[John P Huss]

Hard to believe he's be gone for nearly 3
years. 5/26/10. Have so many memories
of him. Thanks Jesse Hockett!!

Best Regards,

John

[Sprintcarfanatic]

Gone way too soon.

[terrehautian]

Found a photo album of pictures I had printed and one of them was him standing on the side of his car being pushed to the infield pits at THAT that he signed.

[racephoto1]

People who didn't know him ask what I know of Jesse. Best way I can explain the person, not the driver is he was Opie Taylor all grown up.

This is the last time I saw him run. The No Way Out 40 at Twin Cities. Jesse came from way deep in the field to win. Jesse is shown here with Casey Shuman and Henry Clark.

I'll never forget Jesse.


IMG_0076 by uncloose1, on Flickr

[cws9]

I hope no one minds but here is a little story I wrote about my friend Jesse Hockett. He sure is missed by many.

Jesse Hockett was one of the few true racers left. He would race anything, anywhere, anytime. And do a damn good job of doing it. Jesse was not only good on the track but off as well. He truly was a nice guy. That is why his passing was so hard for so many. Me included. I couldn't even tell this story before now. That is the impact of knowing Jesse Hockett.

Since I now live in Missouri I was lucky enough to see Jesse come up through the sprint car ranks. He was good the first time he sat in a car. He only got better from then on. Sure, he made a mistake or two along the way but most times when it happened it was in the heat of the moment with only a split second to react. Jesse always felt bad when things went wrong too. He made way more good memories than he did mistakes. Memories like him kissing the track at Manzy's last show. That was classic Hockett. There is a little bull ring here in Missouri that they have renamed The Jesse Hockett Speedway. To see him drive on that track was truly magical. He was all but unbeatable there. He would race there every chance he got for the meager $300 winners share. That was classic Hockett too.

Some of you know that I race a 1200 cc mini sprint here in Missouri. I'm not the greatest driver and certainly don't have the fastest car....but I have more fun doing it than anyone else on the track. Last year at the beginning of the season I hurt my back in a lifting incident. It hurt too much for me to get out there and get beat up in the racecar. So I spent the first few weeks of the season letting others race my car. Our promoter was one of Jesse's main sponsors and asked if I would mind putting Jesse in the car. I thought to myself why in the world someone like Jesse Hockett would want to drive my little lightning sprint. That was just how he was though. Race anything, anywhere, anytime. That was classic Hockett.

Jesse’s brother Rob was racing his 305 at the same track I raced. Anytime Jesse was off he would try and come help Rob. Anyways, Jesse showed up right before hot laps. We threw him in the car and sent him off with little to no instructions. Regular sprint cars don’t have a clutch so it took him a couple of tries to get it going without killing it. He did alright hot lapping it but once back into the pits his eyes were the size of silver dollars. I asked him what was wrong after he took off his helmet. Jesse replied, “that scared the hell out of me. This thing ain’t got no brakes and the belts won’t tighten up.” Well, the belts were an easy fix….they just needed re-adjusted for a smaller racer. His pit crew went to work on the brakes and got him a little more pedal. Since he was new to the group he had to tag the heat race.

After the first couple of laps Jesse put the car where everyone else wasn’t….up on the cushion and pedal to the floor. He wasn’t lifting anywhere! He was up to second and passing for the lead when the bolts on the steering arm sheared off. Luckily, he locked up the brakes and slid it around backing it toward the concrete wall…stopping a few inches before impact. I told his crew it was a good thing they fixed them brakes!

This put Jesse once again tagging the main. The steering bolts had been replaced and his crew spent a lot of time going over everything on the car after that. The main event ran green to checkered. Jesse ran from 18th up to 3rd and was coming. The front two were gone so without a yellow there was no way of catching them. Too bad. Jesse put on one hell of a show. By far, that was the fastest my car had ever gone. I was proud of our 3rd place finish but you could tell Jesse wanted the win. He thanked me for the ride and went to watch his brother Rob race.

But that isn’t what this story is about. Later in the season…..my back healed and I was back in the car…..Jesse again showed up to help his brother. We seen each other down in the pits and Jesse made a point to come over and say hi to me. We chatted about how I was doing and how the car was running. And then it was race time. I ran mid pack which is about normal for me. I had a ball doing it though. Watched the 305’s run and then started loading the trailer. I was pitted down in the very back of the pits so I usually wait until things thin out before leaving. I was all loaded up and ready to hit the road when here comes Jesse. He walked down to the end of the pits just to say goodbye to me. Here I am, a middle aged fat guy just out having some fun, enjoying a hobby that I had always wanted to do, and I have Jesse Hockett making it a point to come shake my hand and tell me I ran a good race. That was classic Jesse Hockett.

Side note........my avatar picture is from this night with Jesse in my car. RIP Jesse.....and Thanks for the memories.

[SpfldMile]

Nice story.

Posted via Mobile Device