Chad Cathell represents the fourth generation of his family to work in the racing industry. He gained much of his experience while cutting his teeth at Delaware International Speedway in Delmar. Cathell plans to apply those lessons he learned at his family operation at a new track. He’ll work as race director for the recently reopened Middleford Speedway in Seaford, Delaware.
“[Middleford Speedway] reached out to me and asked me to be their race director,” Cathell, 29, of Laurel, Delaware, said. “Taking over the race directing at Middleford is a great opportunity. They have heavily invested in the facility. They have state-of-the-art LED lighting, extremely nice aluminum seating, [and] nice catchfences.”
Cathell’s great-grandfather Bill Cathell started Delaware International Speedway in 1963. His son and Chad’s grandfather Charlie Cathell has promoted the facility that includes a ½-mile dirt oval and drag strip for 58 years. Charlie’s son and Chad’s father, Mark Cathell, worked as vice president and general manager at Bristol Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2004. Chad Cathell maintains his role as sales consultant with Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits as his full-time career. But, with a racing lineage like that, it’s no wonder why Chad looks to carry on the family legacy in the sport.
“I’ve been assisting with track operations [at Delaware International Speedway] since 2011,” said Cathell, who added that he intends to remain involved at his family’s track. “The biggest thing I learned there is how to work with racers in this day and age, where it’s a commitment from them as well the track. [We as a track have] to be able to give [the racers] a premier facility to race and for fans to attend.”
Middleford Speedway reopened as a ¼-mile oval in October 2020. It last run oval-track races in 2012. After that, the owners converted the facility to a motocross track. Current owner, Greg Mitchell, purchased the track to restore it to its oval-track racing heritage.
“We bought the track at the end of 2016,” Mitchell said. “I leased it out for motocross one year. It took 2018 and 2019 to get the [oval] track done. We had a lot of bad weather. We had our first race in October 2020, because of Covid.”
The track runs divisions such as 600 wingless sprints, mod lites, and super trucks (four-cylinder stock pickups). Mitchell, who has fielded race cars since he was 17, has also owned a salvage yard for 31 years. He looks to put together a strong team to drive the track’s success — and Chad Cathell figures to play a big role with that.
“Most of the people who work with me at Middleford are knowledgeable about what they do,” said Mitchell. “We got a good group of people there. [Chad] knows the business, so he knows what to do.”
The Outside Groove Executive Editor has covered motorsports since 2000. His many awards include the 2019 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Jim Hunter Writer of the Year and the 2013 Russ Catlin Award for Excellence in Motorsports Journalism.
