Sport
Chase Austin – African-American driver to compete at Indy 500
Chase Austin (pictured), has a chance to make history. A.J. Foyt and his racing team would like nothing better.
Austin will try to become only the third African-American driver to compete in the Indianapolis 500 after being selected by Foyt to drive his entry in the 2013 racing classic.
“When I get to Indy, that might be a different thing, I might be, like, ‘Oh, no!’” Austin said with a laugh. “But I believe I’m ready.”
The 22-year-old Austin has been racing since he was 8 years old. He became the youngest driver to sign a driver-development contract in NASCAR when he was 14. He has driven in several series, most recently Indy Lights.
Although he has yet to drive at the highest levels of the sport for very long, Austin was seen as a promising newcomer by Foyt, a four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. Austin has raced in six NASCAR Nationwide Series races, three in the Truck Series and four in Indy Lights.
“He’s run some stock cars, he’s run some sprint cars, he’s run the dirt — he’s run a lot of races in different types of cars and go-karts,” Foyt said. “He’s won in a lot of different race cars.”
Austin’s big shot at Indy came as a result of talks between Chris Miles of Starting Grid, an advocacy group for minorities in motor sports, and Foyt Racing’s Larry Foyt, son of the former driver and day-to-day head of his racing team.
