Chad McCumbee’s racing schedule is not for the faint of heart.
The 38-year-old driver wheels a Ford Mustang on the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Late Model Stock Tour and at various short-track races across the Southeast, while also co-driving his team’s Mustang GT4 in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Series Grand Sport class.
Plus, he helms teams in both IMSA’s Mazda MX5-Cup and the SRO America-sanctioned Toyota GR Cup.
“I want to be involved in all facets of motorsports, as much as I possibly can,” McCumbee told SPEED SPORT.
His McCumbee Elliott Racing program is a top contender in the late model stock discipline, while McCumbee McAleer Racing has found success in sports cars.
McCumbee has become synonymous with both short tracks and road courses: related but significantly different forms of racing.
“Because it’s motorsports there are some similarities, but for the vast majority of the event it’s quite a bit different,” McCumbee explained. “Luckily for us being involved in different facets of motorsports, I think that it complements each other well and helps strengthen our programs on either side.
“We can look at things that can really assist us in making our circle-track program way better or making our sports car program way better from something that we’ve learned from other facets (of racing). I think that’s really second to none and something that not many people have the access to; so I hope that’s a strength.”
McCumbee, a native of Supply, N.C., on the Tar Heel State’s southeastern coast, grew up devoted to stock car racing. He came up through karting and the Allison Legacy Series before becoming a regular at now-shuttered Myrtle Beach Speedway.
McCumbee maintained a laser focus while climbing the racing ladder, and opportunities in ARCA with Fast Track Racing and in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with MRD Motorsports and SS-Green Light Racing materialized. So too did a chance to drive a limited schedule for Petty Enterprises in the NASCAR Cup Series. His first start with the legendary Petty organization came at Pocono Raceway in June 2007. He made two starts with the team that season and six the following year.
A victim of bad timing, when Petty merged with Gillett Evernham Motorsports for 2009, McCumbee was the odd man out, but he continued to compete in the ARCA and Truck Series.
In 2011, he was driving for Andy Belmont Racing in ARCA when the team’s sponsor, ModSpace, made a significant shift to what was then the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge). They asked McCumbee if he’d like to come along.
“Of course the answer is yes, what’s the question,” McCumbee said. “I want to drive race cars for a living.”
The three-time ARCA race winner took on the Daytona Int’l Speedway road course for the first time in 2012 and his knack for turning left and right resulted in a driving contract with Mazda. For the 2015 season, he and his Mazda co-driver, Stevan McAleer, were also presented with an opportunity to start a Mazda MX5-Cup team, which has grown significantly since then.
The two continued to drive a Mazda MX-5 in the Continental series as well, and the duo won the Street Tuner championship during the 2015 campaign.
However, by 2018, the manufacturer didn’t have a car that fit the series specs. Through a relationship with Ford and automotive company Multimatic, McCumbee was placed in a Mustang GT4 for the first time that year and his affiliation with the brand continues. Along the way, he’s won several races with Ford teams and worked with Multimatic to do development work on production cars
This year, McCumbee and McAleer added their own Mustang GT4 to their stable with partner AEROSPORT. McCumbee drives that car in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Jenson Altzman, a graduate of the team’s Mazda MX-5 Cup program. That is in addition to the team’s entries in the new Toyota GR Cup.
This season, McCumbee’s shop in Supply houses the Mustang GT4, four Mazda MX-5 machines, two Toyota GR86 Cup cars and two late model stock cars.