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Dedication and Determination are just a couple things that Dylan Martin and the Lakeland Raiders have in common. For the past couple races, Dylan and his Blackwater Ford Race Truck have run hard upfront and shown true persistence. The same has been for the Lakeland Raiders as they totally annihilated the Vipers on Sunday, 90-6! They came out of the locker room on fire. When the Raiders hit the field, they were driven from the first whistle to the last. The score showed how these guys have the fortitude to go all the way this season. Dylan and his crew were excited to be there to cheer his local football players/friends on to victory.

The Raiders will take on the undefeated Texas team this Saturday night, May 4th at 7:30pm. And yes, Dylan will be there once again to watch his favorite indoor football team in action. Michael Mink, Founder & Head Coach had this to say about Dylan, “Myself and the Lakeland Raiders support Dylan in all his efforts on the track and in the community. He is one of the Battalion and a true Lakeland Raider.”

Dylan has been featured on destinationraceday.com - to view the article, click below!

Destin. Race Day article

Thanks to ALL my friends and fans, we have already had over 1 MILLION hits for the month of April. Thanks for believing!

Dylan recently visited the Shriners Hospital for Children in Tampa and presented them with a gift of his appreciation. The plaque read:

Dylan enjoys being a part of this wonderful hospital. He and the Shriners are teaming up to touch as many lives as they can and see how many kids they can make smile.

www.shrinershq.org

The weatherman was wrong…no rain in sight at Auburndale Speedway. From bumper to bumper making sure it was ready, Chad and the crew had been all over the #7 Blackwater Ford Raptor. Dylan was lined up 4th from last to qualify. It had been a month since the last truck race and Dylan was anxious. As he gets the motion to go, he takes one long deep breath and nails the throttle. He has only 2 laps to prove his truck is fast. He rolls through turn 1 & 2 like a pro and then pushes it even harder into turn 3. He carries so much speed coming out of 4 that he scrapes the front wall. He lays down the 3rd fastest lap of the day. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Dylan qualified 3rd out of 18 trucks with a 14.77 second lap!

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). You can tell that he loves to do this by the smile on his face. He knows that it is only because of the fans and the sponsors that believe in him that he is here. He never takes it for granted every time he straps in that he is living every 15 yr. old boys dream.

It had been hot all day and the night was no different. But it was about to get a whole lot hotter. At 8:45pm, Dylan was lined up to take the green. His #7 Pro Truck was sitting on pole (they inverted the top 3). This was a first for Dylan but he was cool and calm about it. As he rounded the corner, he doesn’t see anything in front of him but track. He led the first 3 laps until he over drove turn 1. The #16 truck and #2x were able to get under him. Dylan ran strong in 3rd place until the caution flag came out on lap 7.

Now this is where it gets different from any race Dylan has driven. The track has decided on restarts to have them line up in single file until they cross the start/finish line. At this time while Julian, the flagman is waving the move over flag, each truck has the option to stay in their spot on the inside line or move to the outside. So in reality a truck running 13 can move up to outside pole if no one in front of them opts to go to the outside line. So Dylan was in 3rd but with this new change as they get the green, he is in 5th.

Within a lap, the #7 Blackwater truck is in 4th. On lap 17, he is 5 truck lengths from the 3rd place truck. But not for long, it only takes 4 laps for Dylan to run them down. When the #26 trucks looks in their rearview mirror, all they see is the black #7…Dylan. The next lap another caution flies for #36 who spins and ends up rear bumper first into the outside wall in turn 1.

So now Dylan is in 4th when they line up for the restart. The #7 takes the option to go to the outside. He is now in 2nd place. A couple trucks spin in turn 4 taking the green so they get lined up again for a complete restart. The flagman doesn’t like the restart so they line up once more. Lap 26, Dylan is running in 3rd. 2 laps later #21 spins to bring out another caution. On lap 28, Dylan is restarting 5th. For the next 2 laps, the top 4 trucks run side by side.

It is lap 33 now and Dylan and his #7 Pro Truck get a good run and are able to get on the inside of #2x to take the 2nd position in turn 3 & 4. For 5 laps, Dylan runs bumper to bumper behind the leader, #16. In the next 2 laps, the #26 is able to get under Dylan, but then the #41 gets under the #26 and Dylan who is always ready is able to follow the #41 and take back 3rd from #26. Well, that didn’t set to well with the #26…going down the front stretch into turn 1 they tried to force it 3wide…no no no, that doesn’t work at Auburndale. The #26 hit and drove up over the left rear quarter panel of Dylan, causing him to spin. The #26 was sent to the rear for it but so was Dylan (because he brought out the caution).

Dylan finds himself in 11th with less than 8 laps to go. Driving as hard as his beat and battered truck will allow him, he runs the outside groove to try to get back to the front. With 2 laps left to go, the caution is out one last time. Chad, the crew chief said, “It was a rough race but Dylan showed persistence and it showed with a 6th place finish.” We congratulate #16 on the win.

When Dylan was asked how he felt about the new configuration on the restarts, he shook his head, looked at the damage to his truck and said, “Well, the fans sure got one heck of a show but it is sad to see that almost every truck is damaged. I would prefer that we just do double file restarts, that way you earn every position you get. But I have to say, that my crew did an awesome job tonight. I had the best truck ever!”

(Rich Mergo - Director of Development; Dylan Martin; Wanda Curtis - Property & Family Manager; Kate Sample - President)

Dylan recently visited the Sunshine Foundation Dream Village in Davenport and presented them with a token of his appreciation.

The plaque read: In Special Appreciation to the Sunshine Foundation Dylan Martin Racing thanks you for believing in our team, We had a great 2012 season. With your support, Dylan and his Race Truck touched numerous lives and put many smiles on the faces of children all over Central Florida.

Dylan is an active advocate of the Sunshine Foundation. He enjoys being a part of their dreams. With Dylan teaming up with this incredible foundation, it is obvious that many lives will be touched and smiles will be seen.

www.SunshineFoundation.org

It might be cold outside but you wouldn’t know it from the looks inside the Shriners Hospital. Spring flowers and butterflies are everywhere you look. The warmth of over 141 volunteers that help out every month fills the building with love. It is amazing, no matter what area of the hospital you are in, everyone is smiling and so glad to see you. Dylan and his coloring books have become a regular sight around the facility.

This Easter Bunny looked a little different than your typical white furry one. He was dressed in a red fire suit and carried a helmet filled with goodies for the kids. Dylan is so appreciative that he has the opportunity to walk around and visit with the children. He made a new buddy in the outpatient lobby. Logan was so excited to show Dylan his new wheelchair. He went up and down the halls telling everyone about his new racing buddy, Dylan.

Dr. Danny, one of the attending doctors, asked Dylan, “Are you the young driver that is going to make one of our examining rooms into a race car room?” Dylan stretched out his hand and answered with a firm handshake, “Yes, sir that would be me.” The Doctor showed Dylan which room they would like redone. The kids are going to love having a room filled with race cars and checkered flags. Dylan is working on making this happen for all his new friends at the hospital. Dylan and his crew wish all the kids a Happy Easter!

The rain clouds were everywhere in central Florida…except over the Dream Village at The Sunshine Foundation this past Saturday. “Sunny” their mascot, along with many of his other furry friends were there entertaining the kids. The children enjoyed face painting, bounce houses, Lego building and an incredible show of reptiles by the Swamp Brothers. Robbie from the Swamp Brothers was not able to convince Dylan into holding the 18 foot snake they brought but he did hold the baby croc.

Rich Mergo, Director of Development stated, “We are thrilled with the turnout of our annual Spring Family Fair at the Sunshine Foundation Dream Village! Having Dylan Martin and his race truck present was a great addition to this year’s event…the kids absolutely loved meeting him!”

Dylan and his crew send a special thanks to Wanda and Rich for the invitation. We look forward to seeing all the kids again next year.

www.SunshineFoundation.org

As many of you know, we started our Young Hawk driver program to help give media exposure to a few deserving young drivers. We report on their driving stats, aspirations and more on our Young Hawks News page and our main page. The five drivers we chose were announced in December: (in alphabetical order) Christopher Hogan, Garrett Marchant, Dylan Martin, Hannah Newhouse and Dylon Wilson. Now, with their seasons’ getting underway, we decided to give everyone the behind the scenes details on what led us to choosing these drivers.

First, foremost and obviously, they are all talented drivers. We believe they will all contend for race wins and championships in their respective series’ this year. To help us decide, we looked beyond the track to see what else a driver brings to the table that will hopefully help them build a long-term career in motorsports. While the ‘beyond-the-track’ characteristics we looked at apply in various levels to each driver we chose, they each had one distinctive factor that put them over the top in our decision-making process. Here’s what we saw in these five up and coming drivers:

Read More: Here

Every day, a Polk County teen gets to live his dream, racing trucks against big competition all across the country.

Dylan Martin also races for another reason - to make sure other children can live out their dream, regardless of disability or age.

The 15-year-old Lakeland boy drives the No. 7 Pro Truck Series truck in most races. "I was running quarter midgets for the national circuit," he said. "I did that for three years. Then, when I turned 12 or 13, I jumped into a truck."

He often meets with children to show them they can achive their goals by working hard. He recently went to the Sunshine Foundation's Dream Village in Davenport, where he showed his vehicle and helmet and talked about good driving.

Read More: Here