When you think of Hawaii, pristine beaches, big waves and palm trees come to mind, not car dealerships and auto racing. But that’s exactly the world Tim Hultquist lives in - one where he enjoys the splendor of the state’s natural beauty while carving out a career as an ASE Master Certified Technician and a champion go kart racer.
“I moved to Maui from Colorado at age 13 in 1973 and I have been here since,” said Hultquist, the shop foreman at Island Dodge, a full service Chrysler Corporation dealership. “It’s a great place to live and work.”
“I started playing with a go kart while I was in high school,” said Hultquist, who competes as part of the Team ASE Grassroots Racing Program at Puunene Go Kart Track on Maui. “My dad picked up a go kart at a garage sale and he would let me and my brother ride out at the drag strip where he raced. I always enjoyed that a lot and when a friend took me out to the Maui Go Kart Association races about eight or nine years ago, I was hooked. I knew I wanted to get a kart and race.”
The results have been nothing short of spectacular as Hultquist won the Maui Go Kart Association Hawaii State Championship Senior Sportsman title last year after a runner-up finish in 2006. In 2003, Hultquist also captured the KT-100 Heavy Class state title after again finishing second in the title chase the previous season.
“We compete in a 10-race season from February to November,” Hultquist stated. “I race an Invader kart that weighs out a 345 pounds with the driver. We run a Yamaha KT 100CC two-stroke, single-cylinder engine. It makes 16-18 horsepower and we probably top out at about 55 miles per hour in our class. It feels like you are going a lot faster. You’re an inch or so off the ground at the most, so the sensation of speed is intensified. It’s a lot of fun and the racing is great.”
Hultquist got on the path to being a championship racer after earning a two-year certificate in auto mechanics at Maui Community College in 1980, He joined the service staff of Island Dodge right out of school and has been there eve"Stock car racing on Maui went away years ago,” said Hultquist. “They used to run those at the old county fairgrounds. The drag strip here at Maui has been here since 1964 or so and is still going strong. My dad still races there. He has a 1968 Barracuda that has a new Chrysler 5.7 fuel injected Hemi crate engine that we were able to get him through dealership. He loves telling everyone he has a ‘Hemi Cuda.’”
While competing as a Team ASE Grassroots Racer on weekends, Hultquist spends most of his time at Island Dodge supervising a team of service technicians. Both ASE Master and fully Chrysler certified, Hultquist has been putting in plenty of extra hours lately keeping his customers happy.r since.
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