Story By: JIM CLARKE / BRAD MARTIN RACING – BALTIMORE, ONT – He was one of the most successful Mini Stock racers in the field over the final seasons of weekly racing at Kawartha Speedway and logged some solid efforts in a full season with the Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup Series and ran a few Late Model events at Kawartha and a made a pair of Sportsman Cup starts in 2014. Other than making his first and only Thunder Car start at Peterborough Speedway just a couple of years ago, the 2018 campaign will see Brad Martin return to the short-track wars with the OSCAAR Hot Rod Series.
Originally from Plainville, the 31-year-old – who currently resides in Baltimore, Ontario with his wife Melissa and his stepdaughter Taylor – is looking forward to getting back on the track. His family-owned race team put their talents together to craft a unique creation, reminiscent of the winged Superbird Mopar machines made famous on the NASCAR circuit by Petty Enterprises in 1970. A long-time Dodge supporter, the driver says putting the car together was an easy decision.
“My family has been Dodge fans since before I was born,” said Brad Martin, while talking with fans at the recent Motorama Custom Car and Motorsports Expo in Toronto. “The Mini Stock I ran during my seasons at Kawartha was a Neon. My Sportsman Cup Series ride began its life as an Avenger, but we upgraded the bodywork to a Challenger for the second season.”
OSCAAR’s Hot Rod Series has a flexible rules package that encourages racers to explore their creative side and think outside the box. With several different tracks on the schedule – including a return to the familiar confines of Kawartha Speedway Friday, June 1st and Friday, July 13th – Brad Martin says that his team – consisting of the driver himself, along with his father Chuck, his brother Craig, Mike Nelson and Mike Clohecy – wanted a car that would stand out from the crowd and judging by the comments they received recently at the car show, the potent piece they’ve crafted did exactly that.
“It should be a lot of fun and I’m really looking forward to it,” Brad Martin said, who works part-time for the family business and has a full-time job with a local home builder, working on houses around the Cobourg area. “It’ll be great to see some old friends around the race track again and exciting to get to places where I’ve never raced before. There is an event at Brighton Speedway on the schedule and running on a dirt track for the first time will be a brand-new experience. Things get underway with the Saturday, April 28th season opener at Sunset Speedway, so we’ll unload and hope for the best as our team kicks off this exciting chapter in my racing career.”
