on Lap 91, he never forgot what it felt like to walk onto pit road in a driver’s suit. “It gives you chills,” he said later. Tells you enough about the kind of man Mike Chase was.

On April 18, just one day after his 73rd birthday, Mike Chase passed away. The West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame paid a heartwarming tribute to the legendary driver and fabricator. A statement from the West Coast Car HoF read, “The West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame and the racing community mourn the passing of 2010 inductee Mike Chase. He died April 18 at age 73, following a lengthy illness.

“Chase, a native of Redding, California, won two NASCAR championships, the Southwest Tour in 1997 and the West Series in 1994. He also competed in all three national series and was a shock specialist for number of Cup Series teams. Services are pending.”

Even though Mike’s NASCAR career did not take off after his two major wins in 1994 and 1997, his story was never about how far he would go rather how far he came. From scraping dirt off his dad’s supermodified to standing on the starting grid at the Brickyard. “To come from Redding, Calif., and get to do what I have done is pretty fortunate,” he once said. Notably, Chase also had two chances to qualify for the Indy 500 with Foyt’s team, but USAC denied him approval.

But that doesn’t end his story. When full-time driving ended, Mike didn’t leave the sport. He became a crewman and technician, working for Foyt, the Wood Brothers, and finally, Team Penske. He supervised shock technology, worked on Cup and Xfinity cars, and earned deep respect across the industry.

A month of loss for NASCAR!

Mike Chase’s death is part of a heartbreaking pattern. April 2025 has been one of the toughest months in recent memory for NASCAR. Just days before Chase passed, the sport lost Shigeaki Hattori. The former driver and team owner died in a car accident on April 5 near Huntersville, North Carolina. Hattori, who led Hattori Racing Enterprises to a Truck Series championship in 2018, was only 61.

Top Comment by Dale Clough

how far into this until you got to Mike Chase, the point of the article??!! Good grief that’s some...more

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He had become a symbol of perseverance and international influence in stock car racing. Then, on April 10, NASCAR lost two more legends. Jon Edwards, the longtime PR director for Hendrick Motorsports, passed away at just 53. He played a key role in shaping the careers of Jeff Gordon and Kyle Larson, managing the media side with precision and professionalism.

That same day, veteran motorsports journalist Al Pearce died at 82. Pearce covered NASCAR for decades and became one of its most trusted voices. His reporting helped shape how fans saw the sport. These losses leave a huge void. Not just in terms of talent and experience, but in heart. These were people who loved the sport, helped it grow, and gave it everything. Each of them—Chase, Hattori, Edwards, Pearce—left a unique mark on NASCAR.