Racecar driver by weekend, teacher by weekday, Larry Hansen is a Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) semi-pro driver who has been racing Nissans for nearly two decades, while also continually developing the next generation of automotive technicians through his unique high school Motorsports program.

Hansen majored in automotive technology at College of the Redwoods, and worked as an automotive technician at various car dealerships for nine years. He began teaching in 1976 for Eureka City Schools as an automotive instructor. In 1985, after seeing a need for his students to gain more experience working with automotive technology in a real-world environment, he started a racecar club at Eureka High School (EHS) where he and the students design and fabricate a car from the ground up. Once the car has been completed, Hansen races it against professional drivers and teams, his students backing him as his pit crew.

Since the program’s conception, Hansen and his students have built five Nissans that have competed annually in the NASPORT series held at tracks all along the West Coast. Their work earned a trio of third-place point finishes since 1998 and runner-up honors in 1999. With the support of his team of students, Hansen also earned many Tough Guy awards for completing the most laps in a season and a Driver of the Year title in Portland, Ore.

Hansen’s efforts in the EHS Motorsports program have catapulted numerous students into successful automotive technology careers, including two graduates who worked on pit crews for NASCAR Winston Cup series racing.

Along with a runner-up finish in the GT3 division at the 2002 SCCA National Runoffs at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Hansen received the most prestigious award in SCCA road racing, the President’s Cup. The award is given to the driver who best demonstrates ability, competitiveness and success.

For the 2004 competition season, Hansen and his students have built a 2004 3.5-liter Nissan 350Z. Hansen has already raced the car at the Thunderhill International Raceway this year, and plans to travel to the Portland International Raceway and the Laguna Seca International Raceway. So far this year, Hansen has been asked to show the car at the Automotive International Show in San Francisco and the Nissan World Summit Meeting in Sausalito, Calif.

Larry Hansen was born in Eureka, Calif. in 1949. His wife, Lori, serves as his EHS Motorsports racing team coordinator.