Minus the pavement and Dirt Late Model, all of those opportunities across varying disciples were one-off rides that have potential to become something more of a limited schedule this year.Īnd, that said, the Dirt Late Model isn’t the only Late Model that Hooker’s involved with this year.

All told, the Canadian has turned laps in seven different kinds of race cars since the start of last year: a pavement pro Late Model, a NASCAR Pinty’s Series stock car, modified, thunder stock, a legends car, vintage modified and go-kart in addition to the Dirt Late Model. The Dirt Late Model isn’t the only race car that Hooker’s found opportunity in. “Just really fortunate to be in the spot we’re in right now.” They’re like a second family to me,” Hooker said. It’s Hooker’s seventh Super Late Model win in the Authier-owned machine since the beginning of last year. Furthermore, the 22-year-old upheld his title-winning trajectory on Saturday, winning Southern Ontario’s first event of the season. Then, later that summer, Hooker’s fate changed for the better thanks to a phone call from area car owner Brad Authier, who sought a new driver after Andrew Reaume stepped away from Authier’s Late Model.įast forward to the present day, and Hooker’s carved out a good reason to land atop 's Weekly Notebook presented by FK Rod Ends as the reigning Super Late Model champion of the DIRTcar-sanctioned Southern Ontario Motor Speedway. “We didn’t have the money to rebuild (the engine). We didn’t have the sponsor money,” he added. “They said, ‘Yeah, we’re done, and we’re sorry.’ They also wanted to get their house finished and relax on their work a bit.

That’s as far as my dad and mom would go,” Hooker said. “There was no more going forward (on our own merits). The only engine in the Oungah, Ontario, driver’s family stable went to ruins at the beginning of 2021, and with racing’s rising costs, Hooker’s mom and dad, Dianne and Kirk, weren’t sure how much longer they could financially back their son’s endeavors. Two years ago, it appeared Jake Hooker’s Dirt Late Model career was over.

Sweet Victory by Melanie Shawn