HARTMAN BLUE STREAK KART
The Hartman Story
John Hartman's entry in to karting goes back to the very first days at Eastland Shopping Center where karting got its start in 1957. His karts were ahead of their time even then with mechanical disc brakes, rack and pinion steering and sissy bar on the sides of the seat which were unheard of for the time. John was a accomplished machinist long before he entered into karting having established Hartman Engineering in 1947 and run out of a 4200 square foot machine shop located in Montrose California. within its confines John and wife/driver Kathey produced many karts and accessories that were proven to be among the best in the industry.
Kathey Machala started racing in 1962 at Cresent Raceway in Ohio, developing her talent for driving to become the Ohio state champion in 1964. That same year she switched to the Lancer factory team owned by Big "J" Jeffries and in 1966 she won the Open Light National Championship at Quincy Illinois. Soon after the winning the national title Kathey went to spend the summer in California with McCulloch's Chuck Hammond and family. She was later introduced to John Hartman and subsequently became a driver for him. In December that year John and Kathey were married and began the long winning tradition of Hartman Engineering that lasted two decades.
Sadly, John passed away in 1992 and Kathey pursued another career as a Physician's Assistant in Orthopedic Surgery. She has since retired and enjoys competitive Bass fishing these days. Kathey has close to 40 IKF National titles in sprint and enduro racing and deserves recognition as one of the most accomplished female drivers in motorsports.
John Hartman's entry in to karting goes back to the very first days at Eastland Shopping Center where karting got its start in 1957. His karts were ahead of their time even then with mechanical disc brakes, rack and pinion steering and sissy bar on the sides of the seat which were unheard of for the time. John was a accomplished machinist long before he entered into karting having established Hartman Engineering in 1947 and run out of a 4200 square foot machine shop located in Montrose California. within its confines John and wife/driver Kathey produced many karts and accessories that were proven to be among the best in the industry.
Kathey Machala started racing in 1962 at Cresent Raceway in Ohio, developing her talent for driving to become the Ohio state champion in 1964. That same year she switched to the Lancer factory team owned by Big "J" Jeffries and in 1966 she won the Open Light National Championship at Quincy Illinois. Soon after the winning the national title Kathey went to spend the summer in California with McCulloch's Chuck Hammond and family. She was later introduced to John Hartman and subsequently became a driver for him. In December that year John and Kathey were married and began the long winning tradition of Hartman Engineering that lasted two decades.
Sadly, John passed away in 1992 and Kathey pursued another career as a Physician's Assistant in Orthopedic Surgery. She has since retired and enjoys competitive Bass fishing these days. Kathey has close to 40 IKF National titles in sprint and enduro racing and deserves recognition as one of the most accomplished female drivers in motorsports.
1975 Hartman Blue Streak
Owner: Michael Edick
Steve Derkson
HARTMAN CHASSIS NUMBERING SYSTEM
Below is some useful information from the VKA website concerning the Hartman numbering system. I would like to credit VKA members Bill Pryor, Larry Brown, Steve O'Hara, Michael Edick for their contributions.
The information below is being provided courtesy of Steve Derksen, a long time engine and chassis builder at Hartman Engineering.
It has been 36 years since he began the fabrication of the chassis for John Hartman beginning mid 1972 until December of 1984, so these are his best recollections.
First, locate the part number on one side of the plate that forms the top of the steering hoop.
Enduro Chassis - The numbers on the enduro chassis will read - SD= Steve Derksen, first number=month, second number= year. Steve hand built all of the enduro chassis. The enduro chassis were never painted unless requested by the customer. The enduro chassis were welded using OXWELD #26 Bronze Welding Rod.
Sprint chassis - The sprint chassis's numbers were serialized i.e 1082, 2157 and don't appear to decipher any particular information about the kart. They (sprint chassis's) were mass produced at a production pipe welding facility by just one welder that produced about one chassis a day along with the other production welding. When all sprint chassis were welded and painted, they returned to the shop where Steve supervised 2 people responsible for the assembly of the karts.
The story behind the sprint chassis that have the letter prefix (such as TV17) is that Hartman was contracted to supply 50 karts for the NBC TV show " Battle of the Network Stars " but it was cancelled before the karts were delivered.
Hartman produced sprint and enduro chassis from 1973 to 1984. The total number of sprint karts produced was about 500 over the years. I don't have an accurate amount of enduro chassis but would assume it to be much less than the sprints.
A list of known Hartman Blue Streaks and owners are listed below the picture gallery. The owner list may be out of date as of this posting. If you own a Hartman kart you would like to add or show change of ownership, please contact me.
Below is some useful information from the VKA website concerning the Hartman numbering system. I would like to credit VKA members Bill Pryor, Larry Brown, Steve O'Hara, Michael Edick for their contributions.
The information below is being provided courtesy of Steve Derksen, a long time engine and chassis builder at Hartman Engineering.
It has been 36 years since he began the fabrication of the chassis for John Hartman beginning mid 1972 until December of 1984, so these are his best recollections.
First, locate the part number on one side of the plate that forms the top of the steering hoop.
Enduro Chassis - The numbers on the enduro chassis will read - SD= Steve Derksen, first number=month, second number= year. Steve hand built all of the enduro chassis. The enduro chassis were never painted unless requested by the customer. The enduro chassis were welded using OXWELD #26 Bronze Welding Rod.
Sprint chassis - The sprint chassis's numbers were serialized i.e 1082, 2157 and don't appear to decipher any particular information about the kart. They (sprint chassis's) were mass produced at a production pipe welding facility by just one welder that produced about one chassis a day along with the other production welding. When all sprint chassis were welded and painted, they returned to the shop where Steve supervised 2 people responsible for the assembly of the karts.
The story behind the sprint chassis that have the letter prefix (such as TV17) is that Hartman was contracted to supply 50 karts for the NBC TV show " Battle of the Network Stars " but it was cancelled before the karts were delivered.
Hartman produced sprint and enduro chassis from 1973 to 1984. The total number of sprint karts produced was about 500 over the years. I don't have an accurate amount of enduro chassis but would assume it to be much less than the sprints.
A list of known Hartman Blue Streaks and owners are listed below the picture gallery. The owner list may be out of date as of this posting. If you own a Hartman kart you would like to add or show change of ownership, please contact me.
Kathey Hartman Media Guide
Reference Pictures & Advertisements
HARTMAN BLUE STREAK SURVIVOR LIST
Chassis ID # / Last known owner of the kart:
SPRINT CHASSIS
1973
No originals reported or recovered
2 Kathey Hartman sprint replica's were built by Michael Burke
1974
1056 Brian Shoemaker
1080 Kent Windham
1089 Michael Edick
1111 Kelly West
1128 Kelly West
1137 Michael Edick
1138 Unknown owner in New Zealand
1191 Cliff Nutcher
1975
2011 Richie Engel
2034 Scott Mings
2059 Mark Green
1976
2118 Kelly West
2155 Steve Civils
2157 Brian Hannon
2166 Patrick Stephenson
2173 Scott Wiggington, previous owner Dan Erickson
2174 Pat Hammond, Purchased new in 1977 from Jim Russell Sr.
2182 Pat Hammond.
2186 Michael Edick
1977
2204 Roger Hargens
2215 Michael Kerber
2216 Mike Wyatt
2247 Mark Petraccoro
2260 Kelly West
2281 Bill Pryor
2283 ????
2286 Jack Gesler
2306 Phil Rockwell
2324 Jeff May
2326 Kelly West
2338 New owner, previously Mike Edick
2359 Walt Stearly
2362 Bill Spaulde
2376 James Berry
2432 Terry Schmitz
2439 Bill Spaulde
2467 Cliff Nutcher
2476 Jim Fair
2486 Jorge Parra
2496 Jack Lehmann
2504 Steve Thiel
2515 Vico Prelogar, newly recovered & under restoration Feb 2020
2523 Kenny Mead
2525 Jim Berry
2531 Tod Spaude
2532 Ilya Leontovich
2556 Terry Russell
1978/79
TV14 Randy Gryczkowski
TV17 Steve Civils
TV25 Nick Badame
ENDURO CHASSIS
**All single right hand unless noted**
KH77 Kelly West
SD78 Dan Flanders
SD78 Jim Guss
SD78 James Berry
SD79 Todd Giles
SD80 Ace Rossi
SD81 Terry Russell
SD82 Terry Russell (Single LH enduro)
SD82 Rudy Francek (Kathey Hartman’s Long Beach, Phoenix, Cleveland, Pro Twin Enduro)
SD82 John Bratton
SD82 Steve O'Hara (Single LH enduro)
SD83 John Bratton
SD83 Randy Gryczkowski (Dual enduro)
SD84 Rudy Francek (Dual Enduro)
SDDP Rudy Francek
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Original list was compiled by Michael Edick