by Gregg Paul
Chris Eggleston has come a long way in racing. He will come a long way again as he travels from his home in Colorado all the way to Wisconsin Dells, WI to compete with the ARCA Midwest Tour presented by SCAG Power Equipment and Lester Buildings in a 100 lap event at Dells Raceway Park on Saturday, June 8th.
“Ever since we won the old Crate Late Model Championship, we have been looking for a series to compete in other than our home track at Colorado National Speedway,” said Eggleston. “Over the past few years, I have been fortunate to run a few big shows including 6 NASCAR Camping World Truck races in 2010, and 2 in 2011. 2011 was also the year we won one of the biggest races in history, North Wilkesboro Speedway’s “The Race” paying $75K with Butch Miller and SS Green Light Racing. Over the past few years, I also ran a few races in Washington for Zahnow Motorsports/Short Track Enterprises. We have been wanting to travel with the Midwest Tour for a couple years now but being from Colorado has always been an obstacle. The Midwest Tour seems like the optimal series to compete in right now. From the outside looking in at this point, I would say that have a lot of great talent and good exposure.”
Exposure is something you would expect someone from Colorado would be used to, so traveling to the Midwest might be a welcome change. Although the expenses might make that decision a bit more tricky, Eggleston is excited to make such a long trek.
“The long distance to each Midwest Tour race is the biggest obstacle that is keeping us from running the full schedule,” said Eggleston. “With gas prices the way they are and will increase in the summer is a huge financial burden to any race team, but unfortunately for us when we are traveling on average 1,000 miles one way to each race, it is even worse. Not only that, but you lose a day of travel to work which also limits the amount of races that we can attend.”
However, when Eggleston does make that trip, he knows he has what it takes to be competitive. Whether he is racing with his own team or for someone else, Eggleston feels confident about his chances.
“I have been racing throughout the country with my family since I was 5 years old running under the banner of “Chris Eggleston Racing.” I have also raced for many other teams as well,” said Eggleston. “Being that we are bringing our own equipment at times can be tough as we are not always up to par on all the new and updated technology. However, because of that, I will be receiving some help from my old 5K Motorsports crew that helped lead me to that 2009 Crate Late Model Title. Therefore, I am very excited and like our chances leading into our first Midwest Race of the year. I can’t thank H2O Fire Protection, Ultra Cool Brake Fans, 3RAuto.com and Red Line Oil for their continued support throughout this 2013 season.”
Eggleston knows his competition will be strong but he feels that it is the competition that attracted him to race with the ARCA Midwest Tour.
“As of a few years ago, I didn’t really know much about the Midwest Tour,” said Eggleston. “However, I have a friend back here in Colorado that raced a couple Midwest Tour races and always had great things to say. The thing that he told me that got me the most interested and I will never forget was “They have a lot of bad Jose’s in that series.” Meaning, that was some of the best talent and quality of drivers in a single series that he has seen. After that is when I started reading results each week and tallying all the great drivers they had racing in the Midwest each and every week. Therefore, if you want to shine in this sport, you have to seek out the best drivers and go and compete with them. That is one reason we decided to run select Midwest Tour races this 2013 season.”
Considering the long distances traveled to each race and the high costs involved in coming from Colorado to the Midwest, Eggleston has set realistic goals for himself and his race team. Goals that he feels make it well worth the effort to travel so far.
“Driving my own equipment for my own team, has always seemed to be a little more stressful,” said Eggleston. “Driving for a lot of great teams and working with great crew chiefs obviously helped me shine in years past. However, we are going to take one race at a time and hope to be running up front contending for the win when the checkered flag flies. Having my old crew chief Rollie and Kenny from 5K Motorsports come out to help does help take a little bit of the stress away.”
Standing in Victory Lane with the trophy in hand always seems to relieve any stress a racer might have.
Eggleston will be joining all of the Touring Stars and the rest of the ARCA Midwest Tour competitors at Dells Raceway Park on Saturday June 8th. For a complete race day schedule go to arcamidwesttour.com.
Be sure to follow the ARCA Midwest Tour on Facebook (midwesttour) and Twitter (@midwesttour).
To learn more about the Automobile Racing Club of America Midwest Tour, log on toarcamidwesttour.com. For questions call the ARCA Midwest Tour office at (262) 729-4111 or Tim Olson at (612) 327-5831 or Steve Einhaus (630) 212-6022 at or e-mail Tim Olson at tim@arcamidwesttour.comor Steve Einhaus at steve@arcamidwesttour.com.
The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is among the leading auto racing sanctioning bodies in the country. Founded in 1953 by John and Mildred Marcum, the organization administers more than 100 events each year in multiple racing series, including the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, the ARCA/CRA Super Series, the ARCA Truck Series and the ARCA Midwest Tour, plus weekly racing at Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways.
