Name: Lacey J. Hanson
Born: June 5, 1988
Hometown: Orwell, Vermont
Family: Dean and Jane Hanson (Dad and Mom)
A brother and sister and their families
Occupation: Mechanical Engineer
Interests: Sprint Cars, Motorcycles, her Mini Cooper S
Education:
2006 graduate Fair Haven Union H.S Fair Haven, VT
2008 graduate Vermont Technical College Randolph, VT
-Member of Tau Alpha Pi (Engineering Honor Society)
Sponsors:
Dean and Jane Hanson
Carl Durfee's Store - Fair Haven, VT
Whitt's Auto - Pittsford, VT
Racing History:
2004 Joined Granite State Mini Sprint Racing Club 500cc class
2007 Second in GSMS points for the year and voted “Sportsman of the Year”
2008 Champion 500 cc class
2009 Champion 500 cc class
2009 “Most Improved Driver”Sprint Cars of New England 360 class
Became first female ever to win a “SCoNE” heat race
1 top 3 finish in a “SCoNE” feature
2010 Champion 500cc class
Bear Ridge and Canaan Dirt Speedway Track Champion
Finished 11th in 2010 "SCoNE" points.
2011 Champion 500cc class & voted "Sportsman of the Year"
Finished 11th in 2011 "SCoNE" points.
2012 600cc Rookie of the Year
2016 - First Woman to win a "SCoNE" feature event - Legion Speedway.
2017 Devil's Bowl Sprint Car Track Champion
(6) Career 360ci Sprint Car Wins
While attending a race at the Canaan Fair Speedway in New Hampshire and watching the Mini Sprints race, Lacey decided that was what she wanted to do.
Family friends, Diane and Armand Boisvert of Andover, NH had previously raced minis, completely designing and building 6 cars (both 500 and 600 cc) at their machine shop, Continental Machine Inc. When Lacey expressed interest, they offered her the #33 500 cc mini sprint to see if she liked it and that was just the beginning.
Lacey, along with her mom and dad, completely disassembled and reassembled the #33 with new paint on the body and chassis. She spent most of her time at the garage when she was not in high school, where she achieved high honors in college prep classes. Because of her hard work in high school she received a full scholarship to Vermont Technical College.
When she was in college at VTC, she tore her car apart and put it back together every winter to be able to race in the spring. The day that she graduated, earning her degree in Mechanical Engineering, they left the commencement services early in order to make it to Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, VT to race that evening!
In February of 2010, thanks to Di and Armand, Lacey and her mom traveled with the Boisverts to Florida to watch the World of Outlaws race at Volusia Raceway. They also attended races at Eastbay Raceway watching other classes of sprint cars race. Although the weather was not race friendly, it was a great experience and “fueled her fire” to race on a higher level.
This year Lacey is planning to concentrating on her 360 and racing her mini for fun as time allows. She enjoys the excitement of 1/4 mile track racing but plans to race at the Empire Super Sprints events on bigger tracks in NY and Canada. Her ultimate goal is to gain experience and obtain sponsorship enough to have a racing career in the World of Outlaws. At some point, she would also like to design, build and test performance parts for full size sprint cars.