[Bluteam]

TJ Hartman

My favorite thing to do is talk with children. Their answers are honest, and without motive or agenda. As opposed to years past, this past year I have found it hard to talk with children other than my own. I have had to watch them make a transformation into young adults, and I found myself wanting to salivate in the moments we still have left whereas they hang on my every word. Before one of them no longer finds my questions a fun game, but rather an inconvenient embarrassment from their father, I want to share his thoughts with you.

This is the first of a three part interview with TJ Hartman. One might think it would be easy to ask questions of their own child, or assume they would know the answers to the questions without even asking. Well occasionally, this would be true. But every now and then, and seemingly without rhyme or reason, they throw you a curve ball. It took his mother and I several weeks to figure out his problem with eating lunch at school in the first grade. When we finally explained to him that the peanut butter and jelly was still just that, and it did not matter if he was eating at home, or in the school lunchroom, it was still the same sandwich that he loved. That explanation worked out great until Christmas break came. Upon returning after the holiday break, the school nurse was once again contacting us to say TJ had a tummy ache in the middle of the day. A quick inspection of the school cafeteria revealed they had changed the table arrangements, and we realized TJ was destined to be a creature of habit.

Or was he? That is what we are about to find out. Is it a gene that deciphers his likes and dislikes, or is it a well conceived plan stemming from his personality to attain the outcome he desires? Is he more like his father, or does his mother best represent how he has developed? Please - no preferences for his style from the readers.

Many of you have read about, or followed along with TJ through his 10 years of racing - starting with quarter midgets and culminating with his transformation into an adult world of racing sprint cars. You might assume that you know him as well as we do. As we progress into the mind of this 16 year old, I think you're going to find a few surprises - just as we did.

Here are his thoughts - please enjoy.

CA: Lets start at the very beginning TJ. Tell the readers how you got started. How far back do you remember? Can you recall seeing a 1/4 midget for the first time?

TJ: I remember going to someone's shop to look at a car, and I remember trying to find a helmet that fit. But I don't remember the car. I actually wanted a dirt bike and you said "NO"! You told me we were not going to race - just practice. I guess it didn't work out that way. I guess now I think you were nuts.

CA: As a person gets older, and probably more accurately, as a parent watching their child grow up, the memories become clearer, and what happened a long time ago begins to seem like it happened yesterday. Do your memories reflect this, or does it seem like a long time ago?

TJ: It feels like a long time ago.

CA: Jump ahead for a minute. 9 years in 1/4 midgets. Was that enough, or could we have done something different to keep you there?

TJ: I think that was more than enough. Nine years is a long time to stay in 1/4 midgets. Most people jump up to mini-sprints, but there wasn't a mini-sprint track close to us, so we stayed. I accomplished everything I wanted to in a 1/4 midget, and it started to become not very fun for me. I think it really was just the last year that I changed.

CA: What if we had simply said that's it - we're done racing. I've never made it a secret that my desires can be fulfilled through simply spectating. I don't have to know someone racing to get enjoyment from it. Could you have done the same thing - meaning watch instead of participate?

TJ: I don't think so. I don't know why, but I don't even like watching on TV. I guess that would have been the decision, and we would find something else to do, but hopefully not drag racing. That's boring. I'm glad you didn't say that. (he says quietly and with a sheepish grin)

CA: Back to the beginning. Do you recall the times I gave you the option to stop racing?

TJ: Ya, you said you can do whatever I want to do and you'll support me. But it's addicting, and I don't think you could get it out of me. I remember when we bent seven axles in six races and you asked me if that is what I really wanted to do. We had to call Tracy a lot. But I knew it was just bad luck. Besides, I was only seven years old dad.

CA: While leading a race when you were 7 years old, you decided to pull off the track as they waved the green flag. Is having the steering wheel straight still of importance to you?

TJ: No. (laughing) My last couple years of 1/4 midgets I always set it crooked on purpose.(laughing) It helped me to turn right to go left.

CA: Two part question here - do you think most kids are actually thinking about racing for a career someday as they're making laps in a 1/4 midget, and second, do you recall when you started thinking like that?

TJ: I think the older kids are, but for the younger kids, the dads are. I knew when I was 14 that sprint cars was the next thing for me, and I knew that's what I wanted to do.

CA: Looking at your mom - would you ever guess her enthusiasm would be at the level it is when you're racing?

TJ: Not in the sprint cars! I remember her telling me I couldn't drive them whenever she would see a crash. I just smiled and said, "yes I am". Now she's pretty calm. It's you that we have to worry about now. (he says with a giggle)

CA: Again - two part question. Does one memory from 1/4 midgets stand out above all others - both on the positive and negative side?

TJ: I don't really have just one positive memory. They're all pretty good. On the negative side, I remember people cheering sometimes when I got beat. I guess that's what I get for winning so much. (he says laughing)

CA: Was there ever a moment of being unsure about yourself in the car?

TJ: Mostly in the AA on asphalt when I first started driving one. Knowing when to pass, because they are so hooked up and react so fast, you have to know the right time to stick your nose in there.

CA: We were fortunate enough to have the ability to travel across the country to race. I want you to describe your feelings on that. Looking back, was this good, bad, would you do it again, or should we have done something different?

TJ: Well I think it was good. I don't remember knowing that it was a big race when I was younger, but I liked traveling to different tracks. (laughing) I would always feel sick though because it was like changing the lunch room around. But I'm over that now. (he says emphatically while laughing)

CA: Is there a memory from those travels that stands out above all others?

TJ: The 2003 Dirt Grands at Terre Haute. Getting DQ'd in qualifying, running the alphabet to win the A-main against kids that were HUGE! (TJ was 11 and was running a class against older kids who were twice his size. We had 90 lbs of weight added to the car to make the 350 pound combined weight rule as Tj only weighed 78 lbs himself)

CA: You were also fortunate enough to have garnered many awards. Do any of those have more significance in your life than others?

TJ: I liked the Drivers Choice because the kids got to pick and I was their favorite. The driver of the year and the other awards didn't mean as much.

CA: Is it still all about peanut butter & jelly for you?

TJ: Just had one a little while ago!

CA: Describe one thing that you wanted to achieve in or from 1/4 midget racing that was unattainable in your time spent there.

TJ: Hmm, I achieved everything I wanted to, so .....I'm not sure.

CA: Recalling all of your achievements, what was the hardest thing to achieve?

TJ: The Light 160 Grands win. It's a really hard class to win at. I was really close when I was 9 at Terre Haute. I hit the wall while leading with just a couple laps left and finished fourth. I think that made it even better when I finally won it at home at Elma. It meant more to me than the Light AA win.

CA: You do know that your mom is looking forward to you moving out and taking the trophies with you?

TJ: I'll leave some for her to remember me. Maybe a hundred or so! (laughing)

CA: Most drivers I have seen will actually give their trophies away. Do you foresee this happening someday?

TJ: Well mom already made me give about 50 of them away! I'm keeping the good ones though!

CA: Aside from someone close to you - tell us about the person in or from the 1/4 midget community who stands out in your mind.

TJ: Tom Zigglefoose. He was always happy to see me and talk to me. Even now when I call him, he is happy to talk to me. Jim Muck too. He always messed with me. It was fun.

CA: Looking back, did 1/4 midget racing shape who you are now?

TJ: It gave me a lot of responsibility. Little stuff, like washing the car.

CA: What word would best describe your style of racing in 1/4 midgets?

TJ: Probably "calm". I was usually pretty relaxed, well except at Elma in Light AA! I just wanted it so bad, and I didn't realize how much faster I was than the other cars. I almost lapped the field.

CA: Was there ever a time, or perhaps maybe a race or event, that you got up more for?

TJ: Just the National events. I had to tell myself to stay relaxed and I would be OK.

CA: At the age of 14, you came to me and stated you would rather stop racing forever than return "there". Do you think you fully understood the gamble on your part to make that statement to someone who doesn't "need" racing, and have you ever reconsidered that decision in the past year?

TJ: Looking back, I know I really didn't understand the gamble. You could have just said we'll stop then. But I wasn't having fun in the 1/4 midgets, so I probably would have done the same thing.

CA: What if I had said "then you're done."?

TJ: Well, I don't even know what else there would have been to do, but I guess we would have found something.

CA: Do you think it was fair to your mother and I to put us in that position?

TJ: I'm not sure it was fair, but I wanted to move on, and I knew I was willing to wait a couple of years if I had to. I'm glad it was only one year though, because I couldn't last two years without racing. (laughing)

CA: Hey, by the way, sorry about that little red car and the tires from 1970 something. But in my defense, I think my ineptitude actually helped make you a better driver. Would you agree, and can you tell your mom that my mistakes actually help you so she will quit giving me the look?

TJ: (laughing) Ya, that little red car. Did you even know anything about what you were doing? It's a good thing I don't remember driving it, but the pictures are funny. Sure dad, I'll tell mom.

CA: Many kids are now second and third generation race car drivers. With you being a so called first generation driver, what do you think gave you the ability to succeed in racing 1/4 midgets?

TJ: Patience. I didn't get it from you though!

CA: Think ahead 5, 10, even 20 years. Has 1/4 midget racing been a hindrance, or a support to who you will become?

TJ: It's been good. I'll never forget working in 20 degree weather building the track. It taught me to just keep going until we're finished. Oh, and work faster to stay warm. (laughing)

CA: Leave the children who race, or have a desire to race 1/4 midgets, with your best piece of advice.

TJ: These kind of questions are hard to answer. Most people who ask me for advice want to know how to make themselves faster like with the setups and stuff. But I wish they would ask me things like attitude and stuff. Like how to have fun and make racing fun. Because when you get that, the other stuff like setups is easy - at least for me. You can even have a bad setup on the car, and all you have to do is change how you drive. But some of them can't figure that out. As soon as the car is bad, they're not having fun and they mess themselves up. So I guess I would say - just have fun.

CA: Describe a few laps in Light AA.

TJ: OK, we're trying to get lined up because the pace is a lot faster than the Hondas and I'm starting in the best spot - 3rd. Flagger says one to go and we start picking up the gas a little out of 2, and then hammer it in 3 and 4. First corner hold it on the bottom and watch the outside guys go backward. Coming out of 4 for lap 2, everyone starts to go into their pattern and I pinch the car down, stab the gas and stick my nose in for the pass for the lead. Open track ahead, drive it towards the corner and then breathe the throttle for an instant in each corner - less time than it takes to blink - just to let the fuel catch up to the 13,000 RPM motor. Left front is in the air, and I'm spinning the tires off the corner and sliding it into the next corner. I'm set back in the seat hard - harder than a sprint car. 40 laps and 240 seconds later, if it runs green to checkered, I cross the line 1st. If its a regular race, I take a couple of cool down laps and bring it in. If it's a National event, I grab the checkered flag from the flagger and do some doughnuts in the infield. It all happens fast.

Thank you my son - my friend. CA.

And so it goes for TJ. For his dad, it all ended way to soon. Knowing his sister had no desire to run the upper level class, this afternoon I gathered up his AA engines from 1/4 midgets, snapped a picture, and wrote up a classified ad - thereby ending for good his tenure in 1/4 midget racing. My reaction was far different from his. While I was dealing with a feeling of sadness that it was really over, I saw excitement in his eyes. But the lessons, the excitement, and the surprises does not end there. Perhaps what we are seeing is his ability to look beyond the present and decipher a course. Few adults have that unique ability. Even more rare - is a child who possesses the ability to decipher the difference between an emotional versus a logical decision.

As I said at the beginning, we assume that we know the answers to the questions without even asking. Communication has always been our key to success, and I will tell you, I was blown away by some of the things I've learned in talking with TJ. At first I thought he was messing with me. Then I looked in his eyes. The eyes always tell the truth. If they look one way, they're looking to the creative side of the brain. Look the other way, and he's searching the logical side.

You may have thought I would reveal what each way means. Sorry. Just like TJ's story, you'll have to wait for part two. Hang on while we discover an entire new meaning to the terms family, friends, and support.



:greenflag: :checkered:
Green to Checkers,

Ted Hartman


NWracechat.com

[Knoke77]

[QUOTE=Bluteam;16747]TJ Hartman

CA: Leave the children who race, or have a desire to race 1/4 midgets, with your best piece of advice.

TJ: These kind of questions are hard to answer. Most people who ask me for advice want to know how to make themselves faster like with the setups and stuff. But I wish they would ask me things like attitude and stuff. Like how to have fun and make racing fun. Because when you get that, the other stuff like setups is easy - at least for me. You can even have a bad setup on the car, and all you have to do is change how you drive. But some of them can't figure that out. As soon as the car is bad, they're not having fun and they mess themselves up. So I guess I would say - just have fun.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Very wise words from a young racer!!

Very cool interview and thanks for sharing!

[Danny Burton]

Thanks, Ted. I need to interview the Sword Man one of these days. The old cliches are true. They do grow up too fast.

[Dirtfan]

Originally Posted by Danny Burton Thanks, Ted. I need to interview the Sword Man one of these days. The old cliches are true. They do grow up too fast.

You should send the Sword Man with Racefan20 this weekend to make sure JH behaves himself:kookoo2: