Ty Norris | |
|---|---|
 Norris at Martinsville Speedway in 2023 | |
| Born | Tyrone Young Norris Jr. July 19, 1965 Sumter, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Delaware State University |
| Occupation | Motorsports executive |
| Organization(s) | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (1996–2004) Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (2004–2005) Michael Waltrip Racing (2005–2015) Spire Sports + Entertainment (2015–2021) Trackhouse Racing (2021-present) |
Tyrone Young Norris Jr. (born July 19, 1965) is an American motorsports executive.
Norris started in NASCAR as a sports writer after studying journalism at Delaware State University. After covering several races for the Delaware State News, Norris left journalism for a job as the manager of media relations and event operations with RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company in 1990.
Norris caught the attention of Dale Earnhardt as the 7-time champion began building his own organization Dale Earnhardt, Inc. In 1996, Earnhardt hired him to serve as executive vice president of motorsports for DEI. He played an integral role in helping the organization prepare for its entry into NASCAR's top level of competition in 1998. During the next 8 years, he, Earnhardt, and others helped build DEI into a motorsports juggernaut with the team winning 65 NASCAR races and 4 championships from 1996 to 2004. Norris left DEI prior to the 2004 Daytona 500 after a disagreement with owner Teresa Earnhardt, that resulted in Teresa giving Norris a choice of signing a termination letter or taking a 67% reduction in pay to remain with the organisation.
In 2004, successful businessman Bruton Smith hired Norris to serve as the vice president of special projects for Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI). Norris oversaw the special projects associated with Smith's motorsports conglomerate, which features ownership of tracks in Atlanta, Georgia; Bristol, Tennessee, Charlotte, North Carolina; Las Vegas, Nevada; Fort Worth, Texas; and Sonoma, California; as well as of several industry-supporting companies, such as the Performance Racing Network (PRN), The Source International (QVC's motorsports merchandise partner), and SMI Properties.
In 2013, Norris was involved in controversy after the Federated Auto Parts 400, where he was serving as spotter for Brian Vickers. After MWR driver Clint Bowyer spun out to force a caution, Norris directed Vickers to pit on the restart in order to help another MWR driver Martin Truex Jr. win the tiebreaker for a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup with Ryan Newman. As it developed, Newman was pushed so far back in the pitting cycle that he lost several positions and ultimately finished third, not high enough to break the tie with Truex. On September 9, NASCAR decided to suspend Norris indefinitely, determining that his order to have Vickers pit was a deliberate attempt to manipulate the Chase standings. It also docked all three MWR teams 50 driver/owner points before all point totals were reset for the Chase—a move which knocked Truex Jr. out of the Chase in favor of Newman. MWR was also fined a NASCAR-record $300,000. [1]
Following the incident at Richmond and the hefty fine that followed, NASCAR suspended Norris indefinitely from all competition. Norris was reinstated after ten races and soon returned to MWR. [2] He would act as a spotter for Vickers for a few races before transitioning to a public/sponsor relations position. However, MWR was never able to fully recover after the penalties and was eventually forced to close its doors in 2015.
In late 2015, he joined marketing agency Spire Sports + Entertainment, eventually becoming president of the firm. [3] [4] When Spire expanded to form a Cup team in 2018, they picked up Norris as the president of the new Spire Motorsports. As of 2020, Norris was no longer listed on Spire's website in any capacity.
In 2020 it was reported that Ty Norris was a partner in Justin Marks' Trackhouse Racing, who competes in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Michael Curtis Waltrip is an American former professional stock car racing driver, racing commentator, racing team owner and published author. He is the younger brother of three-time NASCAR champion and racing commentator Darrell Waltrip. Waltrip is a two-time winner of the Daytona 500, having won the race in 2001 and 2003. He is also a pre-race analyst for the NASCAR Cup Series and color commentator for the Xfinity Series and the Craftsman Truck Series broadcasts for Fox Sports. He last raced in the 2017 Daytona 500, driving the No. 15 Toyota Camry for Premium Motorsports. All four of his NASCAR Cup Series wins came on superspeedways driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc.
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The NASCAR operation of Chip Ganassi Racing was established in 1989 by Cuban-American businessman Felix Sabates. The team was known as SABCO Racing, formed after Sabates purchased an R&D team from Hendrick Motorsports. The team was renamed Team SABCO in 1996. In 2001, Ganassi bought 80% of the ownership interest in the then-two-car team to form Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates; the same year the team switched from Chevrolet to full-works Dodge and received a same partnership treatment as Penske Racing, Evernham Motorsports, Bill Davis Racing, Melling Racing and Petty Enterprises teams. In 2009, Ganassi partnered with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. owner Teresa Earnhardt to merge their NASCAR operations into Ganassi's shop and entered under the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates banner, while returning to Chevrolet equipment. The NASCAR team dropped the Earnhardt name in 2014, and Ganassi revealed that Teresa was never truly involved with the team. Rob Kauffman, chairman of the Race Team Alliance, purchased a stake in the team in 2015. The NASCAR program has fielded full-time entries for notable drivers including Kyle Petty, Joe Nemechek, Sterling Marlin, Jimmy Spencer, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jamie McMurray, Kyle Larson, Kurt Busch, and Ross Chastain. After already having his name removed from the team previously, at the end of the 2019 season, Sabates announced his retirement as a co-owner from the team, taking effect after the 2020 season.