Chad Little

Chad Little (born April 29, 1963 in Spokane, Washington) is a former NASCAR driver. He holds a degree in marketing from Washington State University, and a law degree from Gonzaga University. While attending Washington State University he joined the Delta Upsilon fraternity.

Little currently works as NASCAR as a managing director for technical inspection and officiating. Little had previously been director of the Camping World Truck Series, as well as the director of racing development for Mexico as well as the Whelen Modified Tour.^[1] He keeps regular office hours in the sanctioning body's research and development center in Concord, North Carolina. He also was a part-time studio analyst for Speed Channel. He is the father of Jesse Little.

Early years

Little began racing the short tracks in Washington in the mid-1980s. He soon began racing in the American Speed Association West late model series, the NASCAR Northwest Tour Series and the NASCAR Winston West Series. One year after being named the NASCAR Winston West Rookie of the Year, Little clinched that series' championship in 1987.

Little made his NASCAR Winston Cup debut in 1986 at Riverside International Raceway, driving the No. 28 Ford owned by George Jefferson. He started 25th and finished 13th. He ran the other Riverside race that year, but finished 35th after suffering engine failure. He ran both the Riverside races the next year, finishing 15th both times in the No. 95 Coors Ford.

The following year, Little was eligible for NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year honors and signed to drive the No. 90 for Junie Donlavey. However, his best finish was an eighteenth, at the Coca-Cola 600, and he was released early in the season. In 1989, he missed United Airlines Flight 232. About a third of the passengers aboard the flight perished during its emergency landing in Iowa. In 1990, Little and his father Chuck teamed to field their own entry, the No. 19 Ford sponsored by Bull's Eye Barbecue Sauce. He ran eighteen races and had seven top-twenty finishes, garnering a 33rd-place points finish. The following season, Little made his first full-time attempt at winning the Cup championship, qualifying for 28 out of 29 races and posting a tenth-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway, finishing 27th in points.

Busch Series

In 1992, Little signed to drive the No. 66 TropArctic Ford for Cale Yarborough, but was released six races into the season. Later he caught on to the No. 9 Ford fielded by Melling Racing, and had an eighth-place finish at Talladega. He also made his Busch Series debut that year, starting and finishing 29th in the No. 37 Maxx Race Cards Oldsmobile at Watkins Glen International.

In 1993, Little, along with Greg Pollex and former NFL quarterback Mark Rypien, formed Mark Rypien Motorsports, running the No. 23 If It’s Paper-Bayer Select Ford on a limited basis that year, posting a second-place finish at Dover International Speedway. The next year, the team went full-time and Little had ten top-five finishes, finishing third in points. He also drove the No. 97 Ford at the Daytona 500 that season, finishing 29th. In 1995, Little broke through and won six races during the course of the season, including the first two races of the season, at Daytona and Rockingham, and finished second in points, behind Johnny Benson. His other wins were at Loudon, Charlotte, Talladega and South Boston. Little did not win a race the following season, however, and slipped to sixth in points. He also ran nine Cup races, five in Pollex’s No. 97 Sterling Cowboy Pontiac Grand Prix, and another four for Diamond Ridge Motorsports, posting a twentieth-place finish at Darlington Raceway,

Winston Cup

Little's 1997 Winston Cup car

In 1997, Little returned to the Cup Series, running the No. 97 Pontiac for Pollex with a sponsorship from John Deere. He finished seventh at the Food City 500, but the team struggled to make races. Late in the year, Jack Roush purchased the team to be added to his stable for 1998. Little ended 1997 36th in points.

In 1998, Little drove for Roush full-time with Jeff Hammond as crew chief. Running 32 out of 33 races, he had seven top-tens, including a second-place run at Texas, finishing behind Mark Martin, and finished a career-high 15th in points. He was unable to duplicate that performance in 1999, posting just five top-tens and finishing 23rd in points. After just one top-ten in 2000, Roush announced Little would not drive the 97 the following season. Late in the year, Little was pulled out of the car and replaced by his successor, Kurt Busch with Hammond still as crew chief. During the season, he also ran a handful of races in the Busch Series. Originally running the No. 30 for Innovative Motorsports, he was released and posted a top-ten in a one-race deal with PPI Motorsports.

Little had 217 career Cup starts in all.

Final years as driver

In 2001, Little signed to drive the No. 74 Staff America Chevrolet Monte Carlo for BACE Motorsports in the Busch Series . He had six top-tens and finished ninth in points. He started off 2002 running for BACE, but the team closed after three races due to sponsor issues. He made his final Cup start in a BACE car at Dover that year, finishing 33rd. He has not run NASCAR since.

Post-driving career

Chad later provided competition support for the NASCAR Mexico Corona Series, and became the tour director for the Whelen Modified Tour.

Starting in 2013, Chad took on the role of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series managing director.^[2] On February 2, 2015, NASCAR announced that Little would be moving into a new role, as a managing director of technical inspection and officiating. His role as director was replaced by another former driver, Elton Sawyer.^[3]

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

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NWCC	Pts	Ref
1986	Jefferson Racing	28	Ford	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	BRI	DAR	NWS	MAR	TAL	DOV	CLT	RSD 13	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	ATL	RSD 35								70th	182	^[4]
1987	Jefferson Racing	95	Ford	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	NWS	BRI	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV	POC	RSD 15	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	RSD 15	ATL								60th	236	^[5]
1988	Stoke Racing	19	Ford	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV	RSD 23	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN																			45th	405	^[6]
	Autosports Enterprises																					MCH 27	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV 15	MAR	CLT	NWS	CAR
	Jefferson Racing																														PHO 19	ATL
1989	Donlavey Racing	90	Ford	DAY 36	CAR	ATL 35	RCH 22	DAR 37	BRI	NWS	MAR 26	TAL 34	CLT 18	DOV	SON	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH 26	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	NWS	CAR	PHO	ATL								38th	602	^[7]
1990	Little Racing	19	Ford	DAY DNQ	RCH 16	CAR	ATL 19	DAR 16	BRI DNQ	NWS	MAR	TAL 15	CLT 24	DOV	SON 37	POC 18	MCH	DAY 27	POC	TAL 19	GLN	MCH 22	BRI DNQ	DAR 35	RCH 32	DOV	MAR 17	NWS 24	CLT 40	CAR 25		ATL 27								33rd	1632	^[8]
1990	Moroso Racing	20	Olds																												PHO 21									33rd	1632	^[8]
1991	Little Racing	19	Ford	DAY 14	RCH 16	CAR 22	ATL 18	DAR 36	BRI 14	NWS DNQ	MAR 27	TAL 38	CLT 25	DOV 29	SON 28	POC 23	MCH 26	DAY 29	POC 12	TAL 12	GLN 11	MCH 25	BRI 14	DAR 36	RCH 34	DOV 16	MAR 24	NWS 21	CLT 10	CAR 23	PHO 30	ATL 21								27th	2678	^[9]
1992	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	66	Ford	DAY 39	CAR 22	RCH 23	ATL 23	DAR 33	BRI 23	NWS	MAR	TAL	CLT																											31st	1669	^[10]
1992	Melling Racing	9	Ford											DOV 26	SON	POC 37	MCH 21	DAY 24	POC 17	TAL 8	GLN	MCH 17	BRI	DAR 34	RCH 27	DOV 29	MAR	NWS	CLT 33	CAR 24	PHO	ATL 17								31st	1669	^[10]
1993	Melling Racing	9	Ford	DAY 24	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	SON	CLT 34	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS											51st	216	^[11]
1993	Mark Rypien Motorsports	19	Ford																											CLT 33	CAR	PHO	ATL							51st	216	^[11]
1994		97		DAY 29	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	SON	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA	POC	TAL	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL						68th	81	^[12]
1995				DAY DNQ	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	SON	CLT 42	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA	POC	TAL 18	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT DNQ	CAR	PHO DNQ	ATL						53rd	146	^[13]
1996			Pontiac	DAY 33	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL DNQ		CLT 43	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA	POC	TAL DNQ	IND	GLN	MCH 36							CLT 22	CAR	PHO	ATL 22						44th	627	^[14]
	JTC Racing	45	Chevy										SON DNQ
	Diamond Ridge Motorsports	29	Chevy																						BRI 23	DAR 20	RCH 40	DOV 41	MAR DNQ	NWS
1997	Mark Rypien Motorsports	97	Pontiac	DAY DNQ	CAR DNQ	RCH 34	ATL 19	DAR 27	TEX 26	BRI 8	MAR 42	SON DNQ	TAL 34	CLT DNQ	DOV 31	POC DNQ	MCH 25	CAL 19	DAY 42	NHA 30	POC 28	IND 42	GLN 42																	36th	2081	^[15]
1997	Roush Racing		Pontiac																					MCH 42	BRI 20	DAR 11	RCH 40	NHA 28	DOV 29	MAR 35	CLT 23	TAL 40	CAR 16	PHO 25	ATL 18					36th	2081	^[15]
1998			Ford	DAY 7	CAR 21	LVS 10	ATL DNQ	DAR 17	BRI 35	TEX 2	MAR 16	TAL 34	CAL 6	CLT 35	DOV 37	RCH 13	MCH 16	POC 30	SON 23	NHA 22	POC 16	IND 28	GLN 16	MCH 10	BRI 23	NHA 14	DAR 18	RCH 12	DOV 17	MAR 36	CLT 8	TAL 8	DAY 20	PHO 20	CAR 40	ATL 11				15th	3423	^[16]
1999				DAY 9	CAR 21	LVS 14	ATL 9	DAR 28	TEX 13	BRI 24	MAR 17	TAL 42	CAL 22	RCH 35	CLT 24	DOV 28	MCH 28	POC 32	SON 16	DAY 29	NHA 24	POC 22	IND 43	GLN 14	MCH 6	BRI 30	DAR 20	RCH 42	NHA 28	DOV 7	MAR 31	CLT 18	TAL 36	CAR 21	PHO 16	HOM 39	ATL 6			23rd	3193	^[17]
2000				DAY 23	CAR 18	LVS 19	ATL 6	DAR 15	BRI 23	TEX 13	MAR 27	TAL 25	CAL 15	RCH 39	CLT 20	DOV 20	MCH 32	POC 17	SON 25	DAY 16	NHA 42	POC 20	IND 19	GLN 12	MCH 22	BRI 30	DAR 21	RCH 29	NHA 33	DOV	MAR	CLT	TAL 18	CAR	PHO	HOM	ATL			32nd	2634	^[18]
2002	BACE Motorsports	74	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL DNQ	RCH	CLT DNQ	DOV 33	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	CAR	PHO	HOM	77th	64	^[19]

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
1989	Donlavey Racing	Ford	28	36
1990	Little Racing	Ford	DNQ
1991	Little Racing	Ford	30	14
1992	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	Ford	14	39
1993	Melling Racing	Ford	17	24
1994	Mark Rypien Motorsports	Ford	17	29
1995		Ford	DNQ
1996		Pontiac	30	33
1997		Pontiac	DNQ
1998	Roush Racing	Ford	21	7
1999			26	9
2000			29	23

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	NBGNC	Pts	Ref
1992	Little Racing	37	Olds	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	MAR	DAR	BRI	HCY	LAN	DUB	NZH	CLT	DOV	ROU	MYB	GLN 29	VOL	NHA	TAL	IRP	ROU	MCH	NHA	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	CLT	MAR	CAR	HCY				120th	76	^[20]
1993	Mark Rypien Motorsports	23	Ford	DAY	CAR	RCH	DAR 33	BRI	HCY	ROU	MAR	NZH	CLT 7	DOV 2	MYB	GLN	MLW	TAL 29	IRP 37	MCH 33	NHA 37	BRI 22	DAR 3	RCH	DOV	ROU	CLT 14	MAR	CAR 41	HCY	ATL 23							32nd	1171	^[21]
1994				DAY 3	CAR 15	RCH 22	ATL 14	MAR 27	DAR 18	HCY 22	BRI 24	ROU 15	NHA 5	NZH 11	CLT 34	DOV 17	MYB 5	GLN 8	MLW 7	SBO 5	TAL 6	HCY 8	IRP 5	MCH 2	BRI 12	DAR 5	RCH 14	DOV 15	CLT 4	MAR 5	CAR 5							3rd	3662	^[22]
1995				DAY 1	CAR 1*	RCH 32	ATL 29*	NSV 2	DAR 4	BRI 3	HCY 23*	NHA 1	NZH 19	CLT 1	DOV 9	MYB 32	GLN 2*	MLW 8	TAL 1	SBO 1*	IRP 20	MCH 21	BRI 4	DAR 40	RCH 16	DOV 13	CLT 34	CAR 35	HOM 26									2nd	3284	^[23]
1996			Pontiac	DAY 19	CAR 33	RCH 20	ATL 15	NSV 15	DAR 37	BRI 12	HCY 11	NZH 11	CLT 13	DOV 29	SBO 8	MYB 16	GLN 8	MLW 21	NHA 32	TAL 21	IRP 27	MCH 11	BRI 25	DAR 12	RCH 3	DOV 9	CLT 4	CAR 10	HOM 7									5th	2984	^[24]
1998	Roush Racing	9	Ford	DAY	CAR	LVS	NSV	DAR	BRI	TEX	HCY	TAL	NHA	NZH	CLT	DOV	RCH	PPR	GLN	MLW	MYB	CAL	SBO	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR 30	RCH	DOV	CLT	GTY	CAR	ATL	HOM				108th	73	^[25]
2000	Innovative Motorsports	30	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX DNQ	NSV	TAL DNQ	CAL 12	RCH DNQ	NHA	CLT 31	DOV DNQ	SBO	MYB	GLN	MLW	NZH	PPR	GTY	IRP													66th	398	^[26]
	PPI Motorsports	97	Ford																							MCH 10	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV
	BACE Motorsports	74	Chevy																												CLT DNQ	CAR 32	MEM	PHO	HOM DNQ
2001				DAY 9	CAR 15	LVS 16	ATL 15	DAR 24	BRI 12	TEX 31	NSH 27	TAL 11	CAL 18	RCH 20	NHA 14	NZH 20	CLT 21	DOV 11	KEN 6	MLW 20	GLN 16	CHI 17	GTY 13	PPR 16	IRP 3	MCH 16	BRI 9	DAR 13	RCH 6	DOV 4	KAN 36	CLT 17	MEM 16	PHO 13	CAR 17	HOM 27		9th	3846	^[27]
2002				DAY 14	CAR 24	LVS 21	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH	TAL	CAL	RCH	NHA	NZH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	GTY	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	ATL	CAR	PHO	HOM	69th	312	^[28]

SuperTruck Series

NASCAR SuperTruck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	NSTSC	Pts	Ref
1995	RPM Racing	11	Ford	PHO	TUS	SGS	MMR	POR	EVG	I70	LVL	BRI	MLW	CNS	HPT	IRP	FLM	RCH 32	MAR DNQ	NWS DNQ	SON	MMR	PHO	69th	162	^[29]

References

↑ http://www.sportingnews.com/nascar/story/2012-12-19/nascar-camping-world-truck-series-chad-little-director-wayne-auton-nationwide
↑ "NASCAR revises competition personnel structure". NASCAR.com. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
↑ "NASCAR moves Chad Little to inspection role; Elton Sawyer to lead Truck Series". Fox Sports. February 2, 2015. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 1992 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 1993 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 1994 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 1995 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 1996 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 1998 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 2000 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 2001 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 2002 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
↑ "Chad Little – 1995 NASCAR SuperTruck Series by Craftsman Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 21, 2015.

External links

Chad Little driver statistics at Racing-Reference
Archived NASCAR.com page

Achievements
Preceded by Hershel McGriff	NASCAR Winston West Series champion 1987	Succeeded by Roy Smith

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