Chad’s Bio
At just 5 years of age, Chad began his motorsports career racing Quarter Midgets at South Mountain Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona. When most kids are just entering school and learning how to write their ABC’s, Chad Boat was following in the footsteps of his Father and Professional Indy Car Driver, Billy Boat. In less than two years, Chad won the Quarter Midget Association’s Arizona state championship in the Junior Honda class. By the time Chad turned 8 years old, he had proved his passion for racing was much more than just a hobby by adding the Light Modified and Light 160 class championships to his racing resume. With 70 main event wins and a Light B “Thunder on the Mountain” Championship under his belt, at just 9 years old Chad was well on his way to a promising career in racing. In 2002, Chad moved to Dirt Karting with the Phoenix Kart Racing Association winning 10 out of 12 main events and securing his Junior 1 Arizona State Championship title. In addition to winning the Junior 1 title, Chad continued to clean up at the track by earning the 2002 “Holiday Classic” Championship while simultaneously winning 9 main events with pavement road racing karts and finishing third in season points in 2003.
With track proven talent and 7 years of racing experience, Chad Boat has graduated to 600cc Mini Sprints in the Arizona Modified Midgets Association at Canyon Raceway in 2004. At 12 years old, Chad became the youngest driver ever to compete in the series. Not only did he compete, he won 14 feature events, Rookie of the Year, and the 2004 AMMA Championship against a field of drivers which averaged over double his age.
The 2005 season found Chad moving up to the full-sized midget division with the Arizona Midget Association, in addition to a full schedule of mini-sprint races at Manzanita Speedway. In 11 starts in the Midget Chad won 2 races, the AMRA Rookie of the Year, and finished 2nd in the season points, narrowly missing the championship by 2 points. Chad also dominated the mini-sprint division, winning 12 races, setting 5 track records, and finished 2nd in the points despite missing 4 races.
2006 had Chad splitting his time between the ASCA sprint cars, AMRA midgets, and the ASA Speedtruck Series. In October of 2006, Chad became the youngest driver ever in the state of Arizona to win a sprint car race with an exciting victory at Canyon Raceway. In addition, Chad had 9 top ten finishes in 13 races and set a 12 lap track record on the fast 1/2 mile at Manzanita. The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame recognized Chad’s accomplishments, and nominated him for National Sprint Car Rookie of the Year. In the midget division, Chad had 2 victories in 7 races and never finished out of the Top 5. 2006 also had Chad honing his skills on the asphalt, as he entered 8 races in the ASA Speedtruck Series. Chad had 5 top five finishes with a best finish of second, also finishing second in a close battle for Rookie of the Year honors.
The 2007 season had Chad honing is skills on the ultra competitive Indiana sprint circuit during the summer and racing local ASCS sprint cars and AMRA midgets at Manzanita. Racing three nights a week, Chad ran 20 races, finishing in the top 10 14 times, including 5 top five finishes. He also collected one ASCS sprint win at Casa Grande Speedway and 2 AMRA midget wins at Manzanita.
2008 was a big year for Chad, as he moved to Indiana for the summer to compete in the USAC National sprint car and midget divisions. Racing against veterans that make a living racing, Chad finished 11th in midget points, earning 5 top ten finishes and one fast time. In the sprint car, Chad became the youngest driver to ever win in USAC dirt sprint race with his win at Hagerstown Speedway in July. Chad also had 10 top ten finishes and finished 13th in year end points, despite missing pavement sprint car races due to age restrictions.
2009 had Chad competing for USAC National Midget points, as well as running all of the USAC National dirt sprint car events. Chad would run 65 races total in 2009, with 22 Top Five finishes, and 40 Top Ten finishes. Strong runs at Kokomo Speedway were the highlight of Chad’s season, taking 4 wins total in 6 appearances at the track. Bagging sprint car and midget wins in the same night at the Bob Darland Memorial, Chad rode his confidence to another win the weekend after, and eventually capped it off with a win there for the third round of Indiana Sprint Week. Chad would also end up 3rd in Indiana Sprint week points after briefly leading.
The 2010 season has begun and Chad has already gotten off to a strong start. Chad would make his first ever Chili Bowl Saturday A-Main appearance by virtue of a 5th place finish in preliminary action at the famed bullring in the Tulsa Expo Center. Chad would eventually grab 2 more Top Three finishes in the next 3 midget races. The month of May saw Chad make his stock car debut in the K&N Pro Series East/West combination race at Iowa Speedway. In his first stock car race, Chad would finish all 200 laps and end up 12th of the 50 cars racing. The 2010 season will see Chad race 6 more K&N Pro Series races, as well as the Belleville Midget Nationals.