Cale Gale (born March 5, 1985 in Mobile, Alabama) is an American NASCAR Nationwide Series driver for Kevin Harvick Incorporated.
Karting[]
His racing career began when his father placed him on a go-kart at age 4. In 1989 at five years old, he began racing competitively at Mobile Motorsports Park in Kushla, Alabama, winning five features in his first year. The following season, Cale raced a full schedule, winning 25 feature races and the track championship.
In 1991, Cale started competing at tracks other than Mobile Motorsports Park, racing at three different go-kart facilities winning a total of 12 feature races. From 1992 through 1994 he went on the road watching his father, Bubba Gale, compete in the NASCAR All-Pro touring series. After a three-year break, Cale resumed his go-kart career at Gulf Oaks Speedway in Saucier, Mississippi, winning ten features, the track championship, and also capturing his first state championship. He won his second state championship the following year, and he won seven features at Gulf Oaks.
Modifieds, Late Models, & Supertruck[]
Gale spent 1997 and 1998 working on his Dad's crew at Mobile International Speedway. He raced in the limited modified division (an adult class) at J & J Speedway the following year, 14-year-old Gale won three feature races and received the Hardcharger Award.
In 2000, he began his full bodied car racing career at Mobile International Speedway in the pure stock division winning nine feature races, finishing third in the point standings, and capturing rookie of the year honors. Gale won 12 feature races and the super stock track championship in just his second year at the speedway. In his first late model race at MIS, he finished third in the 40-lap Lee Fields Memorial race. The same year, at the Snowball Derby in Pensacola, Florida, Cale was the fast qualifier in the super stock division in a field of 42 cars.
In the 2002 season, Gale competed in his first full year in the late model class. He was fast qualifier five times, winning four feature races. He is the only competitor in the 28 years of racing at MIS to ever capture rookie of the year honors and the late model track championship simultaneously. He competed in the Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida, Cale qualified 7th in the Snowflake Late Model event and finished 14th.
In Gale’s sophomore season, 2003, at MIS in the late model series, he won four feature races and finished second in the points race just 24 points out of another championship.
In 2004, competing in the Southern All Stars Supertruck Touring Series, Gale won two feature races and also broke two qualifying records at Sunny South Raceway in Grand Bay, Alabama. and Lanier Speedway (Gainesville, Georgia). He also raced in the Snowflake 100 (Snowball Derby), qualified eighth and finished fifth in a 28 car field in a brand new late model.
In 2005, Cale ventured down to Lakeland for speed week in his Chevy truck and sat on the pole. He started there and led every lap to win against Matt Martin, son of Mark Martin, and Jamie Skinner, (son of Mike Skinner) Two weeks later at New Smyrna Speedway, Cale broke the track qualifying record, and also won again taking both Florida races against some very well known drivers. At Birmingham International Raceway, Cale added another track qualifying record to his resume, breaking the old mark held by Jeff Wainwright. Also on April 23rd, Cale broke the three year old track record at Mobile Speedway in the super late model series with the time of 16.920 sec. Around July, Cale seized on the opportunity to move to Spartanburg, South Carolina as 2005 Snowball Derby winner Eddie Mercer presented Cale with the chance to be the shock specialist for Phoenix Racing, which is owned by James Finch of Panama City, Florida. Later in the year, Finch decided to give Cale a chance to do some testing in both his Busch and Nextel Cup car.
ARCA & Busch Debut[]
The 2006 racing season started out the same way as 2005, Cale and his dad going to Lakeland in the truck and getting the same results. They made the trip to New Smyrna as well and produced the same results, a track record and a win two weeks later. Cale competed in his first ARCA/REMAX Series race in April at Nashville Superspeedway driving the No. 09 Miccosukee Resort & Gaming Dodge Charger. He qualified ninth and finished sixth. In June, Finch decided to let Cale make his first NASCAR Busch Series debut at the same track as his ARCA race, Nashville Superspeedway. He qualified tenth and finished 20th in the No. 1 Miccosukee Charger. Cale’s next race was another Busch Series event at Chicagoland Speedway in July. He had to compete against 21 Cup drivers. He qualified 39th and finished 37th with a faulty transmission. Cale had come in on lap 192, and he had worked his way up to sixth place. He went a lap down, only to get it back 67 laps later. When his transmission started giving him problems he was running ninth. Bobby Jones Racing decided to let Cale run his number in the Shop ‘n Save 150 ARCA race at Gateway International Raceway. Cale started the No. 50 Miccosukee Charger in the fourth starting spot. He never went any further back. Finch made the call to take on two tires on lap 77. Cale took the lead on lap 90, and what looked like would be a victory was delayed by four green-white-checkered restarts. He held off Steve Wallace for the victory.
Kevin Harvick Inc. Era[]
Cale was signed to Kevin Harvick Incorporated's driver development program for the 2006,2007 and 2008 seasons he has appeared in both NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, as well as a handful of ARCA events for the team. He has 24 career Nationwide starts, 3 top 10's with a best finish of 4th in the 2008 Food City 250. He has made 6 truck starts with the best finish of 9th in the [O'Reilly 200]] in 2007. He currently drives the #33 Rheem Chevrolet Impala for Kevin Harvick Incorporated in the NASCAR Nationwide Series running selected stand alone events as well as the #13 Rheem sponsored car in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.
References[]
- Driver's statistics; racing-reference, Retrieved March 24, 2008