“I’ve been told I am a granny off the (start) line but I won my first round so jokes on them,” the 20-year-old said. “It is about getting the reaction time right that is always a hard one. They tell you to leave on amber but you never leave on there.”

The apprentice diesel mechanic hasn’t been far from the sport for most of his childhood with his father Keith, 52, having been an eager drag racer since he was 17.

His father’s influence and a juicy reward were all Jake needed to jump behind the wheel of the family’s 1969 Camaro. 

“I have been brought up with it (drag racing) and I wanted to see if I could win five thousand as that can always go to something,” the first-time racer said. 

“My old man has been growing up doing racing his whole life and he hands down a lot of tricks and he shows me a few techniques. His best advice to me was don’t leave like a granny.”

“It’s a beautiful car and you cant go wrong with it and it is a bit of handful at times but it is really fun.”

Hards said the rush of adrenaline is what will keep him coming back for more after dipping his toes into the sport.

“I want to go fast,” he says in his best Ricky Bobby – the main character of Will Ferrell’s comedy film Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby –  impression.

“I want to go fast and I enjoy it and you obviously get to do a legal burnout which is fun too.”