How a War Vet Conquered PTSD and Made a “Tank” Behave Itself on Track

After years spent chasing thrills, NASA Utah driver Josh Hansen had to heed the call. He had spent his adolescence and early adulthood on two wheels, which led to starting his bike support and shock revalving business, JH Racing. When he was 30 years old, he believed the right thing to do was serve his nation after it had been attacked on September 11th.

“Our country gave me the freedom to succeed as a mechanic, so I felt it was my duty to serve my country after September 11th. I told my pro riders I was closing shop and I’d see them after the war,” he professed.

Hansen left Utah for Iraq to become an IED hunter. Over the course of two tours, Hansen took eight direct hits, which changed his life forever. The worst of them, which put him in the hospital for three months, left him with debilitating injuries to his brain, neck, and back.

Fighting PTSD

The diagnosis given by his neuro specialists did not bode well for a life of thrill-seeking after combat. “They told me another concussion could be disastrous, so motocross was off the table. Not just as a racer, but as a mechanic, I didn’t trust myself after the brain injury and wouldn’t risk missing something and putting my riders at risk.”

That was not what a man still buried under the weight of war wanted to hear.

“War is hell, and when you get home, it stays with you. Little things put you into a panic, and you start trying to avoid life altogether,” he began. “I was isolating bad. A lot of people with PTSD do that. They just want to stay locked up in their room. I was no different, spending all day in the office.

“The problem was that I had nothing to do, and I felt like a burden. I thought, ‘Gee, if I just end it now, everyone around me would be better off. Then one of my friends from the war died by suicide, and I saw how badly his family was affected. That taught me the solution was to get my ass out of there and do something useful,” he recounted.

He began addressing his pain, first by lifting his spirits on the back of a mountain bike. Eventually, the hankering for motorized competition crept back in and it couldn’t be avoided. While he was willing to take on some danger — he had to take some risk to live, really — and he knew he could mitigate some of that risk by staying inside a four-wheeled vehicle.

During COVID, Hansen bought a 2020 Challenger 392 TA and named it Black Lion. “I knew it wasn’t the ideal car, but I was out to have a good time in the car I always wanted. I loved the body style,” he began. I started with autocross, and when I showed up to one, the folks there said, ‘Nobody races these for long. Eventually they get frustrated when they realize they can’t with one.’

“Well, I don’t like people telling me what I can’t do, so I stuck at it and ended up taking third overall in the 2021 season,” Hansen said. “The next year, I took fourth overall. For autocross, all I did was add strut tower braces for more rigidity.

“Then we started running autocross on the big track, at Burt Brothers Motorpark, and we got to watch the track guys running on the whole track. After that, I knew I wouldn’t be happy if I didn’t give it a try,” he said.

Clydesdales for Courses

It didn’t take long to realize the heavyset Challenger needed some help to handle the demands of track work, so Hansen turned to Wesley Motorsports for a set of Bilsteins to help lower and stiffen the car, and the right brake pads to stop it.

A 4,300-pound car is not really suited to regular hard stops as experienced at Utah Motorsport Campus, so Wesley installed a set of Dodge Viper calipers up front clamping Hellcat rotors and Hawk DTC-70 brake pads.

The rubber required an upgrade, too. “I was tracking with 285/35/20 Yokohama AD09s, which worked well on the racetrack because they weren’t as easy to overheat.” To fatten their footprints up as much as possible, Hansen got a hold of AAD Performance, picked their brains, and picked up a set of their control arms to help get a little more camber from the car. They also helped drop weight, as did the rear seat delete, and the Sparcos in place of the fan-equipped factory seats. In total, the regimen shed about 200 pounds.

Hansen’s work on the autocross and a small list of meaningful modifications helped spark a little inspiration. “The first time out, I kept up with an Audi R8. Afterward, the owner approached me in the pits and asked, ‘How’re you keeping up with me through the corners in that thing?’”

As the speeds increased, he decided to improve the car’s aero for as little as possible. “I made my own splitter out of plywood, installed an APR 300 rear wing, and then reached out to RaceLouvers for a set on the hood and a couple on the front fenders. I wasn’t doing any mods for looks – I wanted these for functionality. I’d call the companies and talk their ear off to make sure they were doing the right thing.

In Good Company

Limited by his budget, Hansen decided to grow into the current setup and refrained from spending more on additional add-ons. He recognized his education could use a little improvement, so he started studying YouTube, then when he had to put some of the trickier concepts into action, he took a course from Rev Performance. “They helped me calm my driving down a lot and taught me how to back up braking points and ease the car into the corner. I was coming in too hot, understeering through the turn, then stabbing the throttle too soon, which would lift the nose and worsen the understeer. I had to give the big beast time to settle and roll through the corner.

“I appreciated the way they adapted to my learning style. It’s tough with the injury from the war,” Hansen said. “Repetition is the way I learn. If someone rattles off too much at one time, my brain locks up and I can’t retain anything.

He enjoyed the track stuff so much and loved seeing his times improve. Looking for a new challenge, he reached out to the NASA Utah Region and signed up for a TT weekend. Cheri Miller and Matt Guiver helped him go through the steps of getting signed up. He was a little nervous the first time out, but the instructors kept him calm.

NASA made the whole weekend fun. Even when he felt stagnated, and thought he was more of an obstacle to others out there, but his instructors kept him motivated and learning.

“I’d get down on myself because folks on social media would say ‘get that boat on a lake,’ and then if I got passed on track, it brought my spirits down,” Hansen said. “Then Kelly Hatcher, Alex Kim, and Rod Sturgis, who were both running TT classes, gave me some words of encouragement. ‘Just keep tracking. The speed will come,’” Sturgis said.

So he did.

Paying it Forward

Eventually, Hansen made it to HPDE4 and stayed there awhile. He felt a bit reluctant to move into TT until he was sure he was ready. In that group, Hatcher, Kim and Sturgis helped fine-tune his driving.

“We’d even sit down and review video and RaceBox information,” Hansen said. “Every session, I’d find another five-tenths – and that was on 200-treadwears! They kept me working through the different levels and encouraged me all the way. I owe them a lot for keeping me in the sport.”

By the final race of last year, Hansen was ready to move into TT.

“I’ve done four weekends in TT so far, and I regard that as a huge success after everything I’ve been through. My confidence has gone through the roof. I’ve even learned how to hold my line when I have to,” he added. “When Kim was coming through in his Lamborghini, I didn’t move out of the way because that was my lap. ‘Sorry Alex, you’re going to have to wait a minute,’ I said when I saw him in my mirrors. I’m glad I didn’t back off, since that one turned out to be my fastest.”

As of this year, Hansen started instructing HPDE1. Guiver recognized that his military background would help him teach people to drive. Of course, they assign Hansen to the guys with heavy cars.

“Nobody’s better qualified to teach someone how to get a heavy car around a corner,” Guiver said.

“To be able to pay it forward and help drivers the way the others helped me in the past has helped me feel like my old self,” Hansen said. “Purpose and a positive network of people to surround yourself with. That’s enough to pull most people out of the dumps,” he explained.

Though it took years and continues to be an ongoing process, Hansen found his path to healing. He discovered joy again and started a nonprofit, Continue Mission, an organization aimed at helping veterans navigate life after war with structured therapeutic, recreational, and educational events.

“It’s healing for me to help others learn an activity that has helped me continue my healing process. The connections are what keep me going,” Hansen proclaimed. “After the war and recovery from injuries that sent me down a dark tunnel with thoughts of suicide, I made the right choice to get professional help to work through my pain. Today, I’m here for my three adult kids and my three grandkids. My family, friends, Continue Mission, and racing the Black Lion with NASA bring happiness, joy, and purpose to my life.”

Hansen also thanks his parents, Joedy and Deidre, and his spouse of 31 years, Melissa.

As for racing in his future? He hopes to make it out of his home state. “I just bought a Futura trailer and I’m thinking of trying a few new tracks,” he said. “Mainly, I just want everything to stay fun and not pressure myself much. I have to remind myself that I’m in a big heavy car out there driving with Porsche and BMWs. I’m never going to be the fastest. What matters is that I keep improving and enjoy myself.”