Horse Sense: Jason Hoots is a fire protection specialist in his Mt. Ulla, North Carolina, hometown. In a nutshell, he inspects furniture factories to make sure fire-safety standards are being upheld.
What trials and tribulations have you gone through on your way to realizing your performance goals? Have you had engine troubles, transmission relia-bility issues, broken axles, or a multitude of blown head gaskets? These misfortunes have spelled the end of many a racing career before it even gets off the ground. Some people grow tired of the mechanical headaches and pack it in, giving up in the face of enormous pressure to win.
Such setbacks can wreak havoc on a budding racing career. But changing head gaskets can't compare to the tragedy of burying your own son. That's exactly what befell Jason Hoots and his fiance, Kim Skidmore, before Jason made the rise to NMRA Real Street stardom. The passing of their 9-month-old son, Stephen Alexander, led Jason and Kim to transfer Stephen's courage to their own lives.
Jason's performance story began when he was 16 and the owner of a '65 Mustang with a warmed-up 289. "That car gave me the fever for speed," he says. After earning his high school diploma in 1996, he graduated to the '90 LX hatch seen here. "I began working on the car several months after I got it. I met Mark Ray at Carolina Mustang when he ran their Charlotte branch. I then followed him when he went out on his own and began Mark Ray Motorsports." Through this affiliation, Jason met Dan Jaynes (Renegade racer) and Duane Busch (Hot Street). Dan raced in the Trophy Stock ranks at the time.
Jason modified his car with a Trophy Stock slant. First on the docket was the addition of 3.73 gears. "The car really picked up," Jason says. At this time, Kim bought Jason long-tube headers, a Dr. Gas X-pipe, and Flowmaster two-chamber mufflers (now that's love). "With this and a pair of 26x8.5 slicks, the car went 12.99 at 102 mph and I was on a roll," Jason says.
However, the wheels fell off in November 1998 when it was discovered the couple's newborn son was missing a large part of his intestines. Doctors operated on Stephen Alexander Hoots and connected the parts of intestines he did have. "We were told he would never be able to eat solid food," Jason says, "and that he would probably not make it very long. But to everyone's surprise he fought on, and they let us bring him home at three weeks." Little Stevie received nourishment via a tube inserted in his chest that connected to a portable pump. The bag of solution carried a 24-hour supply of food. Stevie was then put on a list of donors because the solution being used to feed him would eventually damage his liver if used for an extended period. But in September 1999, at the age of 9 months, Stevie passed away from complications caused by not being able to eat normally.
For 2002, Jason will be running an A4 block, an Eagle crank, H-beam rods, Ross pistons, 310 cubes, and the same top-end combo as last year. At the '01 NMRA Bowling Green finals, he swapped the V1 for a Vortech V2 S-Trim and picked up 4 mph over his previous best. However, while at Bowling Green the car kept getting slower and slower. Once back at home he discovered the block was "broke."
"Needless to say, the car was not at the top of our priority list at this time," Jason says. "In fact, the car sat for 95 percent of that time." In an effort to keep their minds off their tremendous loss, the couple poured themselves into getting the car in fighting form.
Duane Busch ported the stock heads, while Jason added a Trick Flow intake and a Comp Cams grind. In this form the car laid down an 11.59 at 116 mph and made 335 hp at the wheels.
With the powerplant in top shape, Jason set out to wake up the car's exterior by adding a five-lug conversion with Weld Pro Star wheels (although he has replaced them with Bogart Drag Stars) at the corners and a Kaenan 4-inch cowl hood. In 1999, he bolted on the hood two days before Christmas. On Christmas day, Jason was on his way to a family get-together when the hood suddenly became dislodged and flew up, damaging the cowl and windshield. Even with this slight damage, the insurance company ended up totaling the car. Jason bought it back and added a new windshield and hood hinges to make it driveable again.