(Jesse "The Rocket" Hockett raced for Brad Loyet Motorsports in January at the 2010 Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Okla. Photo by Brandon W. Mudd)
The racing world is in mourning today as news surfaced late Thursday of the tragic death of Jesse "The Rocket" Hockett, a 26-year-old sprint car/midget racer out of Warsaw, Mo. Details are still emerging, but apparently Hockett was preparing for this weekend's races, including a stop in Terre Haute, Ind., on Friday, and was electrocuted while working on his race hauler.
While I didn't know Jesse personally, I had chatted with him on a couple of occasions and found him to be a racer's racer and the kind of driver and person that race fans want to root for. The true measure of a racer, though, is respect amongst one's peers, and some of the best in the sport were Twittering and Facebooking their condolences yesterday, including Bryan Clauson, Jason Leffler, Josh Wise, Sammy Swindell, Kevin Swindell, Carl Edwards, and Kasey Kahne among them. To a driver, they all commented on his daring style of racing and his ability to put a car where very few others could.
He earned 130 feature wins over his 11+ year career, including five in 2010. He is survived by his wife, Tina Marie, and his parents. Funeral arrangements are pending.
Godspeed, Jesse...
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