Hart knows when to rein it in, thanks to a spending spree he had when he won the U.S. Nationals in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series’ Top Alcohol Dragster class for the first of two times.
“I was really, really poor in elementary and middle school. There was the Michael Jordan Retro Taxi tennis shoes that came out and I could never have those. I got picked on when I was at school,” he said. “So when I won my first race in alcohol — it was the U.S. Nationals — I went out and spent all that money on every pair of Michael Jordan Retro Taxi tennis shoes that I could buy. I mean, I bought every color combination. It was just ridiculous.
“As far as the material stuff goes, I feel like I have what I want. Now, it’s about taking care of my family,” Hart said. “The businesses are that effort to not ever go back to that place. If every business kicks off a positive revenue stream, that’s kind of like building a portfolio in the stock market. My thirst is quenched, as far as the stuff goes. I have my cars that I love.”
His love affair with drag racing started in an unconventional way.
He didn’t grow up at the drag strip. He didn’t race Jr. Dragsters. His parents didn’t introduce him to this sport. He’s just lucky he didn’t end up with a criminal record. Too many times as a teenager he caught the attention of the police, tearing around the county like he was James Dean. Hart is that one-time rebel who found a cause.
“I started on the other side of the fence, so I got into a lot of trouble doing stuff on the streets. It’s nothing to brag about,” Hart said. “But I had a friend of mine one day say, ‘Hey, I think you’re a really good driver. Why don’t you go to the drag strip with me?’ I went out there and I had a blast.
“That was the big thing: Stop doing it on the streets. Get to the track. I followed the speed limit that night on my way home from the test-and-tune. I was like, ‘This is really cool.’ It just progressively got faster on the track and I followed the rules on the street. It really helped,” Hart said. “So I understand better than anybody what it takes to get from zero to here.
“I realized very quickly,” he continued, “that the good old days of people writing checks to put their name on the side of your car don’t exist anymore. I was a businessman before I ever even touched a race car. If you can bring actual value to whatever they are trying to sell or whatever they need, and you focus on that, the benefits will come back to you.
“There are a lot of people out here, hunting for money and they still have a pipe dream that they’re going to land a huge sponsorship just to put the name on the car,” Hart noted. “It doesn’t exist and if it does, then it’s going to be a short-term deal. If you build a relationship with someone that benefits both of you, for all practical purposes it should be a long-term partnership.”
Hart donates his contingency earnings to Lucas Oil Series racers, to give them a helping hand.
“I just thought it was a nice way to kind of give back, try to take the edge off for other people,” Hart said. “Those guys deserve a little bit more attention. But I’m biased. I spent five years in alcohol. I’m very blessed to be in Top Fuel and I feel like I need to give back to the NHRA community. It takes a lot to be out here.”
He has learned to weave his fascination with racing with his business acumen. That’s why in such an impressively short time he has become a model for using the drag-racing platform to enable sustainable business-to-business transactions.
With the recent dismantling of Don Schumacher Racing and its focus on the single car of Tony Schumacher, the Top Fuel class (and the Funny Car category, for that matter) are seeing a surge in independent teams.
After all, Steve Torrence has won the past four championships with a single-family team that sometimes has included his dad, Billy Torrence.
And that has Hart energized, although he might be unaware he is helping usher in the evolution.
“It’s nice to have new people coming into the sport. The more independent people will only help this sport grow,” he said. “I’m trying to build an equal model to Capco (Torrence Racing). I have a lot of admiration for those guys. They have a strong business. They have a strong family and they have a bad-ass race team.”
Where Hart’s Monopoly game will go, who knows? He’s hoping for the championship. And on the rear wing of his dragster is the message, “Anything’s Possible.”