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Martino clinches individual title in recent PDRA season finale
Martino clinches individual title
in recent PDRA season finale
By Greg Gulas
YOUNGSTOWN
The recently concluded 2018 professional drag racing season is one that Tom Martino, son Ryan and the entire Martino Motorsports team won’t soon forget.
Tom Martino battled through three qualifying rounds and six rounds of competition to clinch the individual world championship and a team runner-up finish during the recent Professional Drag Racers Association World Finals at Virginia Motorsports Park in Dinwiddie, Va.
It’s a journey that the Martinos have come to appreciate.
“We cannot thank our hometown community of Youngstown enough for always rallying behind our race program,” Tom said. “This world championship is the perfect ending to an incredible season as everything just clicked for us. I felt comfortable behind the wheel and was confident in the combination we were bringing to each event.
“Experience was key when it came down to crunch time as I relied on my 40-plus years of experience, focused on the task at hand each round and never looked back.”
Racing since the age of 16, the 1972 Struthers High graduate cut his teeth locally at Ohio Drag City — also known as Meander — and Quaker City in Salem.
Since that time Martino has notched countless impressive wins, has become one of the standouts in the business and is a world and national record holder in modified, eliminator and super stock, the three drag racing sanctioning bodies.
“We’ve won at all levels, local, regional and national. This was such an incredible way to end our season,” added son Ryan, who played football for Cardinal Mooney High School and Youngstown State. “We had a choice to make early on and that was to either pursue the NHRA [National Hot Rod Association] championship or the PDRA championship, both of which are our sport’s governing bodies. It all worked out for us in the end.”
Drag racing season begins in April and stretches through October, but due to a limited budget the Martinos competed in just four of the PDRA’s eight scheduled events, still logging countless miles from their South Side residence to competitions that usually take place in the South and Midwest.
They posted a semifinal appearance at the PDRA’s Summer Drags in June and sat in fifth-place in the point standings heading to the world championship.
Prior to that competition, Team Martino had also secured victories at Galot Motorsports Park in Dunn, N.C., and placed second at Darlington Dragway in Darlington, S.C.
The recent runner-up finish clinched their first world championship.
“Our 2018 season will be forever remembered as ‘The Journey,’ simply because of how everything unfolded over the course of the season,” Ryan said. “Heading to the fourth round of the competition we trailed points leader Angela Gantkowski, but were able to overcome her for our first world championship.
“We actually befriended her and her family over the course of the season and she is such a great competitor.”
In addition to their world title, the Martino Motorsports team has over 20 Best Appearing Car and Best Appearing Crew awards, also garnering multiple Top Qualifier honors.
According to Ryan, they remain open to sponsorship opportunities and after getting everything winterized, they’ll take part in multiple local events.
“We’ll take a break from competition, but it will be anything but rest for us,” Ryan said. “We have to get everything winterized, take care of our motor home and just make sure that everything is set for next season. We believe in giving back to our community because they’ve been so good to us.
“Also, we’ll take part in the Youngstown Library’s ‘Princesses and Super Heroes’ Right to Read with Debbie Liptak. It’s just so great to see the children reading and having fun doing so. Then, we’ll join Youngstown Mayor Jamael ‘Tito’ Brown for the annual lighting of the Christmas tree Downtown and will ride in the parade in a car provided by Chris Haus of Haus Auto Group. It’s essential in our business to do as much as we possibly can for our community.”