Curt Chase Joins Yuhas, Jr. & KLM Motorsports
Waterford, CT — Championship car owner Curt Chase of Mansfield Center will join driver Ron Yuhas, Jr. and the Mike Murphy owned KLM Motorsports as the team’s crew chief for the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season . Chase, along with his son Eric, bring years of experience and valuable knowledge to the already solid team.
“Since we went back racing the Tour full-time, we talked a lot about what we thought our weaknesses were,” said Yuhas, Jr.“We all agreed that we needed a more experienced crew chief.”
Chase has more than just experience, he has an acumen for winning. As an owner, Chase had earned victories in the Modified Tour with the likes of
Rick Fuller,Steve Park, John Blewett, III, and Doug Coby. Chase and Fuller earned the Series’ championship in 1993.
After retiring from racing in 2008, to spend more time with his family and other hobbies, Chase had been absent from the racing community.
“I had conversations with Curt years ago. I admired him a lot,” continued Yuhas. “His name came up quite a few times over the last year or so. But we weren’t sure he would even want to get back into racing.”
After seeing Chase at a Tour race in Stafford, Yuhas approached his car owner Murphy and his long-time crew chief Steve Dodge. Collectively, they decided it made sense. During the off season, Yuhas put in a call to Chase.
“After meeting with the team, we all agreed it would be a great fit,” said owner Murphy. “We approach racing as a family affair and that is important to us. Curt and his family will make a great addition to our family.
Both Curt and Eric will join car chief Steve Dodge of Groton, and the existing crew of Rich Marquardt of Groton, Russ Montgomery of Griswold, Keith Nason of Norton, MA, Danny Price of New London, Chris Smith of Killingly, Patrick Yuhas of Groton.
“I’m glad to be back involved,” said Chase. “I hope that I can have a positive impact on the team. I’m really looking forward to getting the season started and to accomplishing great things with Ron, Murph, Steve and the entire team.”
The Chases make a great addition to a solid pit crew, including members who have been with Yuhas since his earliest years of competition.
“Steve is truly the glue that keeps this team together,” said Yuhas, of his long-time supporter. “He will continue in the pivotal role of maintaining the cars each week. Adding Curt’s knowledge and expertise will be a huge boost to our program.”
The KLM Motorsports Team finished the 2012 season with two (2) top-five and five (5) top-ten finishes in 14 starts; capping off the 2012 season 10th in point standings. The goal for the 2013 season is more top-finishes and another top-ten in the final point standings.
Learn more about Ron Yuhas, Jr. and the KLM Motorsports Team visit ronyuhas.com or the Ron Yuhas fan page on Facebook. Follow Ron on Twitter at @ryuhas64.