Jack Walker, a proud native of New Hampshire, is among the elite group of 35 fellow New England locals competing in this year's Road Course World Finals at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. With an impressive track record, Walker achieved back-to-back victories as the Young Lion Road Course National Champion in 2015 and 2016, and he also attained the 2019 Semi-Pro Road Course National Championship. When he's not at the track, you can find Jack watching the New England Patriots, playing Starfield, and savoring delicious meals at T-Bones.
Hometown: Bow, New Hampshire
Division: Pro
Number: 95J
Team: Jack Walker Racing LLC
Favorite NFL team? New England Patriots
1. What do you love most about NH?
I just love that there's quite a bit to do, but it still has that small town feel.
2. Do you have any activities or hobbies that you do outside of racing?
If we're not either racing or working on the car, I like to just hang out, watch some tv, play some video games. Lately I've been playing a lot of Starfield that just came out.
3. What is your favorite restaurant?
I'd say probably T-Bones, which is a local chain around here. it's kinda like standard Applebee's, Carolina House, that type of thing.
4. If you could have a conversation with anyone, who would it be and why?
I would love to talk to some of the guys like Lee Petty or any of the guys who were around right at the beginning of NASCAR and talk about what it was like back in those days.
5. How did you pick 95 J?
The original Cars movie had just come out, and that gives you an idea of how long ago it was. It was my favorite movie at the time so we went with 95, but then we added the J because we figured that there was gonna be a bunch of other people who were also using 95 at the time. That's how we ended up going with that.
6. How old were you when you first started racing?
I was six years old when I started running quarter Midgets at Londonderry Raceway.
7. How did you get into racing?
My dad always had interest and wanted to race when he was little. When I was five he took me to Londonderry and asked me if I wanted to do it. And at that point I was hooked. So, I said yeah and we bought a car and we ran that first year. It was 2007 and I think we had 24 races and I won 17 of them.
8. What is one thing that racing has taught you in your everyday life?
Just keep pushing through, you never know what's going to happen. Just because you make one mistake doesn't mean that it's not going to end up mattering if you keep pushing afterwards that you might not be able to come out on top anyways.
9. What is your best memory you've had so far at a race?
I'd have to say the 2019 [Road Course] World Finals. Basically, whoever came out on top was gonna have the championship, we were running between fifth and seventh the whole race. I just had to try and hang on for two laps because whoever was going to finish ahead was [winning] the championship and it came down to that photo finish right at the end. It that was probably the toughest championship win I've ever had.
10. If you could give advice to any new driver starting off, what would you tell them?
I would tell them just because you make a mistake early doesn't mean that [the race] might not come back to you.
11. What do you find most enjoyable about racing?
Being able to battle with other drivers and trying to outsmart them is always the most fun for me.
12. What do you enjoy most about road course racing?
I find that road courses tend to be a lot more technical. Every single track is usually pretty different, so you have to drive every single track differently. Whereas on ovals they tend to be a lot more similar in how you would attack them. But on different tracks, you have different passing zones. Sometimes you can go to the inside, sometimes you can go to the outside.
13. What are your 2024 racing goals? What do you hope to achieve?
I would say for 2024 to just be able to continue to build on this year and try and be able to move back up towards the top of the points because this year has been a little more difficult than years past, but I think that'll be a good thing for us. I think for a while it was kind of there wasn't a ton of competition and then this year there's been a lot more so in the end, it'll end up making us better.