Lance Norick

Lance Norick
Born (1968-09-20) September 20, 1968
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Awards 2008 K&N Pro Series East Rookie of the Year
2010 Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
7 races run over 1 year
Best finish 64th (2003)
First race 2003 O'Reilly 300 (Texas)
Last race 2003 Tropicana Twister 300 (Joliet)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
154 races run over 7 years
Best finish 11th (2001)
First race 1996 Florida Dodge Dealers 400 (Homestead)
Last race 2002 Ford 200 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 15 0

Lance Norick (born September 20, 1968) is an American stock car and sprint car racing driver, and a professional remote control car racer. A former competitor in the NASCAR Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series, he is the son of former Oklahoma City mayor Ron Norick.

Career

The son of Oklahoma City mayor Ron Norick,[1] Lance Norick began his career in motocross,[2] before moving to Formula Ford 2000 open-wheel cars, where he was a teammate to the son of Johnny Rutherford,[3] before moving to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for the 1996 season.[4]

Norick's late 1996 truck
Norick's 1997 truck

Driving the No. 19 Dodge Ram for Walker Evans Racing with sponsorship from Macklanburg-Duncan, Norick made his NASCAR debut in 1996 at the Miami-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex, qualifying and finishing eighteenth in his first race in the series.[5] Norick posted his best finish of the season, ninth, at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 200 in June;[6] midway through the season Norick's father purchased the team from Evans, switching to the No. 90 and Ford with sponsorship from the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce; now named L & R Motorsports,[4] they completed the season with a best finish in the second half of 13th at Sears Point Raceway, and Norick finished eighteenth in the final season points standings.[7]

For 1997 Norick ran just fifteen races but gained financial backing from the National Hockey League, which arranged for a different team to be featured on the truck at each event.[8] Norick posted a best finish of the season at Homestead, in the second race of the year and the first with NHL sponsorship, finishing tenth; Norick finished the season 25th in series points.[9] The NHL returned with a full season's sponsorship for 1998; Norick's team, based in Blythe, California, added a second truck for veteran Butch Miller, with sponsorship from Dana.[10] Norick had a best finish of seventh at Sears Point International Raceway, a new career best, but failed to qualify for two races; he finished 23rd in the series standings at the end of the year.[11] Norick also competed in six events in the NASCAR Winston West Series during the 1998 season, posting a best finish of seventh at California Speedway in July.[12][13]

Norick started 1999 with sponsorship from Oklahoma City-based Big Daddy's BBQ Sauce; the company ran into issues with its racing program,[14] and the sponsorship deal was dropped after eight races of the 24-race schedule, leaving Norick's team, once again a single-truck effort, to run most of the year unsponsored. Norick's best finish of the year was ninth at Watkins Glen; he finished 20th in series points.[15] At Watkins Glen, Norick was the first Truck Series driver to operate his vehicle under racing conditions while using rain tires, when practice sessions were run under sprinkly conditions.[16] His team also switched from Dodge to Chevrolet during the season, although it also ran a Ford in a race at Gateway International Raceway.[15]

In 2000 with backing from Aventis Behring,[17] Norick qualified for every race on the Truck Series season schedule for the first time in his career, and finished sixteenth in points.[18] Norick was involved in a major wreck at the season-opening Daytona 250 at Daytona International Speedway, suffering burns to his neck.[19]

In 2001 Norick posted his best career finish overall in the Craftsman Truck Series, finishing third at the short-lived Chicago Motor Speedway;[20] finishes of fourth in the season-opening race at Daytona and fifth in October at Texas Motor Speedway proved to be the only other top five finishes he would score in his career in the series, pointing the way to Norick's scoring a career best in the series points standings, finishing eleventh at the end of the season.[21] Norick returned to the series in 2002 with sponsorship from Express Personnel Services;[22] he scored five top-ten finishes during the season, finishing 13th in points;[23] however additional funding for continuing in the series failed to materialise, and Norick's team closed at the end of the year, the team being sold off.[24]

In 2003 Norick ran a limited schedule in the NASCAR Busch Series, signing with Carroll Racing to co-drive with Kevin Grubb with sponsorship from Express Personnel Services.[25] He also signed with Morgan-Dollar Motorsports to compete in the 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race, co-driving a Chevrolet Corvette in the GTS class with Charles and Rob Morgan and Jim Pace.[26] The team led the GTS class for 23 of the 24 hours, before mechanical issues dropped them to finish second in class, and tenth overall in the event.[27] Norick and Morgan co-drove a Corvette in the following event on the Grand American Sports Car schedule at Homestead-Miami Speedway, finishing eleventh.[28]

Norick's 2003 No. 90 Busch Series car

Norick's debut in Busch Series competition was originally scheduled to be at Bristol Motor Speedway in March, but due to a lack of testing time his debut was moved back one week to the O'Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.[29] Norick's best finish with Carroll Racing came at Nashville Superspeedway in April, where he finished 17th;[30] after five races with the team, and a DNQ at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Norick moved to Braun Racing for the final two events of his 2003 season, finishing 31st at Daytona and 29th at Chicagoland Speedway in July;[31] these were the final NASCAR-sanctioned events that Norick would compete in.

Post-NASCAR life

Norick currently is a professional radio-controlled car driver, also producing parts and equipment for the sport, operating tracks, and organizing professional competitions.[32] He is also the former owner of Victory Lane Indoor Karting Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, which he founded and operated before selling to Fred Ogrim in 2007, prior to a move to Arizona,[33] where Norick occasionally competes in local sprint car and short track racing events.[34]

Norick currently resides in Arizona; he is married to Darcey, who also races remote-control cars, and both are involved in mounted shooting events.[35] He is also involved in the construction industry, and in 2011 jointly applied to operate a medicinal marijuana dispensary in Scottsdale, Arizona.[36] He also competes in regional sprint car competition.[37]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Busch Series

Craftsman Truck Series

Rolex Sports Car Series

(key) Bold – Pole Position. (Overall Finish/Class Finish).

24 Hours of Daytona

(key)

References

  1. ↑ "Home is where the hurt is: Oklahoma City mayor finds solace in son's racing". The Miami Herald. March 15, 1997. p. 1D.
  2. ↑ Young, Roger T. (October 1990). "Hizzoner of Holeshot". American Motorcyclist. American Motorcyclist Association. 44 (10): 11–12. ISSN 0277-9358.
  3. ↑ "The Next Generation: Rutherford IV takes his chances behind the wheel in Dallas Grand Prix". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. September 18, 1993. pp. Sports 1.
  4. 1 2 Grabowski, Steven (May 30, 1997). "Puck fuels truck for Norick". Boston Herald. p. 85.
  5. ↑ "Florida Dodge Dealers 400". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Fort Lauderdale, FL. March 18, 1996.
  6. ↑ "Lance Norick (1996)". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  7. ↑ "Lance Norick – 1996 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  8. ↑ Beeby, Gale (March 21, 1997). "NHL skates into the world of fast trucking". Toronto Star. Toronto, Ontario. p. D12.
  9. ↑ "Lance Norick – 1997 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  10. ↑ "Race headquarters". Palo Verde Valley Times. Blythe, CA. May 8, 1998. p. 2.
  11. ↑ "Lance Norick – 1998 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  12. ↑ "California Speedway Notebook: Palmdale's Harvick Wins". Daily News of Los Angeles. Los Angeles, CA. July 19, 1998. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  13. ↑ "Lance Norick – NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Results (races)". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  14. ↑ McKee, Sandra (March 14, 1999). "Sponsorship deals not always all they're written up to be". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, MD. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  15. 1 2 "Lance Norick – 1999 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  16. ↑ "Truck drivers break in rain tires". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. Spartanburg, SC. June 26, 1999. p. C5.
  17. ↑ Lance, Dave (June 18, 2000). "Biffle wins inaugural Kroger 225". Dayton Daily News. Dayton, OH.
  18. ↑ "Lance Norick – 2000 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  19. ↑ "It's time to move on". The Miami Herald. Miami, FL. February 25, 2000. p. 1D.
  20. ↑ "Truck Series notebook". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. August 22, 2001. p. 2B.
  21. ↑ "Lance Norick – 2001 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  22. ↑ Rodman, Dave (May 13, 2002). "Norick finds sponsorship for full season". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  23. ↑ "Lance Norick – 2002 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  24. ↑ Adamczyk, Jay (December 10, 2002). "Jayski's Silly Season Site: December 2002 CTS Archive". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  25. ↑ "Express Personnel Services extends Nascar sponsorship". The Journal Record. Oklahoma City, OK. January 29, 2003. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  26. ↑ "Truck series vet to run 24". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Daytona Beach, FL. January 28, 2003. p. 5B.
  27. ↑ "Rob Morgan". TruSpeed Motorsports. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  28. ↑ "Haywood/France Team to Win Homestead Grand-Am". SPEED Channel. Fox Sports. February 28, 2003. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  29. ↑ "Grubb to drive for Norick at Bristol". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports. March 21, 2003. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  30. ↑ "Lineups, Results – Motorsports". Wichita Eagle. Wichita, KS. April 13, 2003. p. 5D.
  31. ↑ "Lance Norick – 2003 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  32. ↑ Rodman, Dave (September 1, 2005). "Mayfield's Map to ... California". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  33. ↑ Tannenbaum, Fred (October 29, 2007). "Taking a new turn". Charlotte Business Journal. Charlotte, NC. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  34. ↑ Ames, Keith (July 22, 2011). "Four Straight for Ziehl! Three's Company for Hussack, Huffman, & Huebner!". Tucson Citizen. Tucson, AZ. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  35. ↑ "Darcey Norick". Arizona Cowboy Mounted Shooters Association. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  36. ↑ Corbett, Peter (March 12, 2011). "Scottsdale gets another marijuana dispensary request". The Arizona Republic. Phoenix, AZ. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  37. ↑ "Oklahoma scene: Oklahoma City native Lance Norick wins sprint car race in New Mexico". The Oklahoman. Oklahoma City, OK. September 3, 2012. Retrieved 2015-12-12.

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