This is the second time around for Marty Hart, who once every month or so leaves his home near Columbia, Louisiana, to travel West and compete in the ultracompetitive Pro 2 class of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series.
Hart, 51, was a standout motocross, ATV and 3-wheel ATC rider for the Honda motorcycle factory for 10 years while living in El Cajon, California, and competing in stadium and desert races. He won ATC series titles, a handful of national championships and the Baja 1000 desert race.
That phase of his career ended after he woke up one morning and said "I'm going to move back to Louisiana," where he was born and raised. In fact, the racing ended, period, for almost a decade while the man who had earned the nickname "Hart Attack" concentrated on his family and his business, Hart's Glass.
He eased back into competition by doing some rock crawling events, and then returned to short course racing by taking Pro Lite Rookie of the Year honors after winning two races in the 2007 World Series of Off Road Racing. The following year he was Pro Lite champion of the Championship Off Road Racing Series, the forerunner of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series.
In 2010, he began the existing association with ReadyLIFT Off Road Suspensions by winning the Lucas Oil series Pro Lite championship, and in 2011 he teamed with Wisconsin standout Johnny Greaves for a season of Pro 2 racing in the Midwest. Last year, he was second to Brian Deegan in the Lucas Pro 2 standings, with four wins and 9 podium finishes in 15 starts, and he was fourth after six rounds this season.
Hart said he likes all the tracks he runs in the series but prefers "a really rough track that upsets the truck" because that kind of layout makes chassis setup and driver skill more important than merely pressing on the accelerator.
"All that racing background is just kind of a proving ground," Hart told Racer Magazine in August, 2010. "If you want to be a doctor, you go to school for 10 years and learn how to be a doctor. If you want to learn to race, you go do it … You learn how to compete in general, the psychological side of it and just building your skills.
"I tell everybody I want to finish last with the best vs. first with the rest. You want to be among the elite group. The only way you're going to reach that elite group is to compete with them and get beat by them. Once you do that, you know what level you're on and you know where you've got to go. I always want to be on top. On any given day, I want to be the guy they have to think about."
Hart has reached that goal. He's also done it his way, living and working in Louisiana while his race team is headquartered at ReadyLIFT in Las Vegas. Once a month or so he and his family will fly into Las Vegas to join the team and drive to the race site from there. Then it's home again, as soon as possible.
The races "are still like a month to month vacation from our small town," Hart said, "but we're pretty much ready to go back after the rush of the weekend. We're country folks. We like the simple things."
MARTY HART AT A GLANCE
Age: 51 (4-1-1962)
Lives in: Columbia, Louisiana
Marital status: Yes; wife's name Sharon. Two children, Megan and Kyle.
Occupation: Owner, Hart's Glass
Car number: 15 in Pro 2
Type of chassis: Stamper Ford
Engine: Pro Power Ford
Crew Chief: Jimbo Zinn
Sponsors: ReadyLIFT, Maxxis, Southwest Ground Control, Gear Up to Go, Rigid Industries, Walker Evans Wheels, K&N, VP Racing Fuel, Fox Shocks, Pac's Racing Springs, Amsoil, MSD Ignitions, Motive Gear, Impact Racing
Years in racing: 28 years
Divisions raced: Motocross, ATV, 3-Wheeler, Class 5 desert car, Rock Crawling,
Series points standings: 2 Pro 2 (2012); 19 Pro 2 (2011); 1 Pro Lite (2010)
