Mahoning commissioners laud local drag racers

YOUNGSTOWN — Local drag racers Ryan Martino and his father Tom Martino are the Professional Drag Racers Association's 2018 world champions.

The father-son duo comprising Martino Motorsports were honored by the Mahoning County commissioners during a meeting today.

To run a 6-second drag race requires hours of preparation – tuning and timing, said Ryan Martino, who, by day, is bailiff for Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of common pleas court. He said the passion was handed down from his father Tom, a more than 40-year drag race driver.

Martino Motorsports regularly competes on the national level against "hundreds of race teams and drivers from across the world" and is "known as one of the top teams in their level of competition," reads a proclamation commissioners read. The team has won "countless" event and class awards and had several top-five season finishes in national and regional competition.