Martino Motorsports Approaching 50th Year On Drag Racing Circuit

The Martino family stands behind its dragster at one of the many tracks they race

Founded by Youngstown, Ohio resident Tom Martino and his brothers Neil and Jimmy, Martino Motorsports was created in 1970.

“Tom always had a passion for cars. When he reached the legal age to drive, he took his daily driver to a racetrack. He had success and it went on from there,” explained Ryan Martino, Tom’s son, who is now the secondary driver for the team and who has been contributing to it since he was 12 or 13 years old.

The Early Years

During those early years Tom, Neil, and Jimmy Martino successfully took on local drag racers and then continued on to the national level. They continue to race in National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) and Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) events.

“They did quite well racing a Dodge Dart in the Super Stock Classification,” added Ryan.

He noted that his dad has been well decorated in his drag racing career.

“He has quite a win record, but it's difficult to keep track of wins going back more than 45 years,” he said.

Ryan’s Participation

Ryan was born in 1981.

“You can say that I was born at a racetrack,” quipped Ryan. “I grew up at the track. As I got older I started to contribute to the team. It was an easy transition helping my dad and uncles become a force in drag racing.”

Ryan’s inaugural years with the team was assisting in the basic maintenance of the car. He did not get a formal education on automobiles. Instead, his father handed down the knowledge of automobiles and drag racing to him.

“It was all hands on,” he explained. “I also learned about racecars and racing from being around great engineers and staffs at engine shops who took the time to teach me. I took what I learned and applied it to our race team.”

He didn’t start driving for the team until he was 22 or 23 years old.

“I attended and played football at Youngstown State University. So, due to NCAA rules, I couldn’t race for the team until I finished with my collegiate football career,” he said. “So soon after my last football game, I climbed behind the wheel of a super comp dragster.”

Martino Motorsports' dragster blasts off the starting line

“When I ran my series of first quarter-mile passes, everyone at the track gladly signed off on my license to permit me to race dragsters,” he explained. “From that point on, I gained my NHRA competition license and got right into the circuit.

“What’s so unique about drag racing is that you can walk right in and race at the top level if you have the right resources available – a car and the financial resources to compete,” he said.

Ryan volunteered that Martino Motorsports is unique because all the members of the team have full time 9 to 5 jobs.

“My dad and I work more than 40 hours a week on regular jobs to maintain our race program to compete on weekends,” he said. “Many racers are on teams with multi-million dollar budgets and they are associated with companies that provide resources to compete at this level. We are a father and son team and we put in the hours to put our cars on the track.”

Ryan pointed out that everyone who works for the team also has 9 to 5 jobs and that affects who can attend races.

“Sometimes it’s just me and my dad who travel,” he said. “On some occasions, my uncles and grandfather will travel with us. There are also times when friends travel with us. For example, when we race near Chicago friends from that city will come out and help us out.

Budgeting time to perform what must be done when running a racing team can be challenging. Ryan noted that he and his dad have been able to do it because Tom works at night and Ryan works during the day.

“So whatever my dad can’t get to during his time on the car, I do,” Ryan said. “On Friday evenings, Saturdays and Sundays we both work on the car.”

The Team

Ryan noted that the NHRA has divided the country into seven divisions. Martino Motorsports races in the North Central Division, which includes stops at St. Louis, Missouri; Bowling Green, Kentucky; Columbus and Norwalk, Ohio; Joliet, Illinois; and Indianapolis, Indiana.

The fact that both Tom and Ryan have 9 to 5 jobs also influence what races they can compete in.

“We dedicate a majority of our race schedule to the NHRA because they offer more than eight races that you need to claim a championship. So we often look for races that are scheduled on weekends. We will also run in a couple of Northeastern Division races because they are scheduled during weekends that are convenient for us.

“We also compete in ADRL and PDRA events, but their races are a little different. They run 8th of a mile instead of a quarter mile. They also have a little bit different format. They race Fridays and Saturdays and we travel back home on Sundays. That’s appealing to us. However, you have to be at those races on Thursdays and be ready to go on Friday to do the two-day event,” explained Ryan.

Martino Motorsports spends a lot of time preparing for a race.

“First and foremost we have to go through the entire car and make sure everything is sound starting the day after we come home from a race. If new parts are needed we order them so they are delivered in the early part of the week. We perform basic maintenance to make sure our car is race ready when we leave the house without a doubt,”

Finally, they are crazy about keeping the car clean.

“We make sure that the car is very clean,” Ryan said. “That’s because it is often used in ads and is photographed and videoed at the track. In addition, one of our associates is Meguiar’s Wax. Keeping the car show clean even when we race is imperative to us.”

To show that this is a major part of their preparation, Ryan noted that between races many racers comment that their car looks so clean that it looks like it’s never raced.

Ryan noted that he and his father often research a track before a race.

“For example, we know guys who run the same tracks we do. They give us tips about the condition of the tracks. Some tracks have bumps here and there that will throw our car left and right. Sometimes you have to tune the car a little different to compensate. This helps us determine what kind of tune-up we will try.”

He also noted that they put cameras on the car focused on major components so that they can ascertain how well those components are performing during a run.

“The cameras are focused on certain parts of the car including the rear-end suspension to see how it is handling. We focus on different parts of the engine to make certain that everything is working okay. However, we are most concerned about the suspension because we want to know if there is enough downforce on the tires and that there is a nice tire print on the track. We are always studying the front and backend of the car to see if the wheels are picking up too high and if we should tame that down a little bit. We are also looking for tire shake. We can slow down the video to see if the tires are hazed and if they are sticking too well to the track. We look at the videos between races on a TV in our trailer. We study them and make adjustments for the next pass.

“Those videos also make pretty cool highlight clips that we show on our Facebook page and on YouTube. We also give them to sponsors so that they can post them on social media to show how their components work on a racetrack. Mickey Thompson Tires, K&N filters, and Strange Engineering, have used our videos."

The Sponsors

Ryan pointed out that he and his dad handle all aspects of marketing their race program.

“We work hands-on with our marketing partners,” he said. “We encourage them to become involved with the team’s racing program. We always pound the streets to get new partners, although it is hard to do because of our fulltime jobs. Even with the constraint, we make sure that our sponsors get exposure on a daily basis and we do a lot of community service projects for sponsors.

K&N is a major marketing partner of Martino Motorsports.

“We started with K&N in the early 2000s. It’s been a great partnership ever since. It’s an honor to represent K&N and all that they do for racing. It’s very cool to see the K&N brand recognition when you go out on the road and see people proudly display the K&N logo on the back windows of their cars. They recognize it as a great company even if they aren’t race fans.

“K&N makes a great product,” continued Ryan. “We use it on every application including our race and family cars, our generators, golf cart, and motorhome. We highly recommend their products to everyone.”

The Martino family uses K&N air and oil filters on their racecars and daily drivers as well as a hood scoop, which Ryan claims is an essential part of the racecar. They also use K&N cold air intakes on their daily drivers. Moreover, they use K&N filter cleaning kits to cleanse all the K&N filters.

Ryan also volunteered that Martino Motorsports often try out new products for their sponsors when there is downtime.

“We often help them with R&D and assist in marketing blasts on social media and testimonials,” he said.

In 2017, the team has competed in 10 events to date. According to Ryan, there is only one more race to claim for NHRA competition to try to win a championship.

“Racing is a very numbing sport,” said Ryan. “You can be on the top of the mountain one week and the next event a fraction of a second can send you home early.”