INDIANAPOLIS – Chase Randall has announced he will compete for rookie-of-the-year honors in the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series this season with Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports.

The 16-year-old native of Waco, Texas, and the Arizona-based team will each contest the full schedule for the first time.

Randall competed for the team in the first two events of the season earlier this month at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla., currently sitting 12th in points following finishes of 22nd and 15th in his first two outings.

He found success in micro sprints and ASCS winged sprint cars before making the transition to midgets late last season with Petry Motorsports, making a total of seven starts and finishing a best of eighth at Wayne County Speedway in Wayne City, Ill.

Randall’s seven series starts entering this year were just under the threshold of the eight-career start mark, making him eligible to contend for rookie-of-the-year with the series alongside his teammate, Hayden Reinbold.

Tyler Ransbottom, the 2018 USAC Chief Mechanic of the Year, will serve as Randall’s crew chief.

“I’m really excited about taking on my first full year with USAC and to work with this team; it should be a lot of fun,” Randall said. “I feel our run in Florida showed great speed and we made tremendous progress within the whole weekend. I can’t wait to see what this year holds for me and the whole Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports team.”

Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports, meanwhile, has found quite a bit of success in USAC racing over the past few years, winning the 2019 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series entrant championship with driver C.J. Leary, as well as scoring a total of five feature victories with Leary, Thomas Meseraull and Logan Seavey.

The team’s midget program enters its second year in 2021, and from what team co-owner Andy Reinbold has already seen from Randall in their brief time together, it has him excited to see how the driver known as “The Quickest Chicken” can develop and perform.

“I am proud to have Chase on board for the year,” Reinbold said. “In the short time he has raced for me, I’ve seen a lot of natural talent. Chase’s upside is very big, and I truly believe he will be making a big impact in USAC soon. I would also like to thank Bush’s Chicken for coming on board as the primary sponsor for the (No.) 19a.”