20/08/2026
From Ames to Bonneville: Brent Hajek’s Wild Ride Through Motorsports History
By Jack Quirk
What started with a love of fast cars has taken Brent Hajek from small-town Oklahoma to Bonneville, Talladega and some of the biggest names in American motorsports.
There aren’t many places where you can find nearly 100 historic race cars tucked inside an old school building in a town of fewer than 200 people. Then again, there aren’t many people quite like Brent Hajek.
All About Network’s Jack Quirk recently sat down with longtime friend Hajek to talk about how a kid growing up around Hennessey became a collector, racer and caretaker of American racing history.
Hajek’s fascination started during the car-crazy 1960s. His uncle came home with a 1965 Shelby GT350 and told young Brent it had more horsepower than three tractors. Hajek’s own first car wasn’t exactly a beginner model either, a 1969 428 Mustang that he still owns today.
The collecting came almost by accident.
Hajek wanted a faster drag car and discovered it would be cheaper to buy an old Ford Thunderbolt Fairlane than build one. He paid about $2,000 for a car that today could easily be worth six figures.
He didn’t buy it as an investment. He bought it because it was fast.
When Hajek began taking the Thunderbolt to drag strips, people recognized it. That led to other historic cars and eventually a friendship with NHRA founder Wally Parks, who began inviting Hajek to bring cars to major events.
Along the way, childhood heroes including Bob Glidden, Gas Ronda and Jack Roush became friends.
Eventually, Hajek’s collection outgrew his garage. When the former Ames school went up for auction, Hajek showed up.
Nobody else did.
He bought it.
Today, the former school houses the Hajek Motorsports Museum and more than 80 cars, including vehicles connected to Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Junior Johnson, Ned Jarrett and Bill Elliott.
Quirk’s friendship with Hajek has also produced a few adventures.
One Thanksgiving, Hajek called Quirk with an idea involving a Mustang, a dirt road and an upcoming meeting with Ford executives. The resulting video helped Hajek land a deal with Ford and launched a years-long adventure involving Bonneville, Talladega, SEMA, wind-tunnel testing and land-speed records.
The Mustang eventually topped 250 mph at Bonneville with Danny Thompson driving. Later, NASCAR legend Bill Elliott drove it at more than 200 mph at Talladega, where he also managed to introduce it to the wall.
“He scraped the wall a little bit,” Hajek said.
For Quirk, one of the museum’s biggest surprises was personal. Growing up in Rhode Island, he knew the famous Tasca family and remembered riding to school in the legendary Tasca Street Boss Mustang.
Decades later, 1,600 miles away, he walked into Hajek’s museum and found that very car.
“What the hell’s it doing in Ames?” Quirk remembered thinking.
Today, Hajek continues taking historic cars to racing events around the country, keeping motorsports history alive for new generations.
The museum is available by appointment, although Hajek and Quirk may have come up with a better description.
“We’re never open,” Quirk joked.
“But we’re never closed,” Hajek replied.
Somewhere inside an old school in tiny Ames sits a remarkable piece of American racing history, assembled by a guy who never set out to build a museum.
He just liked fast cars.
Things got a little out of hand.
