Martin took out Burton Auxier in round two, then beat a tire shaking Kenny Rucker in the semis to set up the final round against Smith. Despite the loss, Rucker, who qualified his 1941 Willys in the 15th position, was thrilled with his South Georgia experience.
 Harold Martin is all smiles about taking the Pro Nitrous win home to New Hudson, MI. |
“We’re real happy because we really just came down here to enjoy the weather more than race. We hadn’t even had the car out of the trailer since Labor Day and we freshened the engine last Wednesday and decided to come down here and have some fun. And we had a lot of fun,” the Pond Gap, WV-based driver said.
He also was surprised to survive match ups against Castellana and James Hancock III in the early rounds. “Very surprised. I mean, I was packing up before the first round, so I wouldn’t have as much to do after the first round, because you know, I had to run the world champ, but we got it ready again, lucked out through another round and made it through.”
In the final, Martin left first with a .065 light to Smith’s .092, and won with a 4.219-seconds lap at 174.89 mph while Smith lost traction early and coasted through in 5.485 seconds. Smith later revealed he’d hurt two more pistons in the semis, but didn’t have time to pull the heads off again for repairs.
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“It shook. I mean, I got it in the right spot, but I was trying to aim it back across and I got into where it (rubber) got rolled up out there and it just shook and I let off. It probably would have hurt the motor real bad anyway, so it was probably cheaper to lose,” he reasoned. “But you know, we were definitely glad to be in the final and put on a good show here as cold as it was.”
Martin, whose last major event win came in July 2004 at the IHRA race in Edmonton, Alberta, said he never saw Smith and didn’t realize the trouble he was having, but wasn’t taking any chances.
“Unfortunately, when we got in second gear and the power started coming in it started rattling the tires. I didn’t know where he was, so it became a pedalfest,” the number-11 qualifier said. “For me, being in the final, there’s no lift, it’s just a matter of using that steering wheel and working my way to the victory circle.”
Martin, a regular on the IHRA and NHRA Pro Mod circuits with his unique fuel-injected and nitrous-fed AC Delco-sponsored 2006 Grand Am, was making his ADRL debut at Valdosta. He left impressed with the program and said he will run as many ADRL events this year as his schedule allows.
 Shannon Jenkins and Ricki Smith |
“Any time you see the likes of the IHRA world champion, Mike Castellana, Shannon Jenkins, Rickie Smith and all of the tremendous teams that were here, it’s a great feat to be the one standing at the very end,” Martin said. “When you look at how many Pro Modified cars came to this race and take it very seriously, I think it really shows the racers respect the sanctioning body and how it’s growing and coming along. To pull off a victory at an event this important is great; we’re really, really pleased with it.”
Steve Kirk hurt the engine in his 2000 Camaro during a semi-final loss to Marcus Birt.
