OWENSVILLE, Ind. – For the past decade on the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car tour, Chase Stockon has had the same routine, towing his own No. 32 down south for the season opening Winter Dirt Games at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla.

Now, following a midseason switch in July of 2020, the rejuvenated series ironman with a record 321 consecutive feature starts has a new routine as the pilot of the KO Motorsports No. 5s.

The switch from his own operation to the Owensville, Ind., based team made an instant impact on Stockon, as he began a string of consistency that elevated him to his most statistically successful season since 2016, fueling the fire within himself that has supplied him with a boost of confidence for the coming season, but has also required a few sacrifices on his part in his change of scenery.

“It was definitely a change of pace for sure,” Stockon acknowledged.  “Over the course of the last nine years, I ran my own program, basically, with help from Tom Burkey. It was kind of tough not having control of everything. From that aspect, it was probably the toughest part. (Team Manager Kent Schmidt) has built me a really nice piece every time I’ve driven for him. That part of it made the decision kind of easy, but with all the guys here, we clicked really well together. Every night, we get everything we can get out of the race car. As long as I’m putting forth 100 percent and they’re putting forth 100 percent, everybody’s happy.”

The switch over was nerve wracking for Stockon, but as the results have shown, the move has paid large dividends in several ways.

“I was kind of nervous of even asking (sponsor) Tom Burkey of Superior Tank & Trailer if he’d be interested in partnering up with these guys,” Stockon recalled. “It made me sweat, and I had a few sleepless nights thinking about it, but he was all on board with it. That was kind of the determining factor for me to do something different. I was even thinking about maybe retiring or not racing full-time. These guys over here rekindled the fire, and we have a lot of fun together, that’s for sure.”

The origins of Stockon’s relationship with KO came the year prior, in 2019, when he drove for the team solely in Midwest Sprint Car Series competition, making 14 starts and earning a best finish of second that August at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind. At the same track in mid-June of 2020, Stockon drove the car to a sixth-place finish with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.

Schmidt understood where Stockon was, mentally, in his career at that point in time. With KO being a burgeoning team and having a prior working relationship with Stockon, the trigger was pulled to bring him on full-time. As a result, Stockon’s fire was burning bright again.

“We had talked about that a little bit back and forth,” Schmidt remembered. “Both him and I would get together and share set up information and things like that, bounce crazy ideas off each other, and he’d have the same issues I’d be talking about. I got it, I understood it and I knew where he was at. That’s why it really made sense to throw all the toys into one sandbox and go at it hardcore.”

The instant success the pairing found was of no surprise to Schmidt, with USAC wins coming in September at Indiana’s Lincoln Park Speedway and Tri-State Speedway and being in the thick of the championship race down to the final gun in October at Lawrenceburg Speedway’s Fall Nationals before finishing third in the final standings.

“Honestly, to me, it wasn’t a surprise at all. We work very well together,” Schmidt said.  “Anytime you can put his group of guys and our guys together, we have some fun, and we usually have some success doing it.  He’s got a core group of guys that come with him and they’re still here.  We all live here locally, so it all works out.”

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