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Rocket Hockett – Little Engine That Could! (Bill W) April 21, 2009 – For Jesse Hockett, going to a gun fight with a knife is no problem. Friday night, he led most of the USAC feature at Gas City (IN) Speedway with a 360 against the big 410’s. In the end, lapped traffic foiled him and he settled for third. The weekend was capped with a strong seventh place run despite more motor ills at Lawrenceburg. Through it all, Hockett maintained his second place standing in the USAC National Sprint Car standings. This Saturday, he’ll take the JHR #77 to Lake Ozark Speedway for the regular Saturday night program near Eldon, Missouri. Jesse has had some strong runs at Gas City, but has never put the ¼ mile oval on the top of his list. Despite that, he qualified fourth quick (with his 410 under the hood). “Actually Gas City isn’t one of my favorite tracks, but we had a good night,” he says. “Our pill draw helped us a bunch to time in fourth. The track was pretty dry at that point.” Disaster struck in the heat. “The heat race wasn’t good,” says Jesse. “We blew up our 410 engine. Obviously, we were done there. The only spare we had was our 360 engine, so we put that in. The crew did a great job getting that done before the B.” Jesse went on to wire the field in the B. A different track awaited him in the main event. “They reworked the track before the feature, which made it heavy and fast,” he says. “It was lock-down fast, so I had to run the 360 really hard. Fortunately, the car was really good.” Starting fourth, he quickly got to the front in the 30-lapper. “We were able to get a good start there, and take the lead after a few laps (lap four),” he remembers. “Unfortunately, after leading most of the race, we had trouble behind one of the lapped cars. It seemed like everywhere I went, he did too. It was probably better to be in Dave’s (Darland) shoes at that point in second.” Darland passed him for the lead on the 28th lap. The “Rocket” finished third. “It was definitely a good night for the 360 to run that well with the 410’s,” he says. “With those circumstances, we’ll take a third place finish anytime.” The banked 3/8 mile Lawrenceburg Speedway would need some more horses on Saturday. “We borrowed an engine from Darryl Guiducci from 6R Racing, so I’d definitely like to thank him for that,” says Jesse. “We hot lapped second quick, but when we came out to qualify, we had the car a little tight.” The result was a 14th quick mark. After running third in his heat race, he set up outside of row six for the feature. He began to charge towards the front, getting as high as fourth late in the race. “The car was running well and we were able to get up to fourth,” he says. “I was able to get by Dave Darland and Chad Boat there before a yellow came out late in the race. They went back to the last completed lap, so I had to go back to sixth. Right after that restart, we lost a cylinder, so we finished on seven.” The stumbling motor brought him home seventh. “It was still a pretty good run, considering we lost that cylinder, and we dropped to seventh in the last corner,” says Jesse. “I may have to look for a pavement ride (Anderson Speedway, May 2).” Jesse Appears on Lucas Oil ASCS Show Tonight! Jesse appears on the Lucas Oil ASCS Show with the Racin’ Boys tonight. Guest include 2008 ASCS-Gulf South champion Brandon Berryman, and two-time ASCS-Sooner champ Brian McClelland. Click on the “listen live” link at www.Racinboys.com, starting at 7 p.m. CST. To listen to the archive of the show after the fact, click on this link… http://www.racinboys.com/home/video_list On the Web To learn more about Jesse “The Rocket” Hockett, including updated results and photos, visit http://jessehockett.homestead.com! T-Shirt Trivia! Last week’s answer: Jesse won his first 410 race at the Savannah (MO) Speedway on June 15, 2002. Kim Kennedy was second. Incidentally, Jesse had a 360 under the hood. Last week’s winner: Kole Faragher of Brandon, SD This week’s question: How many wins does Jesse hold at the U.S. 36 Raceway near Cameron, MO? Each week, we’ll be giving away a Jesse Hockett t-shirt to our trivia winner! We will draw a winner from the correct answers submitted on Friday following the release. Submit your trivia answer, along with your name, address and t-shirt size to sprntcar@iowatelecom.net! Put "Hockett Trivia" in the subject line. Rocket Rambles Jesse has run well at Gas City. Friday’s third place run was his fourth top five finish in ten events. His lone win came in May of 2007. Though it was a non-sanctioned race, it definitely attracted the best drivers in Indiana. That night he topped Shane Hollingsworth, Dave Darland, Hunter Schuerenberg and Jerry Coons Jr. Partner Spotlight – Indy Race Parts Jesse says, “Indy Race Parts has everything from entry level stuff to top of the line equipment. They are always there for me and Bernie helps me with my car when I’m in the area too.” Indy Race Parts is located on Gasoline Alley in Indianapolis. Visit their website at www.IndyRaceParts.com today! Rocket Hockett “Rocket Hockett” is an up close look at the past, present and future of Jesse Hockett. To receive "Rockett Hockett", send an e-mail to sprntcar@iowatelecom.net with "Hockett" in the subject line. Jesse would like to thank the partners of the VKCC Motorsports/Tom Buch team, including Parker Store of Phoenix, AMS Waterfall Systems, Rod End Supply, LRB Manufacturing, Penske Shocks, Butlerbuilt Professional Seat Systems, Diversified Machine, Inc., Fischer Body Shop, Simpson, Hoosier, Conroy Bleeders, ARP Fasteners, Indy Race Parts, Massey’s Truck and Tank Repair, RMS Racing Engines, Pro Powder Coating, Korte Transportation, Rocket Graphics, Lucas Oil, Weld Racing, Spike Products, Maxwell, Red Onion Lounge, Engler, Barnes Dry Sump Oil Systems, FSR Racing Products, RH2, Canyon Apparel, JEI, Total Seal Piston Rings, JE Pistons and Wings Unlimited for all their help!.
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