The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Shana Jackson, Quill Reporter
Brent Hartley of Niota, has been racing since he was 21 years old. He purchased his first car in 2006.
His wife, Becca, was not extremely thrilled about the idea of him racing but he states that she has come around and looks forward to each racing season and helping him decal their car.
Starting out in the 4 cylinder class, in 2006, racing a full season in Memphis, MO, Hartley finished second in points winning 6 races in Memphis and one in Bloomfield Iowa.
He states that he would have won the points by 70 that year but had to miss a race and ended up losing by 30; but that it was still an awesome year.
With the racing season starting in April and ending in September with post races ending in October it can keep one busy.
With the help of his Dad, Danny Hartley of Dallas City, they keep the car running and ready for the next week's races. Usually, they are working on it one night a week unless it was a bad racing weekend in which they may put in in as much as 10 to 20 hours that week.
Hartley owns a GM metric chassis built from a 1981 Pontiac Grand Prix and he drives it in the Outlaw Hobby Stock class.
He finished his 2009 racing season with 366 championship points which put him in 5th place overall. It also made him Top Running Rookie at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa.
Hartley has raced a few times in Burlington, Iowa at 34 Raceway.
This year, he experienced his first two flips/rollovers, but he came out of it with no injuries, but was just stiff and very sore, he said.
Hartley admits he might get a little nervous before each race, but said, "Once I'm on the track, I'm so focused on what I need to do, and I trust the changes that my dad and I had made to the car, that my nerves seem to settle.
"Besides, my wife Becca, my mom Robin, and mother-in-law Wanda are nervous enough for all of us," he laughed.
Hartley has always been a racing fan whether it be a dirt track or NASCAR.
His cousin, Chris Wibbell, started racing when they both were in high school and Hartley was part of his pit crew. "This is what got me hooked," he explained.
He says that next racing season he plans on giving his car a new look-a 1997 Monte Carlo body style.
He will not be racing for points, he said, because of other plans, and a baby on the way, but he will be bouncing back and forth between Lee County Speedway, 34 Raceway, and Memphis MO if his car is up and running.
Hartley says that his parents Danny and Robin Hartley, and his sister Brandi Pieper, have always supported him in everything he has ever done and that this is no different with racing.
He also has a great support system from his wife Becca, his in-laws Frank and Wanda Scanlan, and from Rick, Chris and Lee Wibbell.
Frank helps Danny and Brent work on the car when he can. He and his wife are also one of Hartley's sponsors, owners of Leisureland Pleasure Park. The sponsors are a very vital part of the success of a racer.
Other sponsors include:
American Combat Sports,
Ft. Madison Bank & Trust Co. (Hartley's employers),
Lawson Racing,
CCS Computers,
Country Financial (Tony Newton),
Steve's Muffler Express,
Outlaw Tees's,
Haggy's Bar & Grill,
Brodie Appliance Repair,
and Don's Tire & Auto.