My Blog

Biography

            Jason was in his mother’s womb the first time he ever lapped a track. That weekend at Sears Point his mother took a few parade laps at a PCA time trial. His parents were avid autocross and time trial participants with many California car associations. When Jason was a wee lad his parents owned Bud Hart Porsche Racing located in Santa Clara, CA. This was also a place where Jason raced for the first time at the age of 3 in a big wheel at a BHPR sponsored race for the children of his many clients.

            Santa Clara was where Jason spent his first 6 years then moving over to Stockton, CA. For the next 12 years Jason went to school in the valley at St. Anne’s in Lodi, CA then moving on to St. Mary’s High School in Stockton, CA. At the age of 10 his parents decided it was time to start his racing career. A proper racing go kart was purchased and off to the track he went. He was often, if not always bested by his two older sisters Jeanette and Juliette. Jason had no signs of greatness in those early outings. Unfortunately his development was cut short when his parents split ways in the middle of the year ending racing efforts entirely.

            The Drag Strip would be his next opportunity to enter the racing world. After turning 16 he began racing his truck at Sacramento Raceway. Tuesday night drags are where you could find him racing against other motor sport participants. Jason’s first win came here in the Von Housen Auto Parts Nationals where he bested the abilities of some 30+ competitors. The feeling he got from winning was one he would strive for with an endless pursuit.

            At the age of 18 he decided he wanted to get to know his father a bit more and the day after he graduated High School he got on a plane and moved to Chandler, AZ. Here he got a job at Nappco Ltd. Working as the material room manager he quickly learned how to operate manual mills and lathes. Becoming a machinist was an exciting education he received adding to his college studies at night. After about a year in the machine shop Jason could not resist the temptation of racing so he decided to move on to the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving taking an introductory position as a fleet tech.

            Here at Bondurant is where Jason began his real education behind the wheel working along side greats like Terry Borcheller, Darren Law, Johnny O’Connell, Bill Cooper and Buddy Rice to name a few. He acted as a sponge every day at work and lived under the motto “If you hang with fast company…you become fast company”. While working at the school Jason’s father decided they should build a race car and the platform was going to be a 928 Porsche. Taking the car down to the tub and back was a very educational experience for Jason and one he will never forget. His father’s relationship with Paul Knapp (Nappco Ltd) allowed them to build and maintain the car in a fully equipped machine shop.

            The Red Rocket was campaigned at AZ and CA tracks with Willow Springs being Jason’s favorite for one reason, the speed! While working and racing Jason also decided to further his driver development by purchasing a 125 shifter kart competing at PKRA in AZ. During these years opportunities to drive countless race and street cars came his way and he drove all of them developing a very adaptable skill set.

            In 1999, after his father re-married and moved away Jason decided to leave Bondurant as an Instructor and move to Dallas, TX. Alex Whitman became a close friend of Jason’s when they were working at Bondurant. Alex offered a path not yet taken by Jason where he could get a job outside of racing and then fund racing through a better paying position. So, Jason got a job at Sebring Capital and quickly moved up to assistant manager of broker relations overseeing 4000+ brokers. It was here where the realization hit hard that Jason needed to be involved with motor sport and was not going to enjoy any other lifestyle. To be honest he could not have liked Sebring Capital more, it just was not where someone like Hart was going to make his living. His living was going to be forged in motor sport from a position behind the wheel.

            Jason’s neighbor was a huge motor sports fan and wanted to own a vehicle performance business. Dilusi Motorsports was brought to life with David Tittle and Jason where they were making aftermarket brake systems and components for Corvettes and Vipers. This was allowing Jason to flex his engineering abilities as well as his driving abilities. Once again he was at the track every weekend and was learning how to handle high horsepower cars at tracks around the country. Around a year into Dilusi’s life an offer was made and it was sold. David’s life was taking on other interests so Jason got an opportunity with Racer Network from one of Dilusi’s clients Kal Crawford.

            During this time driving opportunities were surfacing everywhere and Hart had no problems getting behind the wheel every chance he could. He also spent some time in NC crew cheifing a late model for Alex running at many NC and TN area short tracks. This is where it was discovered that with a good reputation he could work off a contract based schedule with services including working at racing schools, private coaching, chassis set up, testing, data acquisition analysis, race track construction, race team management, stunts, vehicle marketing, fabrication, etc and most importantly racing!

            Jason’s passion for racing has afforded him everything he has today. Currently living in Flower Mound, TX the garage is by far the happiest place for Jason outside of a race car. Some would say it is a fabrication shop with a house attached. He keeps up on his fabrication skills maintaining his sprint car and various racing karts. Today Jason is working on making the move from working in the motor sport industry to making his living as a full time race car driver.

            When asked about what kind of car Jason wants to race Jason has no real preference. He has won in 10 different forms of racing from karts to sports cars, open wheel to trucks, dirt to pavement. There is not one win he did not fully enjoy. For that reason Jason is willing to race anything, against any competition for the rest of his foreseeable life. One thing is for sure, whether it is Indy Car, NASCAR, Sports car, World of Outlaws or Prototypes Jason’s ability will undoubtedly land him in the winners circle.