TUCSON, AZ – Darrell Midgley kicked off his 2017 race season Saturday night in Arizona with a strong 10th place finish at the 4th annual Chilly Willy 150 Super Late Model race. “Very pleased with the outcome,” exclaims Midgley, “some really good teams racing here this weekend.” Half the field qualified under 16 seconds on the 3/8 mile oval track. Midgley, the only Canadian in the field qualified 7th, running a 15.685 lap time (-0.272). Garrett Evans from Wenatchee, Washington qualified number one with a 15.413. As the green flag flew, Tucson Speedway set a track record with 37 Super Late Models on the track at once. “Anytime you are going to start over 30 cars stuff is going to happen.” Racing was three and sometimes four wide early in the race. The first caution flag flew for a single car spin on lap 26. The Sidney, British Columbia driver had a front row seat for this incident. “Driver spun down the back stretch right in front of me but there was plenty of time to react.” Other then fender rubs and bumper taps, drivers behaved for much of the race. Midgley started 7th but fell back to 12th by lap 50. “We tried to save the tires early. That was the plan. We had some tires in the end and it worked out for us.” Lap 114 saw the first Chilly Willy crash of the entire weekend. A single car spin with hard contact into the wall. The driver was uninjured however the red flag was displayed due to the time needed for cleanup. With just 15 laps to go Midgley watched as a multi-car crash unfolded in front of him. “They wrecked right in front of us. I think someone may have lost an engine. I had a little bit time to react [to the crash] which was good.” Unfortunately it was bad timing for race leader Taylor Riddle who had nowhere to go. Several spinning cars came down directly into his path. The quest for back-to-back Chilly Willy Championships for the Naches, Washington driver came to a crashing end. On the restart, the race night could just have easily come to an end for Midgley. “I had a good run on the restart but guys started wrecking in front of us. Had to slam on the brakes hard.” Midgley was part of a five-car incident. His Northern Provincial Pipelines/Alien Chassis #81 Dodge only received a slight front bumper scuff. One car however had to be towed from the track. Only 21 cars would finish the 2017 Chilly Willy 150. In an exciting race that took over two hours to complete, Owen Riddle from Naches, Washington grabbed the checkered flag with NASCAR Truck Series Rookie Noah Gragson from Las Vegas, Nevada finishing second and Littleton, Colorado’s Kyle Ray finished third. Midgley crossed the finish line in 10th for his best ever Chilly Willy finish. “Yes we used the rear tires up again. I think everyone was down tires in the end. That was a long time to be in the car.” His previous best Chilly Willy finish was 22nd back in 2015. Midgley has a few weeks off before his next race on the his 2017 ‘off-season’ schedule. Midgley and Team NPP head to Irwindale Speedway in California for a Spears Super Late Model Series event on March 25th.

2017 CHILLY WILLY 150
Tucson, Arizona
> SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4th, 2017
1.(10) #10 Owen Riddle – Naches, Washington
2.(8) #18 Noah Gragson – Las Vegas, Nevada
3.(9) #58 Kyle Ray – Littleton, Colorado
4.(5) # 9 Ron Norman – Davenport, Iowa
5.(12) #12 Bruce Yackey – Greely, Colorado
6.(13) #34 Rudy Vanderwal – LaSalle, Colorado
7.(20) #26 Dylan Jones – Tucson, Arizona
8.(18) #46 John Newhouse – Twin Falls, Idaho
9.(27) #20 Brandon Schilling – Tucson, Arizona
10.(7) #81 Darrell Midgley – Sidney, British Columbia
11.(24)#25 Brandon Farrington – Tucson, Arizona
12.(32)# 6 Dane Jorgenson – Sierra Vista, Arizona
13.(11)#52 Brittney Zamora – Kennewick, Washington
14.(34)#23 Curtis Lansing – Tucson, Arizona
15.(22)#29 Keith Lopez – Tucson, Arizona
16.(14)#22 Paul Banghart – Tucson, Arizona
17.(29)#91 Chris Atkinson – Cheyenne, Wyoming
18.(4) #32 Brett Yackey – Greely, Colorado
19.(33)#47 Cassie Gannis – Phoenix, Arizona
20.(21)#39 Brian Harrington Jr. – Tucson, Arizona
21.(2) #50 Trevor Huddleston – Aguura Hills, California
22.(3) #15 Taylor Riddle – Naches, Washington
23.(16)#51 Sean Bray – Tucson, Arizona
24.(17)#14 Vanessa Robinson – La Cruces, New Mexico
25.(6) #12 Scott Franchimone – Ontario, California
26.(1) #64 Garrett Evans – Wenatchee, Washington
27.(30)#09 Thane Alderman – Las Vegas, Nevada
28.(35)#27 Bobby Hillis Jr. – Scottsdale, Arizona
29.(23)#07 Chuck Wares – Vail, Arizona
30.(26)#16 Dustin Jones – Tucson, Arizona
31.(25)#71 Ron Searle Jr. – Tucson, Arizona
32.(36)# 5 Trent Phillips – Hemingford, Nebraska
33.(15)#80 Victor Pfluger – Morristown, Arizona
34.(37)# 4 Ricky Bogart – Phoenix, Arizona
35.(31)#13 Ned Champine – Benson, Arizona
36.(28)#31 Daryl Fischer – Tucson, Arizona
37.(19)# 8 Mariah McGriff – Vail, Arizona