Let’s go racing: Meet St. Johns area Go Kart racer Jack Hughes
ST. JOHNS, Fla. — Jack Hughes, 16 years old and he’s found his place in the fast lane as a competitive sprint track Go Kart racer.
His mom says it is beyond fitting that his first word was Car! Jack has always had a passion for cars- toy cars, real ones, video games that raced cars, etc. When he was 8 Jack was invited to a birthday party at Autobahn Indoor Speedway and he took it very seriously, winning 1st place in both races. That day seemed to spark his desire to race and he knew he wanted to be a race car driver.
If you ask him his ultimate goal he would tell you he’d love the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of his favorite Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel, who like most drivers started their careers in karting.
Jack is realistic though and knows that F1 drivers are a very elite class but as any parent would say, “you will NEVER know if you don’t try, so go for it!”
As his parents, they love this passion and want him to go for his dreams and would love to see him race in Indy or IMSA someday. If the racing doesn’t pan out his plan would be to be a test driver for any of the major manufacturers but whatever he ends up doing in life, there will be cars involved!
Jack started racing when he was 12 in the kids competitive league at Autobahn Indoor Speedway and quickly moved up to the adult league (13+). Once he moved up to the adult league he was in the top 25 of all drivers in Jacksonville in points, and was consistently in the “A” heat and won most improved driver in his first season in that age group.
After several seasons, Jack was asked to be a driver for a team event at a dirt track race called Jacksonville International Raceway. He was the youngest driver, and it was his first experience driving an outdoor kart on a dirt oval, but he helped his team earn a 2nd place podium finish. After that night, he definitely wanted to expand into outdoor karting, but to focus on asphalt sprint racing.
At 14, he had a private karting lesson at Orlando Kart Center and his instructor pointed them in the right direction to help Jack follow his dream. Within a few months, they began the process of ordering his Kart and after several months of engine and parts delays, he had his first official race in November of 2021. Jack races in a local league with the North Florida Kart Club, which hosts races about once a month.
There are several age groups which range from kids as young as 5 up to Super Masters which are 60 years plus – who would have known but racing is a lifelong hobby for many people. In Jack’s first year, he finished 4th overall in the Juniors class. Jack has now moved up to the Senior group (16-35 year olds) and is having a blast this year already earning a 2nd place podium.
The learning curve has been even steeper for his dad, who had to quickly become a master kart mechanic! Most weeknights you can see or hear (ha, sorry neighbors!) Gary working on the kart in their garage. They quickly discovered that there is always something that needs cleaning, repairing, or replacing!
After having one year under their belt they are looking at traveling and competing in regional and national races in 2023. He has already competed in the largest go Kart race in the country over 3 days in late December at Daytona International Speedway.
Jen said “we definitely were the little fish in the big pond, but Jack did great and the pressure didn’t get to him at all! In one of the heat races, another kart lost control and drove up on top of his kart and was stuck on top of him! Jack stayed calm, (which is more than I can say for myself) but Jack jumped out his kart, lifted the other kart off of his and was able to jump back in and finish the race.”
Jack impressed everyone with how he dug in and didn’t give up even though he had to grid up last for the final race.
Jen said, “Jack drove with so much determination and was able to move up 10 spots to finish 17th against competitors from all over the country.”
His next big race will be in South Carolina in June and then at The Charlotte Motor Speedway over Labor day weekend in the World Karting Associations Grand National Event. Jack’s goal is to just keep improving by competing in more national level races which will help him continue to gain more and more experience over the years.
When Karting, you race at about 60 mph and can get as fast as 63 mph with a draft. There isn’t a seatbelt, but they wear lots of protective gear – Snell rated helmet, a neck brace, chest and rib protector, fire resistant driver’s suit, gloves etc. which has already been proven to work!
Recently he burnt a hole through the seat and arm of his last suit when a freak “incident” happened at practice. An exhaust pipe fell off of someone else’s kart and bounced up into Jack’s seat. It was burning a hole in the kart seat padding and the seat of his suit as he had to drive the kart into the pit. But thankfully, the suit did its job – his skin wasn’t even hot even though he was burning and there was smoke coming off him as he was driving!
Who would have thought it but the Hughes Family has to admit that Karting has taken over their lives – Gary is team owner/head mechanic, Jack is the driver, I’m logistics manager and cooler filler (like all moms) and brother Connor, though supportive, would much rather be playing music than watching his big brother race. The Hughes family said they feel like they owe their neighbors HUGE apology and Thank you as they put up with a lot of sounds coming from their household, if it’s not engines revving from their garage, it’s drums and guitars!
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