Owners, Larry and LeeAnne Nash

Larry Nash

Assisting with his first engine rebuild at the age of 12, Larry's enthusiasm for performance and horsepower truly began at the dragstrip.  Larry was one of the original six founding members of the Missouri Valley Timing Association in Scribner, Nebraska.  His first hot rod was a 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner.  His first race car, which he modified by hand from the showroom floor was a 1974 Duster - built  as an NHRA Super Stock J Stick car and won the "Best Appearing Car" award on its debut NHRA race weekend.

In 1983, with a desire to go racing at the highest levels, Larry moved to Indianapolis and got his start in IndyCars working with Gary Bettenhausen.  Within a very short time, he became Gary's Chief Mechanic and established a reputation for uncompromising attention to detail.  Larry's passion for pristine equipment soon brought opportunity with other teams and drivers.

In 1985 while working for Gohr Racing and Galen Fox, Larry and Galen went to England and created the only purpose-built March Indy car with a naturally aspirated 355 cubic inch "stock block" Chevy engine. In the same year, this combination went on to set the 1 and 4 lap records at The Indianapolis Motor Speedway for an 8-cylinder Unsupercharged Stock Block with a top speed of 204.443mph.  The driver was Steve Chassey.  Despite other attempts with naturally aspirated engines, this record held until 1997 when the Indy Racing League introduce the Oldsmobile Aurora V-8.

After several years in IndyCars, Larry seized the opportunity and realized his goal to run his own operation, LP Racing, Inc., now renamed the Nash Performance Group, Inc., focusing initially on support racing series.  Again, his attention to detail, driver coaching abilities as well as his talent for making horsepower and getting it to the ground have made Nash Performance a successful preparation facility that has established records, earned pole positions and won races in numerous series competed in including:

Indy Racing League
Formula Atlantics
Shelby Can-Am
Motorola Cup
Star Mazda Championships
Formula 2000
Formula Ford
Pro Sports 2000
SCCA Sports Renault
Firehawk Endurance

Nash Performance has been proud to work with numerous drivers including but not limited to:

Gary Bettenhausen
Robbie Buhl
Steve Chassey
Jim Crawford
Emerson Fittapaldi
Davey Hamilton
Scott Harrington
Richie Hearn
Anders Krohn
Jacques Lazier
Anthony Lazzaro
Bruce May
Dennis Nalon
Mike Nish
Jeff Purner
Jeffrey Robbins
Michael Roman    
Eliseo Salazar
Sam Schmidt   
Dick Simon
Paul Tracy 

Fast Facts Associated with Indy Racing League:

Career League Starts:  46
Career Highest Start:  1st - Richmond '01 (Lazier)
Career Highest Finish: 2nd - Las Vegas '98 (Schmidt)

LeeAnne Nash

Not taking the usual path into motorsports (growing up trackside with the family), LeeAnne got her start in racing from rock n' roll radio.  With a degree from Auburn University in Mass Communications and Theater Technologies, she began her career at Turner Broadcasting Systems (TBS) and 96 Rock in Atlanta, Georgia.

Enjoying the art of promotions, in 1989 LeeAnne assumed the role as Promotion Director for Sears Point International Raceway having never seen a race.  Her first assignment was to introduce NASCAR Winston Cup to the San Francisco Bay area and to give garage tours through a garage she'd never seen.  Bob Weeks, who had been with Bill France Sr., since the early '50s gave LeeAnne her first garage tour and a host of racing yarns in preparation for her tour guide debut.  In greetings the crowd with a big ol' "Welcome to Sear Point y'all", the entire crowd starting whispering. "Listen honey, she said, y'all!"  Between the southern accent and the racing yarns, LeeAnne's motorsports career had begun.

After several seasons at Sears Point promoting NASCAR, NHRA, SCCA's Trans Am, Goodguys, AMA, and USCF Bicycle events, she moved to McKinney, Texas to work with motorsports legend Carroll Shelby as the Marketing Manager and Series Director for the Dodge Shelby Pro Series.  With an average field of 20 plus cars, the series had a unique mix of young hot shoes trying to make a name for themselves and gentlemen drivers that were enjoying racing as a hobby, the competition was best described as "serious fun!"

While working for Carroll, LeeAnne met team owner Larry Nash, who she married in 1995.  Currently, Larry and LeeAnne own and operate the Nash Performance Group together.  While Larry focuses on the mechanical and technical direction; LeeAnne provides sponsors and customers with turn-key public relations, hospitality and marketing services.

In 2001, at the request of The Indianapolis Star, LeeAnne became the featured writer for USF1.net, a website created by the Star on behalf of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with an objective to enlighten American race fans about the nuances of Formula 1 racing.

This past summer when Joie Chitwood left IMS and moved back to his Florida roots, he also left a class.   So in last August, LeeAnne was asked to add "professor" to her list of titles and take over the Survey of Motorsports course at Marion University.  She looks forward to returning again in the fall semester.

Together, Larry and LeeAnne have over 40 years of motorsports experience and work with a very talented crew with roots in drag racing, endurance racing, formula racing and hot rodding.