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TOMMY MORGAN – Baltimore, Maryland Having spent nine of his 40 years in racing as a NASCAR Crew Chief, veteran mechanic Tommy Morgan becomes Crew Chief Barry Dodson’s second set of eyes and ears behind the scenes at the Key Motorsports race shop.
Having managed the racing activities of no less than eight well-known NASCAR drivers that included five years with Jeff Burton and the #9 Roush Racing Busch Morgan’s racing background includes work with teams in the sprint car and motorcross divisions from the late 1960’s through the 80’s before moving into NASCAR. In just his second year working for Whitcomb Racing, Tommy helped Derrike Cope win two Winston Cup Series races in 1990 including the prestigious Daytona 500. Stints with race teams preparing racecars for the likes of drivers Jimmy Means, Ted Musgrave and Steve Grissom followed and started a streak that saw Morgan-led teams in six different seasons claim a total of 13 victories with Burton driving to 11 of them. In his career as a NASCAR Crew Chief, Morgan guided teams to an impressive total of 52 top five and 77 top ten finishes in just 140 starts. His last two stints as a Crew Chief came in 2002 for drivers Kasey Kahne and Ron Hornaday, Jr. Morgan lists the late Dale Earnhardt as his racing hero and John Wayne as his real life idol, while his passion in racing is to finish and win races.
Tommy is married to wife Barbara for nearly 30 years, and the couple has raised four children, mainly in their current hometown of Mooresville, NC.
LANCE HOOPER –
Los Angeles, California
The former NASCAR Craftsman Truck, Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series driver now turned Crew Chief returns for his second tour at Key Motorsports as signal caller for the diversified team’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series program.
The Los Angeles, California-born Hooper served as Crew Chief for Key Motorsports for part of two seasons beginning in 2005, moving with the team in September 2005 from its original home base in Chesapeake, BA to its current shop in Lance will again oversee Key’s entire truck racing operation and will call the shots on race day. The 6’, 200-pounder actually began his racing career in his native California as a driver, capturing 62 wins in just 108 starts and earning four championships in three different NASCAR Divisions from 1990 to 1996. Lance was the NASCAR Winston Racing Series king in 1991 and 1992 driving late models at the famed Saugus Speedway before moving up the competition ladder into the NASCAR Southwest Tour in 1994 – eventually winning a championship in that circuit in 1995. Moving up yet another level to the NASCAR Winston West Series in 1996, Lance carted off yet another crown that very season which jettisoned his career to the East Coast and competitive driving action from 1997 through 2005 in NASCAR’s top three touring Series. In this limited, 106-race stretch over this 9-season period, Hooper earned four top ten finishes and two outside poles in 21 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts. He also raced 10 times in the Sprint Cup Series and 75 times in the Craftsman Truck Series and also found time to start five ARCA Series events before moving onto the pit box for keeps in 2005 with Glynn Motorsports and then Key Motorsports in NCTS. An avid snowboarder who now lives in relatively snow-free Mooresville, NC, Hooper is married to wife Deanne and has a 17-year-old daughter, Nicole, from a previous marriage. Lance lists his father as his real-life hero and the late Dale Earnhardt as his racing hero and all he wants to do in racing now as a crew chief is win! His most memorable racing experience was driving in two of the three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series exhibition races that were held in Japan in the mid 1990’s, competing for Richard Jackson Motorsports in the two road course events at the Suzuka Motorsports Park.
GARY ROBERT SHOWALTER - Amherst, Ohio
Gary has done pretty much everything there is to do in racing from a team perspective – mechanic, body hanger, painter, car chief, truck chief, crew chief, jack man and tire changer. He has also pretty much seen and done it all in the Blessed with uncanny patience and a desire to lead by example, Showalter has found success working primarily in two of NASCAR’s three leading touring circuits – the Busch and Craftsman Truck Series. Gary’s past experience has found him working with the likes of such drivers as Coy and J.D. Gibbs at Joe Gibbs Racing, with Butch Miller and the late Kenny Irwin at Liberty Racing, with former NCTS standout Randy Tolsma at Impact Racing and more recently with Andy Houston at Billy Ballew Motorsports, Kelly Sutton at Sutton Motorsports and Jason White at Pennington Motorsports. Gary’s success and knowledge have also spawned budding careers for his two sons in NASCAR competition. Oldest son Chris is the Truck Chief at Morgan-Dollar Racing in the Craftsman Truck Series while Robert (“Little Showie”) is now a fabricator at Wyler Racing. Gary’s racing hero is Mark Martin, so it makes perfect sense that he lists his main objective in racing to compete with the very best. Gary is married to his wife Cindy for nearly 36 years and resides in Huntersville, NC. He is a 1972 graduate of Firelands High School in Oberlin, OH where he played football, baseball and basketball before setting out on his racing career. He is an avid hunter and fisherman.
JEFF O’FARRELL – Chambersburg, Pennsylvania The resident “computer whiz” at Key Motorsports, O’Farrell holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science from Wilson College and manages the organization’s computer and information systems.
An avid rock climber and Army veteran, O’Farrell designed a computer program called “Track Set-Up” that captures and stores set-up data for the highly Married to Kathy and the father of two children and grandparents of three grandsons (Brayden Jay O’Farrell was born to Jeff’s son, Brody, and his wife on June 12 of this year), Jeff has been with Key Motorsports since 2003, moving with the team from Chesapeake, VA to its new North Carolina shop. He has added a variety of mechanical work to his areas of responsibility for the race team, and when Key Motorsports crewmembers pit their race truck, Jeff is the catch can specialist.
Before joining Key Motorsports, Jeff worked in the satellite telecommunications industry, developing new systems that offered clients in the cruise line industry easier routing, tracking and billing capabilities.
TIM TAYLOR – Memphis, Tennessee Tim brings 15 years of much diversified racing experience to Key Motorsports with his prime responsibility to transport the team’s race trucks to the race track.
The 51-year-old, nicknamed “Toolman” by his co-workers, spent five years early in his racing career as a mechanic and fabricator in go-karts. He also toiled with race teams in the On Dirt Series with Bob Seelman Racing in the upper Midwest, the A stint in the SCCA Trans-Am Series with Rocketsports Racing added to his resume that was later strengthened with work in the highly competitive USAC Silver Crown open wheel and World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series. Tim found his way into stock cars later in his career, most recently in ARCA Supercar Series competition with Cleary Motorsports and Norm Benning Racing. Tim and his wife, Kim, have two children and will maintain residences in both his current home town of Lansing, Michigan and soon in the Mooresville, North Carolina area. He lists playing the guitar, cars and do-it-yourself projects as his hobbies; the late Dale Earnhardt as his racing hero, and his older sister Trish as his real life hero. He also served in the United States Army. Tim’s goal at Key Motorsports is to work as hard as he can to help the team win races.
CLINT LEONARD MYRICK – Fountain Valley, California
The nephew of former, full-time Key Motorsports transport driver and racing veteran Doyle Myrick, Clint has made the move up from volunteer worker to full-time status for his first job in North Carolina after moving here from California during the Christmas holiday. Handling a variety of different jobs in the shop including parts running and utility work, Clint serves as a pit set-up man and gas runner during race day for the #40 Key Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado. Racing is nothing new for the 18-year-old who has worked for various race teams off and on since he was 15 while tagging along with his uncle. Now living in Mooresville, NC, Clint loves slot car racing and skateboarding, played soccer in high school and lists the late Dale Earnhardt as his racing hero. The 5’ 11”, 198-pounder wants to learn everything he can about the racing business with plans to make it his career while working in the South.
DANIEL MORGAN - Baltimore County, Maryland
Daniel is the son of Key Motorsports Director of Competition and the team’s NASCAR Nationwide Series program Crew Chief Tommy Morgan and returns for his third stint with the organization on a part-time basis. The 22-year-old Morgan, who first served as a part-time race day tire changer for the #40 Key Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado race trucks in 2006, became a full-timer when his father stepped up from Shop Foreman to his current position in May of last year. After leaving the organization later in the 2007 season for other racing industry opportunities, Daniel is back and now works as a part-time mechanic and primarily in the preparation of the team’s Nationwide Series race cars. Daniel will also be a race day tire changer for the team in both the Craftsman Truck and Nationwide Series races. Daniel has worked for several other race teams in a variety of divisions over the years and for several suppliers in the high performance industry. The diverse jobs Morgan has held in the racing industry isn’t unusual for someone of his background considering the he started going to race tracks on a regular basis with his father at a very early age. Daniel, who is single, loves to race dirt bikes and is a graduate of Lake Norman High School while living in Mooresville, NC. Daniel aspires to one day follow in the footsteps of his father and become a top Crew Chief in NASCAR competition.
ALVIN CHODORA, JR. – Chicago, Illinois The Southern Illinois University graduate has joined Key Motorsports on a part-time basis, co-driving the race truck hauler, team van and then serving as hauler manager and race day gas man while at the races.
The 6’4, 240-pound Chodora hails from the upper Alvin and his wife, Christine, who have three children, made the move south several years ago when Alvin went to work with Team Rensi for his first stint with a NASCAR team as a gas man and mechanic, this one in the Busch Series (now the Nationwide Series). Alvin had worked as a coach driver for Phoenix Racing on the Nationwide Series before joining Key Motorsports late last season on a part-time basis as a co-truck driver and gas man. An avid athlete during his younger years, particularly in football and baseball, Alvin earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Automotive and Industrial Arts at SIU, graduating in 1972. He attended Lyons Township High School in LaGrange, IL and graduated from there in 1968. A cancer survivor who loves to collect die-cast vehicles and watch Clint Eastwood movies and lists Fred Lorenzen as his NASCAR racing hero, Alvin’s fondest racing memories are the victories his ARCA teams had in races at Springfield, IL, DuQuoin, IL and Gateway International in Madison, IL. Alvin’s real life hero is his father. ERIC MONACO
– Georgetown, Massachusetts
Eric worked on a volunteer basis with Key Motorsports for most of 2007 and has returned as a part-time employee. He performs a variety of services for the team but uses all of his experiences in hopes of putting his engineering degree to good use as a member of a NASCAR team. The gangly, 6’4” Monaco is a 2005 graduate of Georgetown High School in his native Massachusetts where he graduated as a member of the National Honors Society. Eric does have some limited racing experience to draw from, having worked for a team in the Strictly Stock Division at Star Speedway in Epping, HN, late models at Lee USA Speedway in Lee, NH and even did some work for a team in what used to be called the NASCAR Busch North Series (now the Camping World East Series). Eric’s racing hero is former, multi-time NASCAR Busch North Series driving champion Andy Santerre while his mom and dad are his real life heroes. Eric claims that every racing experience he gets becomes his most memorable and he hopes to one day be able to make a living at his craft in NASCAR.
GERARDO OLIVO – Caracas, Venezuela
Gerardo brings a very unique sales background to Key Motorsports and will concentrate the bulk of his sales efforts towards organizations that cater and sell to the Hispanic community.
Though he was born in Venezuela, Gerardo’s family originated from Italy, and the blend of the two cultures and his ability to speak Spanish, Italian and English provides Gerardo with a unique ability to communicate to a wide range of corporations that sell primarily to minorities. Gerardo attended the University Catolica Andres Bello in his native country majoring in business. He and his family migrated to the United States in 1999, settling first in Florida where they were able to better grasp the English language and the American way of life. Gerardo first embarked on a sales career with Don Blas International – a catering company - in Weston, FL and later worked in sales for VR Business Brokers in Coral Springs from 2004 to 2006. He moved his family to the Charlotte, NC area seeking better weather conditions and sales opportunities. He served as an outside sales representative for Enlace Spanish Yellow Pages in Charlotte selling advertising before making the decisive job switch to Key Motorsports. The 37-year-old Olivo has been married to wife Denyse for 12 years and the couple has three children in sons Alfredo (11) and Andre (9) and daughter Ivana (7). Since moving to Charlotte, Gerardo has become a NASCAR fan and followed the industry in a more than casual manner. He learned enough about the racing industry to list the late Dale Earnhardt as his racing idol. NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino is the most famous person Gerardo has met and that event helped spark his love of the Miami Dolphins football team. Gerardo is an avid tennis and soccer player. PART-TIME SHOP/RACE DAY MEMBERS >> Molly Houser - Office Manager/Bookkeeper Ethan Marquardt - Mechanic & Race Day Tire Carrier Corey Ott - Race Day Tire Changer Jacki Zschoche - Scorer Bruce Casbar - Scorer Chris Stidd - Volunteer race shop worker This site was developed and is maintained by M & M Web Development. Best viewed at 800x600 or higher, 4.0 browsers and above. |
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Series cars, Morgan is in charge of race truck preparation at Key Motorsports. His job is simple while the rest of the team is racing, and that is to get the race trucks prepared for the next race on the schedule.
Mooresville, NC. Hooper left for a 2-plus season stint with ThorSport Racing and helped guide Willie Allen to the 2007 NCTS Rookie of the Year crown.
sophisticated NASCAR racing market. This system gives race teams multi-user access to critical set-up information and eliminates a lot of time and guesswork.
Midwest but began his racing career there 15 years ago tooling around as a volunteer then part time with several ARCA/ReMax
Super Car Series teams including Tripp Motorsports, Bob Dotter Racing and Bob Williams Racing.
Eric is a full-time college student, majoring in Mechanical Engineering at UNC Charlotte where he is completing his junior year.
