Lance Allen Hooper (born June 1, 1967) is a race car driver and crew chief in

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

as well as several touring divisions. Hooper attended his first race when he was just two weeks old, and also came from a long line of racing champions, including his uncle, father, and brother. Hooper last served as the driver and crew chief of the No. 44

Key Motorsports Key Motorsports (formerly The Motorsports Group and Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group) was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded by Virginia businessma ...

Chevy in the Truck Series in 2009.

Racing career

Hooper first began racing in 1990 in the

Whelen All-American Series The NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series (formerly the Whelen All-American Series, Winston Racing Series and the Dodge Weekly Series) is a points championship for NASCAR sanctioned local short track motor racing around the United States and ...

, and was named Rookie of the Year at Saugus Speedway. He went on to win the track championship there the next two years. Following that stint, Hooper moved up to the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series, and won seven races in his first year on the circuit, then won the championship in 1995. In addition to his success on Raceday, he won the pole award sixteen times, the ''Most Popular Driver'' award as well as breaking many track records. After that, he moved to the NASCAR

Winston West Series The ARCA Menards Series West, formerly the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, NASCAR AutoZone West Series, NASCAR Winston West Series and NASCAR Camping World West Series, is a regional stock car racing series owned and operated by the Automobile Racin ...

. In 1996, he won five races, as well as both the championship and the Rookie of the Year points title. That year, he made his

Winston Cup The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

debut as well, running the Dura Lube 500 and finishing 33rd in his own

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada *Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

. He soon caught the eye of owner Richard Jackson, owner of Precision Products Racing, and the two ran six races together in 1997 in the Winston Cup Series. In 1998, the two made an abbreviated bid at the

Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

championship, running 16 races and finishing in the top-20 three times. Hooper did not run much in 1999. He ran one Busch Series race for Jackson, and made an unsuccessful attempt at the

Brickyard 400 The Brickyard 400 was an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The inaugural race was held in 1994 and was the first race other than the Indianapolis 500 to be held at the Indianapolis Moto ...

with Fenley-Moore Motorsports after replacing Jeff Davis during qualifying. He returned to the sport regularly in 2000, running 13 races in the

Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of th ...

for Marty Walsh (his best finish was 15th) and four races for Alumni Motorsports in the Busch Series, including an outside pole qualifying run. Hooper made 18 Truck Series races in 2001, and had a tenth-place finish at

Nazareth Speedway Nazareth Speedway was an auto racing facility near Nazareth in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania which operated from 1910 to 2004 in two distinct course configurations. In its early years, it was a dirt twin oval layout. In 1987 it was reo ...

. Hooper also reunited with Jackson competed in a Cup race at

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maids ...

for Dark Horse Motorsports. He ran every truck race in 2002, despite switching from

Ware Racing Enterprises Rick Ware Racing (RWR) is an American motorsports team which currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the NTT IndyCar Series. History The organizational roots of RWR date back to Ware & Sons Racing with ...

to Team Racing mid-season. Hooper ran his most recent Cup race to date that year, finishing 31st at

Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Bristol is among the m ...

for

Junie Donlavey Wesley Christian "Junie" Donlavey Jr. (April 8, 1924June 9, 2014), a native of Richmond, Virginia, was the owner of Donlavey Racing; he began fielding the team in 1950. He drove for his team at first, but soon gave way to other drivers. Donlavey ...

. In 2003, Hooper began running his own entry in the Truck Series with fan-based sponsorships. He finished 24th in points that year. Hooper ran five races with

ThorSport Racing ThorSport Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The team was founded in 1996 as SealMaster Racing and is based in Sandusky, Ohio. Owned by Duke Thorson and his wife ...

, and had two top-twenty finishes in the No. 13 Silverado. He did not race again for five years, choosing to become a crew chief at the Truck level, working with ThorSport and

. He returned to the driver's seat in 2009 in the Trucks to drive the No. 44 entry for his then-employer, Key Motorsports, before finishing the year at Tagsby Racing.

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.)

Winston Cup Series

Busch Series

Camping World Truck Series

Busch North Series

Winston West Series

ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series

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

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Lance Living people 1967 births People from Palmdale, California Racing drivers from California NASCAR drivers ARCA Menards Series drivers NASCAR crew chiefs Sportspeople from Los Angeles County, California