Fast Facts: Chad Boat

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Chad Boat, competing part-time as a rookie in the Nationwide Series in 2014, is the latest in a string of second-generation drivers to take up the family business of auto racing. Learn more about this young man, driving for his family-owned team, in this week’s Fast Facts.

• Chad Boat was born Jan. 30, 1992 in Phoenix, Arizona, son of former Indy Racing League winner Billy Boat. Boat began racing at age 5 in quarter midgets, winning the Quarter Midget Assocation’s Arizona state championship two years later. At age 8, he won both the Light Modified and Light 160 midget championships; by age 9, he had 70 main event wins on his racing resume.
• At age 10, Boat moved into the Phoenix Kart Racing Association’s Dirt Karting class, winning 10 of 12 events on his way to the Junior 1 Arizona State Championship; he also won the “Holiday Classic” championship that season and won nine pavement road racing events in the 2003 season.
• At age 12, Boat became the youngest driver to compete in the 600cc Mini Sprints division in the Arizona Modified Midgets Association at Canyon Raceway. He won 14 features, Rookie of the Year and the 2004 AMMA championship.
• Boat progressed through the midget and mini-sprint divisions, also spending some time in the ASA Speedtruck Series in 2006. He returned to focus on sprints and midgets in 2007 before making a big move in 2008: moving to Indiana to compete in USAC’s National Sprint Car and Midget Divisions; he finished 11^th in midget points and 13^th in sprint car points, becoming the youngest driver to win a USAC dirt track sprint car event with his Hagerstown Speedway win in July 2008. Boat took home the Rookie of the Year awards in both the National Sprint and Midget divisions.
• In 2010, Boat made the move to NASCAR, competing in his first K&N Pro Series event at Iowa Speedway and finishing 12^th. He officially moved to North Carolina to pursue a NASCAR career in 2011, competing in 16 races between the K&N Pro Series East and West. In 2012, Boat competed in the ARCA Racing Series, running third in his debut at Iowa; he also ran at Kansas and raced in the K&N Pro Series.
• Billy Boat Motorsports opened its shop doors in Mooresville, North Carolina in 2013, and Boat earned four top 10 finishes in seven ARCA Racing Series races. The team made its Nationwide Series debut at Daytona this year, qualifying 40^th and finishing 24^th. The team is aiming to compete in 15 races this season.
• Learn more about Chad Boat at his website, www.chadboat.com.