Paul Hartman is our new rider in California. He’ll be tearing up the Flat Track circuits around the USA repping 250LONDON and other impressive sponsors. Here he tells us his story from young Kart Racer to Hooligan…
A YOUNG MOTORHEAD
I come from the middle of nowhere.. Born & raised in Minnesota. My dad turned me into a motorhead around 6 years old when I got my first go kart, and then later that year a dirt bike. I won a few hundred trophies in my early racing years, all on 4 wheels. When I was 12 I became a National Champion Kart Racer. The day I turned 14 we were applying for my license to race stock cars. My first season I was rookie of the year, and placed 7th in national points. I've raced a lot of different forms on 4 wheels; mostly dirt track, and a couple years on the asphalt circuit.
I always wanted to race motorcycles, but my Mom wouldn't allow it. I remember one time when I was pretty young my dad snuck me out to the motocross track and I entered a race. Of course my Mom found out and it was back to 4 wheels! I still had my dirt bike though and I rode that damn thing every day after school around the house.
Paul on his old TT500 at Del Mar
CALIFORNIA CALLED
Fast forward a few years and I moved out to California in 2014 to take a job. I missed racing quite a bit and somehow ended up at the Del Mar Fairgrounds watching a Flat Track race. That was it, it was all over. Now I'm a psycho for dirt track motorcycle racing. I picked up an old TT500 and turned it into a flat tracker, and took it to that same Del Mar race the next year. I had no idea what I was doing!
A HOOLIGAN AT HEART
Since then, I've been buying, selling, trading, building motorcycles and racing them. I've raced singles, twins, vintage and hooligan. Hooligan racing is pretty cool and has really taken off. In 2018 I raced a sportster in the hooligan class and won a handful of races that year. This is around the time pros and really fast guys started getting serious about the hooligan thing. I was bumped up the "pro" class and thrown in the ring with AMA grand national champions and Moto GP riders. That’s a tough crowd! I built a bike to try and keep up with the pace, but I don't do this for a living. So I'm out there for fun.
Paul’s Super Hooligan
CUE 250LONDON
I'm really stoked on 250LONDON gear and excited to have their support moving forward. I really like the simple timeless style approach to the gear. The black and white always looks good and works with anything. That’s my favorite!
Paul will be repping 250LONDON Stateside this coming season
DEL MAR
My first race repping 250LONDON was The Del Mar the other weekend, and it was a really tough one! 32 hooligans there that day. Fast guys. Top 10 made the main event. I got a 3rd of 7 in heat 1, and 4th of 7 in heat 2. Didn't make the main.
I'll be doing a bunch of racing next season. I have 4 different bikes to play with next year so I’m going to mess around in some different classes and see which ones stick. Should be fun.
I'll be racing the famous Texas Fredericksburg horse track in the spring, most or all of the SCFTA races in Southern California, and a handful of the Roland Sands Super Hooligan Series. I would like to do some travelling and hit some of the other big horse tracks if I have time. Those are always really fun.
Great to have you on board as our guy in California Paul! Roll on the 2020 season, we’re excited to see you racing and repping 250LONDON in the So Cal sun!
Keep up with Paul on his Instagram account here.