Martino drag racing team at Quaker City

By John Kovach

The father-son duo from Youngstown will compete today and Sunday.

SALEM — The father-son drag-racing team of Tom and Ryan Martino of Youngstown will try to climb the ladder on the International Hot Rod Association national points list, when they compete in an IHRA Divisional Race at Quaker City Raceway today and Sunday.

“We have a chance to go in the top five [in Division III] this week with a good outing,” said Ryan, the crew chief for his father, Tom, who will drive their top dragster that can reach 200-plus mph in six seconds down the quarter-mile drag strip.

“We rank No. 10 in Div. III and we are looking to go better than that this weekend.”

The IHRA event consists of the Thunder Jam Div. 1 Pro-Am today and the Div. I Pro-Am II on Sunday, and is sponsored by Summit Racing Equipment of Akron.

Time trials will begin both days at 9 a.m.

Ryan, a former Cardinal Mooney and Youngstown State football player, said that his father, a Struthers High graduate and truck driver for Tamarkin company, has been racing cars for most of his adult life.

The name of their racing team is Martino Motorsports.

“There are races that I drive in but in this race dad will be the driver and I’ll be the crew chief,” said Ryan, who serves as a bailiff for Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Ryan said their team has competed in three divisional races this year, two in Div. III and one in Div. I. He explained that divisions are based on regional locations across America, and that most of the points accrued from one division may be applied to another.

“This is Div. I event for Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Kentucky for national points. We try to acquire points [in each race] to win the national championship,” said Ryan, who was a punter four seasons for YSU from 2000-2004 under coaches Jim Tressel and Jon Heacock. “It’s the last Div. I race and probably the tightest field this year.”

Ryan said their car, built by Mac Sherrill of Sheffield Lake, uses a combination of racing fuel with nitrous oxide. The brand names are Rockett Brand race fuel, which has a 118 octane rating, and Nytrex Oxide nitrous oxide.

“[The fuel] is nitrous oxide-assisted to get more speed,” said Ryan, noting that both brands serve as their sponsors. But, “Our main associate sponsor is Fidanza Engineering corporation in Perry, Ohio.”

He said they have had the car for about four years. “It is a championship-car caliber,” he pointed out.

This will be an important and pivotal race for Tom and Ryan, one that could determine their season.

“We are hoping to accumulate 100 points this weekend that might move us into the top five,” said Ryan. “It will be a double event, two separate races, each three rounds. [We] hope to go about six rounds.”

That means that Tom would make six trips down the quarter-mile track.

“We are going for the win no matter what,” said Ryan.

kovach@vindy.com