COLUMBIA, LOUISIANA -- Marty Hart is no mystery driver to the competitive off-road racing world of ATVs. As a highly respected ATV racing champion, Hart has won more than seven National Championships and the Baja 1000 spanning 3-wheel, 4 wheel and off-road racing vehicle categories.

If Hart was a mystery driver to the competitive off-road sport of rock crawling, he is no more. At the UROC ProNational Pacific event in Phoenix, Hart and spotter Jeff Jones scored a –97 for a 2 nd Place finish in the Super Modified class, right behind the tire wheels and heels of Mad Rock Racing’s Bruce Zeller. Notably, Hart beat out household rock crawl names such as Tracy Jordan and Shannon Campbell.Then at the UROC event in Cedar City, he beat out Zeller for another 2nd place finish.

Marty Hart set the tone for his successful crossover-to-the-rocks in 2005 when he earned 3 rd Place in Super Modified at Supercrawl IV. The win was an obvious foreshadowing of what more was to come from the MAXXIS-sponsored Hart and Jones. Labeling Marty Hart as a fierce competitor might be a bit of an understatement. He’s going full-throttle into 2006 UROC competitive season with the ProNational Series and W.E. ROCK East.

In a no-nonsense voice, Hart got down to business immediately with his purpose in taking up competitive rock crawling – which is to win. If Hart had a personal mantra or saying, it would likely be: I want to win. He is not afraid to say it, and it comes out again and again with the strength of a steal chassis. And that chassis has the backing of MAXXIS Tires, OMF Beadlocks, Warn Wenches, Badlands Offroad, and Fox Shocks to support his take-no-prisoners driving approach and appeal.

In Louisiana, swap-like terrain is void of any rocks. So Hart went ahead and built some. With his own man-course located in his backyard, Hart has the ability to practice rock crawling and getting his game face on. “I can test a lot in my backyard,” he said. Hart sees his location – a location filled with a Deep South mud-bogging history – as an advantage to his rock crawling career, due to availability to reach the Midwest’s many mad-made courses. Hart sees this as the sport’s ticket to gaining overall success. “People can get to the events better,” he said about man-made courses verse natural terrain. “I see the stadiums going indoors.”

Hart decided to pick up on the crossover trend and compete in professional rock crawling because he felt the off-road sport had the potential to grow in attendance. Hart sees an even stronger fan-based future if the sport evolves into short course rock racing. He acknowledges right now the structure is great fun for the drivers and teams, but his exposure in other off-road sports (with attendances as high as 62,000 people) tell him making moves to gain spectator attention is crucial for success. “At the end of the day, it has to be exciting. It has to be more of a show for the fans.”

It was also the lure of the driver and team professionalism that attracted Hart to rock crawling. In short, Hart was moved by the thrill of new blood. Hart is not shy about where his heart and mind sits with event competition. “I want to be competitive and I want to be a champion. You have to be competitive. You have to be prepared.”

When asked how Hart’s ATV driving helps with his rock crawl driving, his thinking went narrow – because its all about finding a line. “Around a motor cross track, you have to pick a line. You have to know what is coming, and where you need to be, and where you want to be.”

Hart is big on mentally focusing through any course before attacking and claims to “study more than anybody” at an event. “[Jones] will dissect it, I’ll dissect it, and then we’ll walk the course. We’ll come up with a plan.” He also sites the importance of being able to make adjustments and be flexible to the decisions a driver and spotter make together based on the terrain. “You’re competing against the course, not so much against someone else.”

When working with his spotter on a course, Hart sees it is about learning to “turn the wheel over.” He knows in this off-road sport you cannot be perfect all the time. “We don’t blame one another, but we have expectations,” he said. “We’ve had to really work through issues of not being hard on ourselves. You don’t know all the time what is being thrown at you. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out. We keep moving. We cannot dwell.”

Hart said spotter Jeff Jones’s strengths are that he is very competitive. “His desire to win is almost equal to mine. It’s tough for me to admit someone has it as much as I do, but he has it bad.” He also notes his common sense, confidence, and ability to look at all the angles; basically, Jones knows how to capitalize on what others are doing, but to keep an open mind. Hart and Jones do study other teams.

There is one more motivator for rock crawl outside the insatiable desire and unyielding focus to win, and it is a soft spot: his family. Married for 17 years and with two kids, Hart sees the sport as having a family-friendly atmosphere and said he’s been welcomed as a new competitor. “New guys are not pushed under the rug,” he said. “I like the competitors. I like the attitude. You can speak to the professionals.” Hart’s grasped immediately the sport’s general consensus of why everyone is committed to rock crawling. “It’s about wheeling and having a good time,” he said.

Marty Hart has definitely got the Off-road Gods on his side. But Hart does have disadvantages, which are mainly his greenness and the absence of a traditional rock crawling background. Hart knows his name can lack recognition in rock crawl circles. “I’m still learning every single day,” he admitted. But right after – almost subconsciously – he followed up with the statement embedded in his brain and soul: “I want to be the winner. I want to win.”