Driver Overcomes More Than Distance To Race At His First Tulsa Shootout

Racers lined up, waited for the green light, and let their engines rip as they competed in the 2024 Tulsa Shootout.

One racer didn't let what happened to him in past races keep him from trying to win the Golden Driller.

"We got a lot of work to do on our car to actually get there, but we'll try our best," Joshua Jackson said. 

In 2015, Joshua Jackson was in a wreck during a race.

"I was in the hospital for about a year and a half," said Jackson.

He lost the use of a leg and an arm, but despite what he was going through, he was determined to get back to the sport he loved.

"I told them I was going to do something with racing, something. I don't care what it is, something. Once I get my leg starting to come back, I said, 'Oh, I'm going to start racing again," Jackson said. 

When he got out of the hospital, he began racing again in El Paso.

"I did alright. I finished like third or fourth, and so that's when I knew I was going to start working harder to get into me bringing back racing again," he said. 

Eight years later, Joshua was excited to finally race in his first-ever Tulsa Shootout, and the folks who knew him said that just being there showed what type of driver he was.

"For him to come back from, you know, not being able to walk, much less speak, and to get back in a race car, that really speaks volumes to his strength and his tenacity," said Bryan Hulbert. 

Joshua wants to encourage others that no matter what happens, keep your head high and your eyes on the prize.

"Showing people that you never need to give up on anything that might happen with you. Just keep moving forward and don't ever give up and you can go places," he said.