Chuck Norris' Son Eric Is A NASCAR Champion

Aug 13, 2021 by apost team

Chuck Norris may be one of America’s most manly men. Not only did he serve in the U.S. Air Force, but he also studied martial arts in Korea in the 1950s. With his good looks and fighting expertise, Chuck made a name for himself in Hollywood, starring next to Bruce Lee, another classic martial arts expert.

Because of Chuck’s high profile and many roles in action movies, the actor became somewhat of a symbol of manliness in the same vein as action movie heroes like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jason Statham.

The internet had its fun with his action hero persona, making plenty of internet memes about how Chuck Norris “uses pepper spray to season his meat,” or how he “built the hospital that he was born in.”

In addition to being the father of a million memes and an international manly man, Chuck is also known as “Dad” to three sons and two daughters. His legendary fighting spirit has inevitably been passed down to the next generation, and several of the actor’s offspring are already following his path.

Chuck, the martial artist and star of action films like “Way of the Dragon,” “Lone Wolf McQuade” and “Invasion U.S.A.” was married for 30 years to Dianne Holechek and had three kids before calling it quits. He is now happily remarried now to Gena O'Kelley, according to Biography.com. Are you ready for a look at what the Norris clan is like these days? One family member that seems to have taken on the task of becoming the country’s next manly man is Chuck’s second son, Eric Norris.

Eric Norris

The second son of Chuck and Dianne went into show business, but he primarily works as a stuntman behind the scenes. He’s gradually learned the ropes of Hollywood, and coordinator roles have led to new projects as a director himself, according to his IMDb page. Thus, Eric is not only following in his father’s footsteps, but he’s copying his older brother, Mike Norris, as well in the movie business. On the side, the junior Norris is an avid racing enthusiast. As such, the well-to-do speed freak is a semi-professional race car driver in his free time.

“My whole childhood I loved racing, and I raced motorcycles. When I moved to Texas to do my dad’s show (‘Walker, Texas Ranger’) I was the stunt coordinator and did a bunch of stunts in it and ended up directing 18 episodes. While I was there, I got an opportunity to race some open wheel cars, like formula 2000, and I caught the bug. Later I had an opportunity to go race NASCAR Trucks,” Eric told ESPN in 2012. “We had a big sponsor, but I had never done any oval racing before so I went out and got my butt kicked because I was a road racer. After doing eight races that year, I took a step back and got my own team to race in the West Series until we won a championship in 2002.”

While Eric is no doubt a talented racer, he told ESPN in 2012 that he had to put his NASCAR career behind him due to unforeseen circumstances.

“Oh yeah, I had every intention of doing a full-time Truck or Nationwide deal, Eric said. 

apost.com

“We had a sponsor, Jani-King, for a number of years and they were awesome. Once we won our championship, we thought we were going to the next level with them, but at the last minute, something came up and they pulled out. It was December, and we gave it another month or two trying to find a sponsor, but eventually we had to close our doors. I put movies on the back burner and tried to race full-time, but unfortunately it didn’t work out.”

The Norris clan also includes Michael Ray, Dina DiCiolli, Dakota Alan and Danilee Kelly, whom we all expect to do great things in the near future.

Michael Ray Norris

As Chuck’s first-born son, Mike has been diligently keeping the karate champ’s legacy alive since the 1970s, which is when he started featuring as a performer in fighting films just like his old man. He’s appeared in plenty of cult classics and underground gems, including “Dragon Fury II” and “Babylon 5.” In recent years, he entered the world of directing with films such as “Mission Air” and “The Crossroads of Hunter Wilde,” as per his IMDb page.

Dina DiCiolli

Chuck owned up to an extramarital affair during his first year of marriage, admitting that Dina was a product of his infidelity, according to BP News. Dina's son, Dante DiCiolli, is a male model, who can be seen in photographs with his macho grandfather.

Dakota Alan & Danilee Kelly Norris

In 2001, Chuck had fraternal twins with Gena. No one knows what the future may hold with these two, but can you imagine what they’ll be like when they grow up?

What do you think of Chuck Norris’ children? Did you know that Eric was once a professional NASCAR racer? Let us know — and pass this article on to friends and family members.