World of Outlaws Driver J.J. Yeley - How The West Wins

So how does a guy follow up a season like that? He puts up a good fight for a USAC series title. Throughout the 2001 USAC sprint car season, Drake went head to head with both Yeley and Indiana native Dave Darland. It essentially came down to the end of the season when both Darland and Drake were injured.

Drake went into the event at Terre Haute Action Track 18 points ahead of second-place driver Yeley. While running the heat race for the midget race that same night, Drake was in a horrific crash. He sustained a severely broken arm, broken collarbone, bruised lung and a closed brain injury. The 32-year-old Drake began 2002 cleared by his doctor and ready to race.

Raising Kahne
Hear the name Steve Lewis and you automatically think of midgets and championships-and talent. Lewis saw just that in young Kasey Kahne when he had the Enumclaw, Washington, native drive his formidable No. 9 midget in the USAC national midget series.

Kahne started racing at the age of 14. His dad, Kelly, had started his own sprint car team in 1990 and seven years later Kasey started to drive for him. In 1998 Kahne was bringing in victories from both 360 and 410 sprints in Washington and around the Midwest. At 16 he made it into all three Pennzoil World of Outlaw feature events he attempted-even finishing second to the legendary Steve Kinser in a heat race.

It was in Indy's Gasoline Alley that Kahne formed a friendship with Jason Leffler-another Western star. At the time Leffler was in the midst of a successful run with the Lewis/East midget team. With the strong talent the kid showed, Lewis decided to run him in his stable. Kasey's debut with Lewis was at the 2000 Copperworld Classic. The 19-year-old was teamed with Tony Stewart, Jason Leffler, and Dave Darland.

That season would prove to be an exciting one for Kahne. He began that first season in the USAC MCI Worldcom Midget Series with only a handful of midget starts under his belt. That didn't seem to matter to him. For the rest of the 2000 season, he racked up 12 wins, 41 Top 5s, and 62 Top 10s. Added to that, he won the Belleville Nationals and became the 2000 USAC midget champion. Kahne also became the first rookie since Jeff Gordon in 1991 to win a USAC silver crown event.

With that comparison comes the 2002 season. After much speculation on where his career would go, Kasey Kahne, now 22, has shown up in the fendered world of the NASCAR Busch Series, driving for Robert Yates.

The Hurricane
It was probably tearing it up on the track that gave Randy Hannagan his nickname of "The Hurricane." This California kid from San Jose is now a seasoned veteran of the World of Outlaws, with over five years of racing in the series.

Like many racers in the open wheel ranks, Hannagan's experience started with go-karts at the age of 14. He began racing speedway karts at Baylands Raceway Park in Fremont, California, and continued to do so for the next seven years. Along with his brothers, Jimmy and Terry, he would alternate driving and working on the race cars. In 1983 Hannagan transferred his success over to the San Jose Kart Club and proceeded to win six consecutive points championships

In 1987 Hannagan began racing micro-midgets part time. Two years later he started his sprint car career at San Jose State Fairgrounds speedway. A complete newcomer to the world of sprint cars, this was a tough year of learning; however, he still managed to win Rookie of the Year and to finish 14th in points.

In his third year of competition, Hannagan and his crew started to travel throughout California with the Northern Auto Racing Club (NARC) to try their luck and gain more experience. This was a great training ground for his future career with the travelling Outlaw series. In 1993 Hannagan won his first World of Outlaws race at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, California.