 Original Story By: Tom Luttermoser w/ Image Credits: Paul Productions & Paul Wiedeler Last week it was announced that German race team 3 Friends Racing would field their first stock car in the US at this past weekends South Carolina 250 at Florence Motor Speedway with young driver Christopher Tate behind the wheel. With my limited knowledge of the South East's Late Model scene I had to figure out who this kid was. So, I hit him up on IG and got to chatting. Hailing from Decatur, Texas, Christopher Tate attended his first NASCAR race at 4 years old and was hooked instantly never wanting to miss seeing a race on TV or hearing it on the radio. Tate loved racing he started racing Motocross and trail racing at 12 till the ripe old age of 17. Tate had several wins and even a couple runner-up title finishes in his day on 2 wheels. He took his share of bumps and injuries before it finally figured (in his words) "It'd be best if I got a roll cage around me" and decided to chase his NASCAR dream. About his Junior year of high school he never even thought it was possible, he just never got his big break until now. In 2019 Tate got the opportunity to run the Myrtle Beach 400 which he credits as the race that truly cemented that he wanted to race as a career. With so few laps and a rainy week, there were a lot of firsts for Tate during that event and having to learn many of them on the fly. He started 37th out of 38 cars but managed to race his way up to 18th which is a result that should make any inexperienced driver happy. It has now been 3 years since that last race in a Late Model and since 2021 Tate has moved to North Carolina to pursue that dream I think all boys have in their childhood, to drive a race car. On top of that, also in 2021 Tate joined the United States Marine Corps and serves as a landing Support Specialist. He credits the Corps for teaching him the perseverance that he has today that allowed him keep on pushing to make his dreams come true stating that he could not be more thankful for that. At the Coke 600 weekend at Charlotte in 2022, Christopher may not have known it, he got a huge opportunity. Tate was a guest of David Starr at the event where he met Paul Wiedeler doing videography with Starr who introduced him to Dennis Hirtz who own 3 Friends Racing and the trio hit it off from there. Christopher Tate even began being listed as 3F Racing's development driver and over the last several weeks, Tate and 3F Racing's conversations started picking up steam about potentially fielding a car at the Thanksgiving Classic but ultimately deciding to attempt the South Carolina 250 at Florence Motor Speedway. The South Carolina 250 is the Limited Late Model event held at Florence every year and this was only Tate's 2nd start.. EVER... in a Late Model. Being first to qualify he unfortunately started P.23 of 26 starters. But with support from Xfinity Series driver and friend Ryan Vargas and the guys over at 3F Racing, Tate managed to keep the nose of the car clean and drive his #30 to a very respectable P.16. Talking to Christopher Tate he did mention that as of now there are no solid plans for 2023, but he did however say that he is eyeing an ARCA debut at Daytona. They are looking for funding, so if you can help... Give these guys a hand!
0 Comments
|
