MILLER: The men and magic behind "Union Jack"

In their IMCA state fair days, Jim Hurtubise and Parnelli Jones slept in a station wagon, bathed in creeks and heated up canned beans and franks on the exhaust pipe for dinner. Johnny Rutherford ran 73 IMCA sprint shows one summer and could only afford a motel room after a victory while he and Jim McElreath camped out under the stars in Military Park on a bench in downtown Indianapolis before their first Indy 500. Bentley Warren built his engines, drove the tow rig and slept in his truck during his supermodified days.

There are countless stories of what guys did to survive and make it in racing but most of them are 50-60 years old. Make no mistake, sacrifices are still made by families, friends and kids today in order to compete and stay on track. But not many can rival Andrew Hawksworth (LEFT) and Chris Harfield.

The father of IndyCar rookie Jack and agent Harfield have literally gone “all in” for Hawksworth’s goal of making it as a professional race driver.

Andrew sold his business and used the money to help his teenager afford to travel the Formula Renault circuit after running him in go-karts all over Europe. After his season in Formula Renault, Harfield and the Hawksworths agreed the best chance Jack had of progressing his career was to get on the Mazda Road to Indy program. So Andrew sold his only passenger car to buy an airplane ticket so Jack could come to the United States for the first time. With that, further sacrifices were made to ensure Jack could do a test in a Pro Mazda car and hopefully catch the eye of a team boss who would want him in their car. Jack topped the time charts at the Chris Griffis Memorial test and was snapped up by Team Pelfrey for the 2012 Pro Mazda campaign.

In addition to ensuring Hawksworth got on an airplane to go to Sebring and test an Indy car with Bryan Herta last winter, Harfield underwrote the insurance package to cover the test.

“People don’t take risks like that anymore,” said Herta, whose little team has made some big headlines with Union Jack at the wheel this season. “Andrew believes in Jack 100 percent and is betting on history, just like Chris. And those guys are all in.”

As is the driver, who lives in a westside motel in Indy with one lamp, a mattress and his computer.

“I don’t know how they do it but I’ve never heard Jack say ‘poor me’ about anything,” continues Herta, who may have the smallest budget in the Verizon IndyCar Series. “I know he’s thankful for his father and friends and he’s trying to make the most of it and he’s done a great job for us.”

Dad didn’t have the money to come watch Jack’s debut at Indianapolis last May but finally managed to make it to Mid-Ohio last weekend. He got free meals at Honda hospitality, a warm welcome from the BHA boys and his own radio to listen to his kid’s feedback with engineer Todd Malloy. “It must be like NASA with all those radios and people talking,” he laughed.

The former owner of a motorcycle shop who also did some stunt driving, it’s obvious that Andrew is as Jack describes him, “the salt of the earth.” Instantly likeable, he spoke from the heart about doing whatever necessary to keep his son racing.

“I always looked for reasons to stop supporting him but he never gives me any,” exclaimed the senior Hawksworth. “He doesn’t let you off the hook. He’s never been not quick enough, regardless of what he’s driven.”

An ex-pro tennis player who grew-up with a brother who raced open wheel cars against the likes of Dan Wheldon and Jenson Button, Harfield followed racing intensely and tracked talent throughout the junior ranks which is where he discovered Union Jack.

“It was obvious when he went from karts to cars and put it on the pole position in five straight sessions of Formula Renault against the best juniors in Europe [including current Toro Rosso rising star Daniil Kvyat] that Jack had a unique ability,” said Harfield. “He had talent, he was focused and he was hungry. I wanted be in involved in a fairytale and that’s when I hooked up with Jack and Andrew.”

After dominating Star Mazda (as Pro Mazda was called then) over here in 2012 with eight wins and the title, Hawksworth moved into Indy Lights last season and scored three victories (ABOVE, at Baltimore with Sage Karam and Gabby Chaves). Stepping up to IndyCar was next but all he had was his helmet, his talent and Harfield.

“I called Bryan and begged him every day for a test but Jack had pretty much given up on racing and figured he’d be a personal trainer who ran go-karts for fun on the weekends,” continued Harfield. “When Bryan agreed, I told Jack I’d buy his plane ticket and pay for the insurance but everything from there was on him. He was quicker than Bourdais and Sato on that first day but I could barely watch because if he’d crashed, I’d have been ruined financially.”

Andrew and Chris both credit Ian Jones for being the catalyst. “This could have never happened without Ian’s support the past three or four years,” said Harfield. “He sold his race horse and said Jack would be his new horse.”

The season started smartly (Jack qualified eighth at St. Pete and fifth at Long Beach) but he re

ally dazzled everyone at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Starting second, he grabbed the lead (TOP) and was out in front for 31 laps and pulling away before an unlucky caution ruined the team’s strategy, relegating him to seventh.

He scored his initial podium at Houston (ABOVE) after a fierce battle with Juan Montoya and was sixth at Toronto but has struggled the past month. The team's sponsor bailed just before Toronto so co-owners Steve Newey and Herta are both scrambling to find money for 2015.

“Jack's young hungry and ambitious,” said Herta (RIGHT), a former CART winner. “You can build on that and we want to keep him.”

But, considering how far this quiet kid has traveled in the past three years, it’s a great story in itself.

“To see Jack lead those laps at Indianapolis made me so proud and so emotional,” says Andrew. “If that’s as far as we ever go, it’s been worth everything.”

Hopefully, there’s much more to come.