"I crewed for Mike for a few years and then he gave me a drive. I got the bug, the following season we went halves in a car and the season after that I got my own," Hart recalled.
His current car is his second and one he has had for six years. He is in the process of building a new car for next season.
"I'm really looking forward to this weekend because it will be the first time I've raced with Mike in a team after crewing for him for such a long time," Hart said.
Because of family commitments the father of two and self employed builder hasn't always been available for the Maulers this season.
"I tried to step back a bit. However there isn't the competition for berths there used to be and once you have the bug it's hard to take a back seat," Hart explained.
He intends to transfer his building skills to his latest passion of building chassis for stockcars. That has the potential to be another business for him.
"It will be hard to leave the sport then because I will have to race cars I've built to prove they are good products to buy," Hart said.
While Hart hasn't got any Hawke's Bay or East Coast titles on his CV he has captured the Stirrer of the Year award for his class on more than one occasion. He ranked his battle with Gisborne driver Bruce Harding at Meeanee several seasons ago as the highlight of his racing career.
"Bruce hit me pretty hard in one race and then in the next one I got him a beauty. Wheels were flying off his car everywhere ... it was hard out," Hart recalled.
All eight teams will have two heats tonight. Points accumulated in these heats will determine the top four teams for tomorrow night's semifinals.
Hart agreed defending champions, the Wanganui Vulcans, will be hard to beat again with the likes of Francis Potaka, Blair Lockett, Ron and Brendon Tye.
"You can't discount the chances of any team. Auckland have a good team this year too," he added.
Maulers manager Claire Bunce is thrilled with the mix within her team for the fifth edition of the meeting which is raced in memory of Central Hawke's Bay businessman and farmer Peter Barry who died in 2009 following a speedway incident. Veteran Beatle Tarrant has come out of a two-year retirement to race for the team.
"Beatle was a good friend of Peter and he is keen to help the Maulers try and win the trophy for a second time," Bunce said.
Ministocks and production saloons will provide support classes tonight. Tomorrow night the Hawke's Bay Superstock Championship will be the other feature attraction.
Stockcar teams:
Meeanee Maulers: 81B Randal Tarrant, 82B Jeff Hart, 84B Tony Palmer, 85B Josh Swannell, 86B Mike McLachlan, 88B Beatle Tarrant. Reserve: Jemma Palmer.
Wanganui Vulcans: 52V Francis Potaka, 87V Steve Read, 89V Blair Lockett, 99V Ron Tye, 669V Brendon Tye, 898V Sandy Flett. Reserve: Chet Swan.
Rotorua Rascals: 583R Mike Hohneck, 538R Brent Stewart, 358R Dale Stewart, 385R Damian Orr, 353R Steve Gray, 853R Darcy Meurant.
Stratford Stormers: 21S Todd Duthie, 32S Mark Duthie, 33S Tyler Walker, 47S Damian Hiestand, 72S Bevan Phillips, 84S Haydin Barker.
Palmerston North Pumas: 32P Alec Wilson (captain), 33P Taylor Lampp, 34P Hamish McLeod, 35P David Lowe, 36P Todd O'Donnell, 37P Jay Knight. Reserve: Stu Rackham.
Auckland Alley Cats: 383A Gary Lonergan, 338A Keegan Orr, 388A Troy Power, 833A Dan Mac, 838A Shannon Savage, 883A Mark McNabb.
Waikato Raiders: 16H Malcolm Read, 21H Tyson Wootton, 24H Larry Henderson, 28H Jessie Webster, 44H Mark Cardwell, 76H Cody Webster. Reserve: Anthony McNeil.
Orange Roughies: 8G Bruce Harding, 9B Stacey Smith, 15B Michael Smith, 22B Ray Christinson, 56B Hayden Barnett, 79G Bryce Harding. Reserve: Bryce Cross.
