Elmer "Lloyd" Matherne
February 15, 2010
Attempt to raise rates denied by insurance dept.
February 18, 2010
Galliano native Hal Martin has always wanted to be a professional racecar driver.
“It’s been a long road,” Martin said. “This is something I’ve always envisioned myself trying to do.”
Martin took steps to make his dream a reality two weekends ago when he raced in the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona International Speedway – the track that is arguably the most famous in the world as it hosts the Daytona 500.
“Every up and coming racecar driver would kill to race in Daytona,” Martin said. “No matter what kind of car you’re in – a stock car, an Indy car or even a bicycle – it’s every race car driver’s dream to race at Daytona. And it was a surreal experience.”
Martin, 24, said when he arrived in Daytona, he was jittery, but leading into the race, he was surprisingly calm.
“All week long, I was nervous thinking about it, just like I am for every race,” he said. “I went and took a few test drives and I got used to the drafting and everything and it was fine. You get nervous, but it’s crazy because as soon as they strap you into the car and you start pressing down on the pedal, it’s all business and you don’t think about any of that stuff. That’s a very neat little feeling of adrenaline that we get when we get in the car.”
The local driver’s stay in Daytona, unfortunately, did not last as long as he would have liked as he got sucked into a wreck in Lap 7, which ended his race.
“I’m fine physically,” Martin said. “I took a pretty nice shot, but I’m fine. The car was pretty wrecked, though. There was substantial damage to the right front of the car, and basically every suspension was broken on the right front of the car and there was a hole in the oil pan of the engine, so that ended our day.”
Martin, who because of technical problems with his car started the race in the No. 40 position, had worked all the way up to No. 27 at the time of the wreck.
“I had a pretty good car,” he said. “And I knew that. But at Daytona and other big tracks like that, it doesn’t take much for large accidents to occur, because all of the cars are in a small pack. There were 12 cars in that first accident, unfortunately, I was one of them.”
Martin was racing in the event as a member of the ARCA Racing Series Presented by Re/Max and Menards.
The Galliano man likened the series to NASCAR’s truck series in terms of popularity and prize money in races.
“A win will get you, $15,000 or $20,000,” he said. “Depending on the popularity of the race and who sponsors and puts on the race.”
In three ARCA races last year, Martin flirted with the winner’s circle in each race and finished in the Top 15 each time with a top five finish.
“I really sort of came out with a bang and took some people off guard with such a fast start,” he said.
The race in Daytona was the first race of his 2010 season.
Throughout the years, Martin has been racing while balancing time with school.
He graduated from the University of New Orleans in December and is currently working as a forensic engineer for U.S. Forensic, in addition to his racing.
With Daytona finished, Martin said he would next roll Feb. 27 at the Palm Beach International Raceway.
He said gathering money from sponsors to enter the races is what determines how and when he will race.
“It’s just basically where I can get to,” he said. “It’s about trying to gather up the sponsorship money to send me to the races.”
And while the ARCA series and forensic engineering are nice, Martin is not shy about where he wants his future to be.
“The plan is to get up to NASCAR someday,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been working toward for the past five-and-a-half or six years. It’s starting to pay off a little bit finally and this is something I definitely would like to try and make a career out of.”
Galliano native Hal Martin sits in his car and awaits the start of the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200. The race was held at the famous Daytona Track – an experience Martin said was a dream come true. * Photo provided by HAL MARTIN
