[Rumble Racing Series]

Derek Bischak had a glide in his stride as he walked out of the Memorial Coliseum Expo Center, helmet bag in hand, following last weekend’s 17th annual Rumble in Fort Wayne.

The 26-year-old driver had only one regret after three grueling but successful days of indoor racing – that he has to wait nearly four months for the start of his 2015 outdoor season.

Bischak, an Angola, Ind., native who now lives in Indianapolis, finished fourth in the overall midget point standings with finishes of third, 14th (crash) and sixth in the three 50-lap features. He was second-quickest qualifier all three days in his family-owned Angola Collision Services/Rapid Racecars/Snap-on Tools Spike chassis.

Remarkably, considering the Rumble draws 40 or more midgets each year, many of them specifically built for indoor racing, he has qualified for eight consecutive features on the 1/6-mile concrete track – the longest current streak. Only nine drivers advanced to all three features last weekend.

“The quality of cars and drivers has steadily increased over the years,” noted Bischak, a product engineer for Allison Transmission when he’s not racing. “Just making the race feels like a win. We are proud of the fact that this is a car we race regularly outdoors and not a specialty car that is only raced indoors once a year.”

Bischak’s Rumble midget resume includes a 2012 feature victory and six other top-five finishes. A multi-time QMA national champion, he is the first driver who raced quarter midgets at the Rumble as a youth to go to win a feature in one of the three main classes. He has competed at eight Rumble events over the past 11 years, making the feature 14 of 17 times.

The key to his success?

“Ten years of quarter midget racing around the country and a lot of laps at the Indianapolis Speedrome in Kenyon midgets and NAMARS midgets gave me the experience of close racing on tight, flat tracks where you are always in traffic and passing is tough,” he said. “Just like Fort Wayne.”

Bischak also took time at the Rumble to mentor quarter midget driver Zeb Wise of Angola. Wise won the Heavy 160 feature both Saturday and Sunday.

One of the few drivers active in both open-wheel and stock car racing, Bischak is looking forward to a mixture of STARS midgets, USSA sprint cars and ACRA Midwest Tour late models in 2015. His season begins with the Glen Niebel Classic sprint car race at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway on April 25.