racer told me that I was their hero,
so the name stuck.”
Martin, most recently the driver of
the popular ’55 Chevy Nomad “Lowmad”
for owner Dave Elsberry, has been an
active competitor since 1999, but by
the end of last season he was
considering calling it a career.
“I have been racing for quite a long
time, and I was seriously thinking
about hanging it up,” Martin said.
“It’s not that I didn’t still love the
sport, but the politics, time and
money involved just had taken a toll
on me and I was on the verge of
calling it quits.”
Things changed dramatically, however,
when just a week after his last race
of the 2013 season Martin got a phone
call from Pro Extreme racer and team
owner Neal Wantye.
“Neal called to ask me if I wanted to
crew and tune his cars this season,
and I told him that I wasn’t
interested in doing that because I’m a
driver,” Martin said. “I told him that
I had already tried the crew chief
thing and it wasn’t for me. He then
asked me if I would be interested in
driving one of his cars, and I had to
be honest with him when I told him
that while he had good equipment -
motors, drivetrains, trannies and so
on, the cars were not going to cut it.
I told him that if I raced a car I
wanted it to be capable of setting
records and winning championships and
his cars were too just heavy.”
Wantye then sweetened his proposal,
making Martin the classic offer too
good to be refused.
“He said, ‘well, then build me two new
cars,’ Martin said. “We talked a
little more and he offered to pay me
good money, so we came to an agreement
to team up for 2014 and run in the
PDRA’s Pro Extreme class. He and I
would each drive a car, and I would
tune and maintain them both.”
Martin immediately got to work on the
team’s new Camaro-bodied cars, cutting
the first piece of tubing on November
13, 2013.
“Now you have to remember that I’m a
one-man band – I do everything by
myself,” Martin said. “And I wasn’t
able to work non-stop on the cars,
either. Just after I started working
on them I went to Australia for ten
days, then I went to Qatar for six
days. I took off another five days at
Christmas, three days at New Years,
and two days to go to the PRI show.
So, basically, from the first of
December until now I have built two
complete race-ready cars. Two cars in
three months, all by myself.
“I call the cars JMRC Specials,”
Martin said with a laugh. “The cars
are twins – they are as identical as I
can make them. When I was building
them I would measure one car and then
cut two of everything. I put them
together at the same time and I
started them both on the same day last
week. They have 2012 Five Star Race
Cars Camaro bodies, Brad Anderson Hemi
engines, PSI screw blowers, Neal
Chance converters and Lencodrive
transmissions.
“This is the same combination I ran in
the Lowmad, but of course it’s all
newer stuff. I ran a 3.58 with the
Lowmad and the engine was seven years
old and worn out, so we are looking
for big things from these Camaros.”
Since Martin originally declined
Wantye’s offer to drive because he
considered his cars to be too heavy,
how did he make out with the new
pieces?
“The chassis’ themselves were not
built heavy, but I added some weight
by including things like three-inch
stainless zoomies, which also look
really cool. I will actually have to
add some ballast to my car because I
weigh 165 while Neal goes 220. With
him weighing what he does, Neal’s car
will make the 2,275-pound weight but I
will have to add 40 pounds to mine to
bring it up to class spec. To answer
your question, the cars are not
extremely light, but they can be made
real light if I just go back and
change out a few pieces.”
With both cars having just been fired
up a week ago, the first time they
will actually take to the racing
surface will be Thursday, April 3,
when teams gather for the PDRA’s
Inaugural 2014 Spring Open at North
Carolina’s historic Rockingham Dragway.
“These cars will be out-of-the-box
brand new when we debut them at
Rockingham,” said Martin. “We are sure
looking forward to it. With the people
behind the series and the racers and
sponsors involved, we think it will be
real successful. It will be the best
place for eighth-mile competition in
the country. As far as [PDRA co-owner]
Jason Scruggs is concerned, let me put
it this way: If I was on the
battlefield I would want him fighting
right beside me, because he will
always have your back.”
After all, even superheroes need
back-up once in a while. Batman had
Robin, and the Green Hornet had Kato,
so it’s fitting that Martin and Wantye,
along with all PDRA racers and fans,
will have the owners and staff of the
Professional Drag Racers Association
standing firmly behind them.
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