The World of Outlaws Late Model Series does not get back into action until April 28, but that gives Chase Junghans time to reflect. 

Three weeks after finishing 12th on night one and 17th in the finale of the Illini 100 at Farmer City (IL) Raceway, Junghans will head to the series' next stop at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, KS, a track that is well known to his family.

Located one hour and 45 minutes from their hometown of Manhattan, KS, this was the track Chase and his brother, Grant, visited as kids on Friday nights. As soon as they were old enough to enter the pits, they began working on a car owned by their father, Greg. That fueled their love for racing.

On March 12, 2016, Grant Junghans lost a six-year battle with cancer. A few months later, the family hosted a memorial race at Lakeside with the United States Modified Touring Series. 

Fittingly, the first night was rained out, and it had to be rescheduled. On the race's new date, 92 cars were on hand. Lucas Schott took the victory, while Chase Junghans charged from 26th to ninth. 



"Pretty much the main reason we held it there was because we grew up at that track," Junghans said. "It's also one of the most racey tracks around my house. One of Grant's last wishes was that he wanted to have a memorial race that paid $1,000 to start and $10,000 to win, so we made it happen. I'm pretty sure it was standing room only at the track that day."

This will be Junghans' first chance to race a World of Outlaws Late Model at his hometown track since he joined the series in 2014.

"I've raced there plenty of times, and that definitely helps your confidence headed into the race and gives you hope of running good," he said. "Out here in the Midwest a lot of our tracks  are bigger half-miles, and that's what I'm used to running on. I don't know if that means I have an advantage, but I'm used to racing on that kind of track and have a better idea of what I have to do to my car."

Undoubtedly, his brother will be along for the ride.

"He told me not to quit racing, because that's all he wanted to do when he was sick," Chase said. "So I told him I didn't plan on it."