<PAGE>

                                  EXHIBIT 31.1
                                  CERTIFICATION

I, Corey E. Shaker, certify that:

1. I have  reviewed  this  quarterly  report  on  Form  10-Q  of  Hometown  Auto
Retailers, Inc.

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state a material fact  necessary to make the statements
made, in light of the  circumstances  under which such statements were made, not
misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3.  Based  on my  knowledge,  the  financial  statements,  and  other  financial
information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the
financial  condition,  results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as
of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.  The  registrant's  other  certifying  officers  and  I are  responsible  for
establishing and maintaining  disclosure  controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal  control over financial
reporting  (as defined in Exchange Act Rules  13a-15(f) and  15d-15(f))  for the
registrant and have:

         (a) Designed such disclosure  controls and  procedures,  or caused such
         disclosure   controls  and   procedures   to  be  designed   under  our
         supervision,  to  ensure  that  material  information  relating  to the
         registrant,  including its consolidated subsidiaries,  is made known to
         us by others within those entities,  particularly  during the period in
         which this report is being prepared;

         (b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting,  or caused
         such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our
         supervision,  to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability
         of financial reporting and the preparation of financial  statements for
         external  purposes in accordance  with  generally  accepted  accounting
         principles;

         (c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
         and procedures and presented in this report our  conclusions  about the
         effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures,  as of the end
         of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

         (d)  Disclosed in this report any change in the  registrant's  internal
         control over financial  reporting that occurred during the registrant's
         most recent fiscal quarter (the  registrant's  fourth fiscal quarter in
         the case of an  annual  report)  that has  materially  affected,  or is
         reasonably  likely to  materially  affect,  the  registrant's  internal
         control over financial reporting; and

5. The registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based on our
most recent  evaluation of internal  control over  financial  reporting,  to the
registrant's  auditors  and the audit  committee  of the  registrant's  board of
directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

         (a) All significant  deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design
         or operation of internal  control over  financial  reporting  which are
         reasonably  likely to  adversely  affect  the  registrant's  ability to
         record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

         (b) Any fraud,  whether or not material,  that  involves  management or
         other  employees  who  have a  significant  role  in  the  registrant's
         internal control over financial reporting.

August 12, 2003                       /s/ Corey E. Shaker
                                      -------------------------------------
                                      Corey E. Shaker
                                      President and Chief Executive Officer


                                       30