Family Racing Still A Part Of Southern Iowa Speedway
Hook Racing from left to right: Dustin Hook, Randy Hook, Justin Hook and Jessica Starkey
Oskaloosa, Iowa – For many racing is a family affair. They have been racing and learned how to do it from their dads or big brothers or uncles. Justin Hook is no different than those before him, and the same will happen years from now. The knowledge and tradition will be passed on.
The sport has changed over time, and so have the people. With constraints on people’s time, it’s become easier for them to buy a chassis than to build their own. It’s easier to purchase than to invest your time into something you love to do because, in order to race a local circuit such as the Southern Iowa Speedway, the love of the sport is the only real paycheck for the drivers.
The Hook family is different than many who race these days. They still weld up their own roll cage and frames for the cars and do most everything else for themselves too. “Every weld on it I made. Every bar on it, me and my dad made.” But if you think that is a cheap way of racing; it’s not. All racing is an expensive hobby. Justin Hook explains it this way, “We got more money wrapped up into this thing than we do anything we drive on the street.”
If your curious as to the motor under the hood, Hook planted a GM crate motor under the hood and he says, “It’s doing us pretty good.”
Racers will use crate motors, as they are called, because they come from the manufacture already built and ready to go racing. They fit well within the rules of the racing sanctioning bodies. The motors are predictable with knowing how much horsepower and torque they will generate, making things easier in the future.
The Hook family have been racing Hobby Stock for, this being, their fourth full complete season, with two partial seasons before that. Justin’s dad Randy Hook, brother Dustin Hook, fiancee Jessica Starkey, and his mom Robin Hook make up the crew for their racing.
He wanted to make sure to thank his sponsors that help him get ready for the season. His sponsors include: Mi Ranchero, Tackle Boxx Bait Shop, Hook Realty, Sharkey Frame, KT Motorsports, along with the Rockin’ R Ranch. But Justin sums it up best about what it takes to go racing every week, “A lot of hard work, blood, sweat, and tears.”
Join the Hooks, and all the others, out at the Southern Iowa Speedway for racing action nearly every Wednesday night.
