SIGNATURE PROFILES
© 1999-2002 Dwight Drum

CHASE MONTGOMERY

ARCA RE/MAX Series driver Chase Montgomery, #27 Montgomery Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo

DWIGHT CHATS WITH…CHASE

With a name like Chase it would seem that genetic speed began years back at birth. At 18 this tender-foot is already a professional lead-foot in the ARCA RE/MAX Series with a fast future because he has learned to apply his abilities to a very hard track. Modern stock car racing has big thrills and chills for many reasons, but some are obvious. No job is secure and no skills are adequate to dominate wins. When racing works often for a driver the results are points, sponsors, world exposure and championships. The great ones prevail.

Chase Montgomery has much to prove, yet he has proven much. His driving and point position in the ARCA RE/MAX Series are already history in his rookie year. He has also been a fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House. Please welcome his crisp answers as I ask fast questions to this aspiring competitor. We are going to slow down the high speed for a few moments so you can get to know a little more about what's inside this skilled youth. Beyond that…watch him run, watch him chase.

"I hope the others look at me as a clean driver. I try to be honest and truthful to people. I want people to know me as an all-around good guy."

"I'm racing because this is what I enjoy. I'm not racing because I want to make money and get attention. That all comes with it. I'm doing it because I enjoy it. For me it's the enjoyment and the fun of it."

"A lot of people ask me who is my favorite driver. I can't answer that because all of the Winston Cup guys have made it to where I want to be. They're all in the position I want to be in. I look up to all of them."

"It seems like everything is falling into place and it's going in the right direction. I get to drive race cars every weekend and I get to work on them during the week. I can't complain."

"I guess it would be getting into a Winston Cup ride. That's where I want to be ultimately. I feel like I'd better take my time. I don't want to jump up there and move up before I'm ready and embarrass myself. We take these steps one at a time. I'm happy and I don't think I could be happier right now."

"Sometimes. This morning I did. When I think about it. I get this red light on my dash that stays on if I don't, so normally I do it to get the red light off. It's annoying. "

"Honesty. I can't stand lies. Truthful persons go a long way with me."

"If I wasn't driving, I'd like to hang bodies, be the general fabricator. I'm starting to believe I'm going to be a driver so that's my focus."

"Not much. I'm either racing or watching a race. I have remote control cars I play with every now and then."

"2002 Dodge Ram. I just bought it."

"Not much besides I like to go fast and some of the others don't. I apply what I know on the race track to the road like keeping your eyes open and paying attention to everything."

"Mentally, I'd like to be stronger. They say racing is 80% mental and 20% physical."

"I haven't been able to much this year. This is my first full season in the ARCA RE/MAX. Series. It's hit me how busy I can be with driving, interviews and working at the shop."

"I've grown a lot as a driver and I'm able to withstand the heat. If you wreck, your neck hurts the worse. You really work your upper arms a lot so that would be the area that hurts the worse."

"I tried basketball, football and baseball and couldn't get much out of that. I played soccer well so that's the only other thing I could do."

"All of the above. I just try to blow it off. I ignore it unless it's really something that's frustrating me. Most often I blow it off."

"The crew says I tend to get really quiet the day of the race. I start my focus when I wake up. I'm quiet and constantly thinking. I sit up in the lounge and think. Once I strap the helmet on so much is going through my head I can't recall half of it. Once the motor fires my mind gets moving too."

"Other than my dad wanting to maybe fire me after I wreck a race car. I've been fortunate in that I haven't had any wrecks so I really can't say I've had scary moments."

"I'm claustrophobic. I'm also afraid of heights. I don't understand how I can sit in a race car with a helmet and all that other stuff around me. My mind gets off of it once I fire the motor."

On a long van trip, I've got an XBox and a Play Station. I also sleep and that calms me down the most."

"Oh yeah. Before I raced Kentucky last year where we sat in the front row and finished fifth or sixth, for a week straight I'd dream about practice and racing at Kentucky. It seemed to pay off. I was dreaming about running in Daytona a couple of weeks ago."

"All around. I have a family that supports me. I couldn't ask for a better job. I'm doing what I enjoy. It seems like everything is going right. I'm grabbing it, and I'm going to run with it."

"The next step in my career."

"It seems like I notice it less and less every race. I remember my first practice my neck was hurting so bad after the race. I felt the car pulling my head to the side and I thought it was fast and, of course, it was a couple of seconds slower than I should have been. Some of the high-bank tracks you can feel it setting you down in the seat. It's remarkable how much you can feel. Fans don't think about that when they're watching the cars go around the track."

"We wrecked three times in practice this year. I learned from them when I got back on the track. I found my limits."

"My family supports me at every race they can be. My dad got this racing started and got me where I am today. My mom is not able to support me that way but she's there emotionally and physically. They've both been behind me in everything."

"No."

"I try to stay away form caffeine. I eat healthy foods when we can. I watch what I eat. Before a race I stay with the pastas and chicken."

" 'Chums.' My first ARCA race the local sports announcer called me 'Chums' Montgomery, so the crew started calling me 'Chums'."

"My uncle raced street-modifieds at Nashville years ago. I finally got dad talked into getting me a go-kart to race and we went from there."

"There is so much involved with technology. It's so advanced it takes some of the driver out of it. I'd like to see more of it put back into the driver's hands."

I'm caring. I care about what other people think. I'm competitive at everything, from bowling to racing. I want to win. I'm optimistic."

"This year has been up and down. We are still fourth in the points and working on third. Things have really turned around. I think I'll see a lot of good things come out of this season."

We know we interviewed a talented driver and we believe that Chase Montgomery is mentally mature for his years. That maturity applied to more experience could propel him into top driving seats in the future. Montgomery arrives at the race track with a first name that gives him a lead, a head start maybe, in a motorsports world where everyone chases wins. At this end-point in our interview Gary Larsen and I decide on one word that describes each brave racer. I searched the dictionary for a while to find a word that suited Montgomery's personality, but I soon realized his final word was a vital part of his first name. Chase Montgomery is the…

"CHASER"