1/8/2023
Chase Oliver
Action Filled Start to the Season
EASTABOGA, AL- Chase Oliver competed in the 32nd Annual Ice Bowl at Talladega Short Track over the weekend. The Ice Bowl kicked off the Iron Man Late Model Winter Series and the Chase Oliver Racing team’s season. The race was set to pay $7,500 to the 50-lap Dirt Super Late Model Feature winner.
Racing action began early on Friday morning for qualifying and heat races. The track had selected to do hot lap qualifying. This is when the times collected during hot laps count for our qualifying time. Chase knew he needed to get a fast lap down during his four-lap hot lap session. Chase clocked a 15.032 for qualifying, which landed him fourth in his group.
Oliver was set to race in the second Dirt Super Late Model Heat Race. His qualifying time landed him starting the heat race on the outside pole beside JT Seawright. However, Chase would face his second round of adversity when his front left tire went flat on the first lap. He would go on to run all ten laps of the heat race on a flat tire. Chase finished second in the heat race, which locked him into the Saturday feature to start at seventh.
Saturday morning, the team was buzzing with excitement in anticipation for the Feature Dirt Super Late Model Race. Chase hot-lapped the car Saturday morning and felt confident about the performance of the Black Diamond #5. The team anticipated a fast race as the track was taking on rubber quickly Saturday morning.
The feature race proved to be just as challenging for the team as the rest of the weekend. The first start of the race was called back due to a pile-up between turns one and two. Chase escaped the pile-up with minimal damage to the car. The field struggled to complete the first lap due to multiple spin-outs caused by the track conditions.
Chase, starting at seventh, moved up two positions quickly after the feature got going. Chase attempted to gain another position on lap six when he entered the bottom of turn three, working underneath Pearson Lee Williams. In the center of turns three and four, Chase’s racecar was clipped by another car and sent into the yuke tire. This resulted in considerable body damage to Black Diamond #5. Chase decided to pull into the infield to get the car checked out. He was listed as a DNF (did not finish) at 21st Place.
The team returned to Crossville confident for the upcoming race season. Chase was happy with how the car handled the track, and the speed he was able to pick up. The quick Black Diamond #5 is set to return to action at Boyd’s Speedway in Ringgold, GA, on January 28th.
Submitted By: Brittany McCoy