Eric Norris

Personal life

Norris was born in Redondo Beach, California, the son of Dianne (née Holecheck) and Walker, Texas Ranger star Chuck Norris.

Norris has lived with his wife, Stephanie, since circa 1993 and they have four children together: three daughters, Camrynn (born 1995), Chloe (born 1998) and Chantz (born 2000), and one son Cash (born 2010). The family lives in California.

Racing career

Norris began racing in 1982 with his father in the SCORE Off-Road Series, but retired to study at Arizona State University. Following his graduation, he began racing at Willow Springs Raceway and the Formula Ford Series.

Norris made his Craftsman Truck Series debut in 1997, running five races in the No. 02 Wolverine Vinyl Siding Ford F-150 for Ultra Motorsports. His best finish that season came at Watkins Glen International, where he finished 13th. He did not run again until 1999, when he ran both races at Texas Motor Speedway. He finished 35th in the first race, which he ran with Ultra's No. 02 Ford, and 22nd in the second race, driving the No. 4 Coca-Cola Dodge Ram for Bobby Hamilton Racing. That season, he began running in the West Series full-time, finishing tenth in points. In 2000, he made one start in the No. 5 Ultra truck at Texas, but finished 35th after being caught up in a lap 2 crash. He also won his first NASCAR race at Mesa Marin Raceway in the West Series and finished seventh in the series points.

Norris ran the No. 32 Jani-King Chevrolet Silverado for Matt Stowe in three 2001 races. His best finish of the season was a 17th at Texas. In the fall, a 23rd at California Speedway was the first time that Norris ran at a track other than Texas since 1997. He finished fifth in the standings in the West Series, but did not win another race. He won the championship by 119 points in 2002, winning twice and leading the most laps of any driver during the season.

Norris did not return to the Craftsman Truck Series until 2004, when once again, Jim Smith and Ultra Motorsports gave Norris a two-race deal. Norris was 36th in his first start at Texas, but in his next start at Homestead-Miami, Norris finished 14th. In 2005, Norris ran four races, all for Green Light Racing. In his first start of the year at Texas, Norris had his best career weekend to date, churning in his best career start and best career finish of 12th. There, he also led his first career lap. He only finished one of the other three starts, which was a 20th at Kansas Speedway.

He made his Busch Series debut in 2005, running a pair of races for MacDonald Motorsports. He qualified 35th and finished 41st in his debut at California in February, after the No. 72 P4OT.com Chevy broke an engine. Norris then returned at Las Vegas, finishing 35th, ten laps off the pace.

Norris returned to Green Light early in 2006, running their No. 07 truck at California. However, an early crash put him to 35th in the results. Norris competed in some more races for Green Light in 2006 with some good runs.

Stunt career, acting, and directing

In addition to his racing career, Norris has done many stunt performances and acting, often working alongside his father. Similar to fellow driver and stuntman Stanton Barrett, Norris has done stunts for Office Space, National Treasure, and Walker, Texas Ranger, among many others. He has also appeared in Walker, The Delta Force, Top Dog, Sidekicks, Invaders from Mars, Universal Soldier and Rescue Me. He directed the 2002 made-for-TV thriller The President's Man: A Line in the Sand, starring his father.

Filmography

NASCAR

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

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.)