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Dylan Martin in his #7 Blackwater Ford Raptor put on one heck of a show for the cheering fans this past Saturday night. The other 15 drivers had no idea that Dylan had showed up that weekend with favor on his side. See earlier that week Dylan had taken his truck to Combee and Polk City Elementary schools for their Great American Teach-In. He received over 1,000 personal “Good Luck” wishes from the students. With that and an almost 200 lap test session the week before….nothing was going to stop Dylan from his win.

Breaking his own personal qualifying record with a 14.62 second lap, he qualified his Pro Truck in 5th position. Dylan was grinning when he pulled into tech for post-qualifying inspection. He knew that his good luck charms were with him. Next step is the pill pull. This is where they can invert up to the top 7 trucks for the start of the race. It doesn’t take the crew long to guess what number pill had been drawn when Dylan walked back up to his pit stall area. With even a bigger grin, Dylan would be starting on the pole (a 5 had been drawn).

Dylan’s smile continues to grow as the next thing was the Driver Autograph Session. All the FUPS drivers were called to the front stretch to meet and greet with the fans. Now I am not saying Dylan doesn’t love to race but he certainly enjoys this too. He likes having the opportunity to thank the fans for coming out and meet with all the kids. He may only be 16 years old but his understanding of the importance of the race fans and sponsors, well exceeds his years.

At 7:56pm, the young 16 year old out of Lakeland brought the field to take the green flag. As Dylan and the #26 crossed the start/finish line, they were side by side. Within two laps, Dylan had a solid lead. On lap 6, the #41 truck drove into turn 1 to deep and hit Dylan to get his truck sideways. Dylan stayed in the throttle, got up on the wheel and drove it out of turn 2 like a pro. By lap 13, Dylan in his #7 Pro Truck had a good truck length lead on the others. But the next lap the caution flag came out.

Lap 14, Dylan and the #26 find themselves restarting side by side again. The flagman, Julian doesn’t like the start so he throws a quick yellow flag for a complete restart. The Black #7 only takes one lap to get a good lead. A couple laps later another caution flag for the #26. It spins in turn 2 along with a few other trucks. It becomes a red flag as it takes some time to get the track cleaned up. Lap 18, you can hear Chad, the crew chief tell Dylan, “get ready, get ready, green green green”.

By lap 22, Dylan has a two truck length lead over the #41 and lays down a 14.67 second lap. He isn’t leaving anything on the table. As the #41 and #16 truck battle for 2nd place, Dylan gains more ground between them. Lap 32, is another 14.67 second lap and over three truck lengths between him and 2nd place. But the next lap another yellow flag drops for the #51 truck.

This restart, Dylan finds himself side by side with the #16 truck for the green flag. It doesn’t last long though because as they come out of turn 4 to take the green flag, the #41 hits Dylan in the rear which makes all the trucks behind him bottle up. The #9 spins and looses a radiator. Caution again. So they line back up for the restart and Chad tells Dylan over the radio that he starts the race, not to let the outside pole truck start it. He is in control.

Once again it doesn’t take Dylan long to get a good lead. Lap 35, Dylan runs a 14.65 second lap. He gains some ground between his truck and the 2nd place truck. He continues to push his truck to the edge. Just a couple laps later he lays down another 14.65 second lap. By lap 39, he has six truck lengths on the 2nd place truck. The radio is quiet for a few laps and then Chad tells Dylan, “2 to go buddy, bring it home to me”.

Dylan finishes it off by crossing the line first. As he comes back to the front stretch, Dylan does his first burn out. With smoke flying, fans cheering and the biggest smile ever, Dylan crawls out of his #7 Blackwater Ford Raptor. He thanks his parents, his sponsors and his crew, for helping him get here. Dylan finishes the season 3rd in points BUT the only driver to win 3 races. He is happy!

A special thanks to all the fans and sponsors that have supported Dylan this season. Dylan will be racing in the Joey Coulter 200 Charity Weekend race on Dec. 14th at Auburndale Speedway. Please come out and help Dylan raise money for three well deserving kids. ( Photo/Press Release Credit – Kim Scheffler)

“Couldn’t catch a break”, Chad Pierce, the crew chief says while shaking his head. This pretty much sums up the past three days at Auburndale Speedway. It all started Friday night with Preston Irons V8 Bomber. It acted up last weekend when Dylan drove it, so they replaced the Distributor on it while Dylan practiced his Pro Truck. But it only took a few laps to realize that wasn’t the problem. A blown head gasket seemed to be the problem. So as Dylan continued to run laps in his #7 Blackwater Ford Raptor, Preston and Butch Pierce tore into the V8 Bomber. After 8 sessions, more than 85 laps on the track, Dylan’s fastest recorded lap was a 14.73 second lap, which is about a tenth faster than he has ever qualified there.

Now going into Saturday’s race, the atmosphere was a bit off. Maybe a combination of the rain that came in with the cooler weather, but something was off. After the track dried, Dylan got some practice laps in, laying down a 14.80 second lap. Not a bad time, but the crew chief still wasn’t happy with the trucks performance, he is always looking for that tenth.

As the grandstands started to fill, it was time to go qualify. Dylan was the 12th truck to roll onto the track to qualify. His first lap was a 14.90 and his second lap was quicker, 14.82. This time was a hundredth faster than he had ever qualified before but not nearly quick enough to put him on the pole. Dylan and his Pro Truck would be starting 6th in the field of 14 trucks.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t even 30 minutes later when the skies opened up and the rain fell. The Race Director then made the call to cancel the races for the night and run the next day at 2pm. So Dylan finds himself in a very strange setup, it is Sunday morning and he is at the track unloading his truck to race. With the temperatures much cooler and the humidity very low, the truck was getting major adjustments from qualifying. But then Mother Nature took another turn, the sun came out and the track warmed up. The set up on the truck wasn’t for as hot as it had gotten.

At 3:10pm, on Sunday afternoon, Dylan heard Chad say, “get ready, this could get rough”. Dylan started 6th, but within 5 laps was running in 8th. He got hung out to dry on the outside grove. The first 17 laps, the entire field was single file. First caution came on lap 18. Dylan would restart in the 6th position. The same exact thing happened again, Dylan gets caught up on the outside grove that wasn’t moving. He dropped to 9th place.

Lap 24, second caution of the race comes out. Dylan restarts on the 5th row inside (9th). He is able to move up a few positions as the outside gets tangled up. He is currently running 6th in his Blackwater Ford Raptor Pro Truck. But it only takes a couple laps before the #26 spins for the second time. So as the field goes to restart, Dylan is in 7th. He gets a great restart and is able to stay right on the bumper of the #84 truck. It only takes one lap before the next caution flag drops. Like they say, cautions breed cautions.

“The truck is loose on exit”, Dylan radios to the crew chief. He restarts 6th. Dylan drops to 7th in the next couple laps as #4 gets under him. The field goes the next 6 laps single file until the checker flag drops. The last thing you hear on the radio is Dylan, “I had nothing for them on exit”. One of the trucks was DQ’d after the race which moved Dylan to 6th. It certainly wasn’t the weekend that the crew was hoping for, but everyone will be back hard at it in the shop to give Dylan a better truck come the final FUPS race on Nov.23rd at Auburndale Speedway.

A special thanks to all the fans that came out two days in a row to watch Dylan run. And our appreciation of course goes out to all our sponsors that help us make a difference!

(Photo/Press Release Credit – Kim Scheffler)

Follow Dylan all year on www.DylanMartinRacing.com or Facebook: Dylan Martin Racing LLC

Ingredients to raising money for 3 wonderful special children:
1 Professional RaceCar driver (Dylan Martin)
1 Great Restaurant (Buffalo Wild Wings)
7 Football players (Florida Marine Raiders)
56 Loyal Caring friends, family and fans of Dylan’s
100’s of wings (Best wings in town)
2 Corn Hole Boards

Add the above ingredients all in one place for 4 hours and you will end up with a lot of smiles raised to give three terminally ill kids, Madison, Alex and Gregg. This is Dylan’s first fundraising event at Buffalo Wild Wings. We can’t thank Ryan Carmody, the General Manager, enough for believing in Dylan’s mission. Dylan hopes to raise more than he did last year for the C.A.R.S. Racing for a Cause Charity 200 Race Weekend. The total was $6,000 last year so it is going to take a lot of loving and caring people to join Dylan’s team to make it happen. But this was a great kick-off to get to that grand total. We want to be able to hand over more than 6,000 smiles to these kids that face incredible hardships.

Visit Buffalo Wild Wings at 3750 US Hwy 98, Lakeland --- tell them thanks for supporting Dylan.

(Photo/Press Release Credit – Kim Scheffler)

The City of Auburndale has out done themselves once again. The “Boo Fest” (Fall Festival) in downtown Auburndale continues to grow. For 3 straight hours Dylan and his crew passed out smiles. Imagine the excitement of the kids as they walked around 100’s of other kids dressed up in costumes. Even though the most popular costume this year was either super heroes or Disney Princesses, Dylan’s favorite would have to be the race car drivers.

The race team distributed more than 2,600 pieces of candy; 1,100 Hero Cards; 600 coloring sheets and countless flyers of Dylan’s sponsors and partners. With Dylan in his fire suit, his Pro Race Truck and the Joey Coulter Charity 200 Race Weekend Motorcycle on display, it was by far the most intriguing exhibit there. Oh and let’s not forget the flat screen TV showcasing some of Dylan’s highlights from on the track racing to charity events he has participated in. Without a doubt, Dylan will be back for the 2014 Auburndale Fall Festival.

Special thanks to Joy and everyone at the City of Auburndale for inviting us!

(Photo/Press Release Credit – Kim Scheffler)

www.DylanMartinRacing.com

Facebook: Dylan Martin Racing LLC

Twitter: @DylanMartin07

Shhhhhh, quiet, listen…what do you hear….giggling and laughter, not what you expect to hear as you walk into the lobby of St. Joseph’s Children Hospital. But on this rainy afternoon, it is exactly what the guest and patients coming in heard. There he was, the 15 year old Pro Truck driver, Dylan Martin sitting at a table coloring pictures and showing the kids videos of him racing his truck on his phone.

Little Maria, she is 6 years old and is quick to tell Dylan that her favorite color is pink. She asks Dylan what his favorite color is, he answers, Red. As she continues to color her race car pink, she stares at Dylan, his firesuit and the picture of his race truck. After a few minutes, she boldly tells him, “you don’t have to do everything in red”. Dylan chuckles and tells her that he also likes orange.

Young Eric was very intrigued with Dylan’s racing. He told Dylan he had broke his leg driving his 4-wheeler and asked Dylan if he had ever gotten hurt. Dylan said yes, before he started racing trucks he raced motorcycles. But that career ended soon when he broke his leg. So the two boys sat there, talking racing and wrecking. Once again, Dylan brings comfort and smiles to some very special kids.

Thank you to all our sponsors that help us make a difference!

www.DylanMartinRacing.com

Facebook: Dylan Martin Racing LLC

Twitter: @DylanMartin07

Dylan qualified 5th out of the 12 Pro Trucks that took the green flag. He laid down two very consecutive laps 14.83 seconds and 14.83 seconds. The top qualifier pulls a pill (number) to see what they will invert for the start of the race. A 5 was pulled which put your very own, Dylan Martin in his #7 Blackwater Ford Raptor on the pole.

But first is first, the autograph session. Dylan enjoys the opportunity to get a chance to shake hands and talk to the fans that come out to watch the races. He has become a fan favorite, not just because he drives the wheels off the truck but because he makes a point to make sure that every fan knows how much he appreciates them coming out. The good luck wishes and the smiles he receives only fuel him to drive harder.

Well, it is almost 9pm and the cooler weather sets a nice tone for the 50 lap FUPS race. As Dylan leads the pack out of turn 2, Chad Pierce, his crew chief, reminds him one last time, “This is your race, you’ve got this”. Dylan gets a great start. By the back stretch his has the lead. His first lap leading the field he ran a 14.69 second lap. Needless to say with that speed, he takes a strong lead. By lap 4, the #41 has caught him. The battle between these two trucks goes until lap 17, when the #41 is able to get up under Dylan for the pass. Once on the outside, the #16 truck is right there to follow suit. Dylan is now running in 3rd.

On lap 20, the fast qualifier #16 takes the lead. As the long green flag run continues, Dylan is fighting the handling of the truck. He drops to 4th when the 59x passes him on the inside going into turn 3 on lap 35. Chad tells Dylan to keep driving it. He had set the truck up to run short runs, who would have ever thought that they would go 42 laps green at Auburndale Speedway. The first caution flies on lap 42 when the #9 spins.

The field lines up side by side, and Dylan and the #41 get tangled up going through turn 1 and 2 on the restart. Caution number 2. Both trucks go to the pits with damage. Dylan’s crew is ready. It doesn’t take but a minute to get the tire changed and the crowd cheers as Dylan pulls his #7 back on the track. He restarts the race in 8th.

Lap 48, the #09 spins coming out of turn 2 which brings out the next caution flag. Dylan restarts in 8th. The next lap Dylan tries to get by the #09 on the front stretch and gets spun down into the infield. This brings out the final caution of the night. You know the old saying, “sometimes you’re the bug and sometimes you’re the windshield”, well Dylan was the bug for sure this weekend. As he restarts for the final lap, his truck has no nose and the right front fender is blowing in the wind like a wing but he drives it hard to the checker flag to end up 8th.

Dylan and the crew don’t have time to lick their wounds. They have got to get ready for the V8 Bomber feature race. Dylan starts 9th in Preston Irons #6 Monte Carlo. They don’t even get a lap in before the first caution. Dylan’s determination to have a good finish is obvious. He restarts 8th but in the first lap he passes #21 on the inside, then the following lap he drives hard to the outside to take 5th place position from #10.

Lap 6, Dylan gets a great run on the front stretch to gain a position as he goes by the #48. Caution out and Dylan will restart 4th. The green flag drops but the car in front of Dylan holds him up as he drops to 5th. It isn’t even a lap later and he gets his position back by passing #57 on the inside. Caution again for the #48 as he spins out.

Lap 10, Dylan is 4th. He is able to take 3rd right away. The battle then begins as Dylan takes his #6 Monte Carlo and gets to the inside of #96 to take 2nd. But the next lap the #96 is able to get up along side of Dylan. They are racing side by side. The flagman waves the white flag, one lap to go. Dylan and the #96 are still battling it out. They are side by side as they reach the back stretch, when the leader #25 blows up going into turn 3. Dylan drops low, the #96 goes high to miss the #25. They drive into turn 3 side by side again. The #96 makes an aggressive move and comes down on Dylan taking him to the infield. Dylan never lifts, the car spins to the grass and he throws it into reverse trying to make it across the start/finish line. When he does, he has gone from 1st to 8th in the matter of 100 yards. Dylan drives it to the pits with a left rear flat. He didn’t win the race but the crew greets him with an “atta boy” pat on the back. That was one heck of a 15 lap race for sure.

Thank you to all our sponsors that help us make a difference!

www.DylanMartinRacing.com

Facebook: Dylan Martin Racing LLC

Twitter: @DylanMartin07

Dylan drowns out the voice of uncertainty with the sounds of the roaring horsepower and the cheering fans. Dylan reaches down one last time and yanks down on his safety straps, takes a deep breath and focuses on staying tucked up under the rear bumper of the #59 as the pace truck dives into the infield. The green flag waves and the Pro Trucks are off. Dylan’s #7 Blackwater Ford Raptor is starting 6th (where he qualified out of 16 trucks). He runs side by side, driving hard in the second groove for 4 laps before he falls in behind 6th place. It doesn’t take but another lap for Dylan to pass the #4 truck on the inside to take 6th spot. The field runs single file for awhile now.

Lap 15, Dylan’s truck seems to be getting a little better every lap. He gets a great run off of turn 2 and is able to dive to the inside of #26 going into turn 3. On the straightaway, Dylan has secured 5th place. It is very obvious that Dylan is running his truck just as hard as it will go… as you hear the sound of the Rev Limiter chip go off, lap after lap. This is a sweet sound to the crew chief.

First caution of the night on lap 24, it came out for the #26, who stopped on the back stretch. Dylan will be lining up 4th for the restart. Well the field attempts to go green but before they can make a lap, the caution flag flies again. They restart again, and Dylan’s truck pushes up in turn 1 & 2, and the #84 gets under him. Lap 25, the yellow flag is waving again. Dylan finds his Blackwater Ford back in 6th spot.

The determination and drive in Dylan shows through, as he isn’t in the position long. By the end of that lap he has got into to the inside line in 4th spot. Just 2 laps later he is able to take the #84 on the inside for 3rd. But just a few laps later, lap 29 the caution is out. Dylan just barely misses the wreck coming out of turn 2. He restarts in 3rd and gets a great run into turn 1. The leader pushes up and Dylan gets the lead. But as they say, cautions breed cautions, and another one flies. It is a complete restart. On lap 31, the #16 gets loose coming out of turn 2 and Dylan takes the lead! His truck is on a rail now. Lap after lap, he checks out!

When the next caution comes out, Dylan had 5 truck lengths on the second place truck of #84. At this point there is no stopping him, he carries the momentum with him lap after lap. His lead continues to grow as you hear that chip just chatter away. Dylan, at this point, is running qualifying timed laps. Let’s just say, “his truck is hooked up”! Lap 42, caution flag for the #9 but they don’t get another lap in before another one comes out for #16. Well, you guessed it, another caution before we make a lap, for the #9 and #65 trucks. This flag actually turns into a red flag. It takes awhile for the safety crew to clean up and get the carnage off the track.

Well, it took a couple tries but the truck race goes back green. Dylan takes a strong lead. Once again, he is putting down some quick laps. Chad Pierce, the crew chief, tells him to take it easy and save the tires. But you hear that Rev Limiter chip fire off every lap. The fire that burns within Dylan continues to make him drive even harder. The crowd is on their feet, people are screaming, the crew is jumping around…Dylan Martin HAS WON THE RACE!!!!!

Crew chief, Chad Pierce had this to say about the race, “It was a rough race but Dylan was focused and ready. He showed he was ready to be a champion.”

Let me back up for you a bit, the day started out with Buffalo Wild Wings for the crew. As you know, if the crew is happy then the driver is happy. We are thankful to everyone at Buffalo Wild Wings for believing in Dylan’s journey and for the tasty wings.

The weather was great, no rain in sight. The first race of the night for Dylan was the Heat race in Preston Irons V8 Bomber. After drawing pills, Dylan started on the pole. His car wasn’t able to hold off a hard charging #17. So he finished 3rd in the Heat. Later that night Dylan’s crew got to work on a few changes to the V8. Dylan ran the #6 Pitts Stop Muffler V8 Bomber in the 15 lap feature event. Once again Dylan started on pole, but this time he was able to maintain that position for 7 laps until the #17 and #75 got under him. This was the second time he got a chance to drive this car for Preston. He was able to finish with a 3rd place. Dylan is very thankful for the opportunity that Mr. Irons has given him. It gives him an opportunity to drive a stock car that he definitely has to man handle to get it around the track.

During intermission, Dylan drove his truck to the front straightaway. He got a chance to shake hands, sign autographs, take pictures with the kids and hand out some of his custom coloring books (Sponsored by DavenportFightsBack.com). A cute little girl by the name of Diana and her sister, Jasmine came up to Dylan to get an autograph but she wanted Dylan to sign her shirt. With a huge smile on her face, she told Dylan that it was her birthday. Not skipping a beat, Dylan told her that when he took his truck to victory circle to make sure she came down for the picture. With an even bigger smile, he told her he was going to win this race for her birthday. Guess who was the first person in victory lane…yes you guessed it, little Miss Diana and Jasmine. Dylan never forgets why he is out there racing… not just for the victory or the fame, but for every child’s smile he carries with him.

Dylan will be back at Auburndale Speedway on October 5th in the Pro Truck and V8 Bomber.

Thank you to all our sponsors that help us make a difference!

(Photo/Press Release Credit – Kim Scheffler)

Follow Dylan all year on www.DylanMartinRacing.com or Facebook: Dylan Martin Racing LLC

RT to win! #DylanMartinRacing pic.twitter.com/ifWpAdzFfM

— Dylan Martin ™ (@DylanMartin07) September 25, 2013

www.DylanMartinRacing.com

Facebook: Dylan Martin Racing LLC

Twitter: @DylanMartin07