Driver Profile - Joe Hartley

From birth, Joe Hartley was destined to drive a race car. Both his parents, Allen and Rachel Hartley, had a passion for racing. Their teenage years were spent at the dragstrip in Scribner, Nebraska.......Allen raced his Camaro and Rachel supported him (while also taking her car for a race or two). Their years together continued to revolve around drag racing, as they advanced from the local to national race circuit. And Joe followed in his parents footsteps!

Joe grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. He spent his time collecting hero cards and used car parts from race teams at the Kansas City International Raceway. His favorite drivers included the legendary Shirley Muldowney, Don Purdhomme and Darryl Gwynn. He quickly became a crew member on his father’s twin-engine top alcohol dragster with hopes of driving someday. Joe snuck in a race or two at the local Friday Night Drags in his 11 second ’69 Camaro. He convinced his father, that in exchange for good grades, he would get to drive the A-fuel dragster.

Joe made his first pass in 1992 and never looked back. For the next eight years, Joe and his family competed in the NHRA Top Alcohol class with solid performances including a win at Brainerd, Minnesota; a second place finish in Houston, Texas; and a third place Division 5 showing. Allen continued on as crew chief, Rachel as crew chef, and even Joe’s sisters participated in the pits to support him and Hartley Racing.

In 2000, the Hartley family stepped it up a notch and moved into the Top Fuel Dragster class. Joe raced the dragster in twelve National events and finished 17th in the national standings. In the following years, Joe continued to run a partial schedule with solid performances in the national arena. He married his longtime girlfriend, Carrie, obtained his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, and worked as a design engineer at Warn Industries.

In 2007, Joe became the proud father of a beautiful baby girl, Ava Kay Hartley. It was also a stellar year on the race circuit with a second place finish in Houston, top poll position in Topeka with and a career best of 4.51 seconds. Joe has readied himself to take the driver’s seat of the Top Fuel Dragster for the entire race circuit. With that, his search for a top-notch motorsports sponsor continues and his race for the championship is ON.