Billy Martin returned to South Boston Speedway this past weekend for one more shot at glory at an age some wouldn’t even consider driving a street car — much less a Late Model Stock Car.
At 70, Martin knows he wasn’t going to win but had several other goals worth fulfilling.
cI love to race but the main reason I’m out here is to help Matt [Bowling],” Martin said of the recently crowned NASCAR National Champion. “I really want to see him win this title. It would be huge for this region so I’m just out here to run a few laps in the first race but turn some laps in the second as well.”
During his tenure, Martin has seen the landscape change drastically due to the financial aspect of the industry.
“I raced here at South Boston in 1990 and 1991 and the money has gone out of sight,” Martin said. “I have a kid that drives for me at Motor Mile.”
The emergence of a rising crop of young drivers is also something Martin has seen change since he started racing in 1968.
“I raced here with Elliott Sadler and the field has gotten progressively younger, now we have guys like Ryan Repko who is 16,” Martin said. “Half of these guys though will race two or three years but we will never hear from them again.”
The emergence of females in the sport is also something Martin has seen change. With Amber Balcaen winning at Motor Mile and Julia Landauer enjoying success in Late Models and the K&N Pro Series West.
“Amber is pretty good but she isn’t as good as Julia was last year,” Martin remarked. “It seemed like once she got up front she would overdrive the car and fall back but she got a win and that’s great for her, hopefully she comes back next season. She doesn’t take anything from any of these drivers, she holds her own pretty well.”
Martin has won many races throughout his career, mostly at Franklin County Speedway and also won a track championship at Callaway in 1997. He now focuses on his Late Model program at Motor Mile alongside Mike Looney. Looney scored two wins driving for Martin at Motor Mile this season and has also scored wins with Martin at Franklin County.
