Since Norris was young, car culture and automobiles have been a central part of his life. Growing up, his father was the stereotypical 50’s hotrodder with the nostalgic flattop haircut and a 1929 Model A roadster that he built. Later, his Dad would go on to drag race a front-engine “slingshot” and eventually do some circle track racing.

Norris grew up hearing those stories and that was the spark that turned him into a car guy. By the time Norris was a senior in high school, he was bracket racing at multiple tracks in the Midwest and later did some stock car racing.

Norris started his business in 1982 in a 4-car garage in a residential part of town. Back then he was doing machine shop work, boring blocks, valve jobs, etc… his customers were racers, street rodders, and shops. The business grew into doing complete engines, and eventually, it turned into a factory where they re-manufactured engines. That business eventually topped out at 100 engines a day.

Today BluePrint Engines is the authority in crate engines and has produced over 400,000 crate engines. BluePrint Engines operates out of a 210,000 sq foot state-of- the-art facility in Kearney, Nebraska.

Norris has served on the SEMA Board of Directors since 2022.