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It was about noon when Dylan and his crew watched the more than 650 bikers drive into the Harley Davidson Dealership in Sanford. They had just completed their ride that had started that morning at the Shrine. Love comes in all shapes, sizes and even sounds. This was apparent when the deep sounds of these motorcycles came pulling in.

As each bike passed us, it created another smile on a kids face. These bikers not only gave their time to ride but their money. Sam Swope, a 50 year + Shriner made a commitment to match up to $100,000. The Bahia Shrine is hoping they hit the million dollar mark this year. Going onto this ride they stood at $800,000. Dylan gave a crew hat, signed quarter panel and tickets to one of his upcoming races to be auctioned off. The totals are not in yet but it is looking good.

The air was cold, the sky was thick but there was plenty of heat coming off the asphalt at Auburndale Speedway. Dylan Martin, anxious, excited and determined to make a hard run in the first race of the season. The crew chief, Chad Pierce had put many hours in the off season to rebuild Dylan’s truck. It was ready and so was Dylan.

At nearly 10:30pm the green flag dropped for 50 laps of side by side, paint swapping racing. Starting 11th out of a field of 16 trucks, Dylan had some work in store for him. The field went side by side for almost 2 laps until the #26 got sideways coming out of turn 2 and caused a huge wreck. Dylan in only his 2nd full year of racing these trucks used some skillful maneuvering to get thru the wreckage. He restarted 6th. He had some troubles with the set of sticker tires on his truck for a bit. The #41 was able to get under Dylan’s #7 truck in turn 3. A few laps later, his truck falls victim again to the same thing, the #59x slides under him in turn 1. But it wasn’t long and Dylan was on a mission to get back his positions. By lap 15, he was running qualifying lap times. Lap 20, the #84 spins and brings out the 2nd caution of the night. A couple laps later the #7 Blackwater Ford Raptur is all over the rear bumper of the #4 truck. Going into turn 1 Dylan makes his move to dive under him but only makes it to his door and the #4 comes down on Dylan. The #4 spins and Dylan is sent to the rear.

It only takes 3 laps for Dylan to find himself back behind the #4 truck. He gets him going into turn 3 for a clean pass. Lap 36, #7 passes #84 on the inside of turn 3 putting him back in 7th place. The crowd get a chance to watch some great Saturday night racing on lap 42, when Dylan gets under the #5 truck and they run side by side for almost 3 laps before the #7 gains the spot.

The white flag waves, Dylan is running a strong 5th place as he watches a couple trucks get into each other coming out of turn 4 to take the checker flag. One of the trucks involved in this gets docked a lap for the incident, so the official standing for the race is…Dylan’s #7 Blackwater Ford finishes 4th.

This was a great start for the season. The crew worked hard to get his truck right and Dylan pushed the truck to the front.

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

Dylan Martin was asked to join forces with one of the team leaders, Danielle Medeiros. She is a good friend on Dylan’s, so when she asked him to come out and walk for a cause that is very dear to her, he said yes. Danielle has had epilepsy for many years, but she hasn’t let it control her life. She is determined every year to put her own team together and designs a unique t-shirt for them…”Team Cool-Aid”. So if you happen to see one of her purple “Team Cool-Aid, Walk For Epilepsy” shirts around, that is just her hard at work to bring awareness to the cause. This year her team raised over $700 and brought in over 35 walkers. Everyone at Dylan Martin Racing would like to congratulate Danielle for a job well done. We look forward to walking again next year. www.epilepsysf.org

Dylan and the entire crew at Dylan Martin Racing are excited to have Garry & Emily join our team. Big Star Studios is an esteemed photography team that specializes in couture portrait and wedding photography. They are also responsible for making Dylan and his truck look so good.

Garry smiles as he states, “We are excited to be joining the Dylan Martin Racing team. We look forward to working along side Dylan in his continued success.”

“Dylan knows as a race car driver what it feels like to wreck at high speeds. He understands why it is so important to keep your eyes on the road,” said a representative from Dylan Martin Racing. “He doesn't worry about getting hurt, but when he gets into his personal car he is very aware that without his roll cage, helmet, neck restraint, fire suit and 5 point harness...he can get hurt. When racing, everything happens so quickly that a small distraction can cause a wreck in seconds. Dylan has to be so cautious of everything around him on the track. He wants his peers to understand that any small distraction while they are driving can be deadly. They most likely will not walk away like he does when he wrecks his race car. Bottom line, texting while driving can kill somebody!”

It’s clear that Dylan Martin will be a great asset to TADD in their quest to keep everyone on the road safe by teaching young drivers safe driving habits early. This cause is close to Dylan’s heart as well, for though he loves to race, if he can use his racing career to help or save one life, “that is greater to him than any victory he can earn on the track.” Teens Against Distracted Driving looks forward to working with Dylan Martin Racing on their mission to eradicate texting and driving.

About Teens Against Distracted Driving Teens Against Distracted Driving is an organization developed by Jason Epstein in Seattle, Washington, a partner at Premier Law Group. Disheartened by the number of totally preventable accidents he saw in his work as an auto accident attorney, Jason sought a way to bring the message of safe driving to teens in his area. He started giving talks at local high schools and encouraging them to take pledges to never text and drive. He has been doing so ever since, and has partnered with attorneys in several states to spread the word even further, as well as families of those affected by texting and driving. To take the pledge or learn more about how you can help, visit http://www.teensagainstdistracteddriving.com

Smiles…Smiles…and even more Smiles, this is what was on the faces of the children Tuesday afternoon at the Shriners Hospital. Gathering up some coloring books, stickers and hero cards, Dylan made his way through the lobby. He greeted kids that were just checking in and others that were leaving. One thing held fast though, they were all smiling. From toddlers to teens, they were all curious about this young man in the fire suit.

Walk down the halls of this building and it feels like anything but a hospital. As you are walking, walls are painted bright with fish, an examining room table looks like a fire truck, another room completely decorated with players of Tampa Bay Bucs. One thing Dylan did realize, there wasn’t a race room. So Dylan has set a goal for this season, he is going to turn an examining room into a race room. It will be equipped with a table that looks like a race car, a helmet, checkered flags, pictures of some drivers and tracks and of course a couple trophies.

If you get a chance go visit the Shriners Hospital. The atmosphere there is incredible. The children don’t even know they’re in a hospital. So as Dylan walks from room to room, he is happy knowing that he is taking their minds off their treatment, their IV or the x-ray coming up, if just for a minute or two. He left that afternoon carrying with him their inspiration, strength and courage.

Astro turf and asphalt, well they normally have nothing in common but they did this past weekend. Saturday morning at the Lakeland Civic Center, Dylan had his Blackwater Integration Ford Truck parked in the corner of the Lakeland Raiders indoor football arena. Numerous local businesses were there to show their support of these fine athletes.

The Raiders put on quite a display for their fans. After watching the football players go through some practice drills, area kids got the chance to run out onto the field and try some themselves. Dylan sends a special thanks to the Lakeland Raiders for making him a part of their festival. We wish them a great season. They kick off their 2013 Regular Season on March 4th at Georgia.

The new race truck was parked on Main Street in Downtown Lakeland. It was on display for the kids to see. They were excited to get pictures and coloring books from the local race truck driver. It was great to see the amount of support that the local sports have. Lakeland was well represented with it’s fine athletes.

The crunch of helmets and shoulder pads smashing into each other was a little different for Dylan Martin, but one thing will always sound the same, and that is the sound of children in need benefitting from the desire, dedication and determination of their heroes, the athletes who care. Dylan was excited just to be asked to participate in the longest-running college all-star football game in the country, the 88th East-West Shrine Game. These 114 young men are some of the most highly rated players in the country. It was unique seeing two opposing teams come together in one event to help the kids. As in racing, football is one big family, everyone helping everyone in the pits. All these players join forces to make these kids smile. For a recap of the highlights of the game, you can go to www.shrinegame.com .

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