Matt Martin (born December 17, 1991) is a retired American

stock car Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

racing driver. He's a 2018 graduate of

Lyon College , mottoeng = Perseverance Conquers All, God Willing. , established = , type = Private college , president = Melissa Taverner , city = Batesville , state = Arkansas , country = United States , students = 665 , faculty = 61 , campus = Rural town ...

in Batesville, Ar. He is the son of former

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

Sprint Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971 ...

driver

Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is a retired American stock car racing driver. He has the second most wins all time in what is now the Xfinity Series with 49. He scored 40 Cup Series wins. He finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series st ...

Career

Martin's career began in

quarter midgets Quarter midget racing is a form of automobile racing. The cars are approximately one-quarter (1/4) the size of a full-size midget car. The adult-size midget being raced during the start of quarter midget racing used an oval track of one-fifth of a ...

when he just was seven years old. His racing experience also includes Bandoleros, Legend cars, the FASTRUCK Series, and the FASCAR Pro Truck Series. He received the nickname "Little Intimidator" due to his driving style. In 2003, Martin was signed to a driver development contract with the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

, making him the youngest member of the Ford racing family. By 2004 at age 13, Martin had five wins in the FastKids division of the FASTRUCK Series, a series for youths aged 12 to 17. In 2005, he won two races while competing against drivers ten to twenty years his senior in the FASCAR league. He raced the No. 66

Ford F-150 The Ford F-Series is a series of light-duty trucks marketed and manufactured by Ford since the 1948 model year. Slotted above the Ford Ranger in the Ford truck model range, the F-Series is marketed as a range of full-sized pickup trucks. ...

Truck. In the game video '' NASCAR 06: Total Team Control'' which takes place in 2005, Martin can be noticed as a fantasy driver for the

Whelen Modified Tour The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) (previously the NASCAR Winston Modified Tour and NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series from 1985 until 2005) is a modified stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR in the Modified Division. The Mod ...

. In 2006, at 14 years of age, he ran a limited schedule in the southern tour of the

ASA Late Model Series The ASA Late Model Series is an American stock car racing series. Founded by Ron Varney in 2003 as the "USPRO Cup Series", it was renamed "ASA Late Model Series" when it was purchased by the American Speed Association in 2004. After financial di ...

, as well as running in the

FASCAR Pro Truck and Sportsman Series The Florida Association of Stock Car Automobile Racing (FASCAR) was considered to be the Florida state version of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Automobile Racing or simply ''NASCAR'' for short. It was intended to be a developmen ...

. He won a late model race at

New Smyrna Speedway New Smyrna Speedway is a 1/2-mile asphalt oval racetrack located near New Smyrna Beach, Florida, that races the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series every Saturday night. It also has a smaller track, known as "Little New Smyrna Speedway" in t ...

in Florida and finished third in the season points. During the 2007 season, Matt was moved over from the Ford Motor Company development program to

Ginn Racing MB2 Motorsports was a NASCAR Cup Series team based in Mooresville, North Carolina, near the sport's hub in Charlotte. The team was founded by Read Morton, Tom Beard, and Nelson Bowers, from which the original team name were named after. Bowers w ...

's development program; headed up by Mark Martin. Matt planned on running a late model schedule very similar to teammate

Ricky Carmichael Richard Joseph Carmichael (born November 27, 1979) is an American former professional motocross and stock car racing driver. He competed in the AMA Motocross Championships from 1997 to 2007 and in NASCAR from 2008 to 2011. Carmichael is notable ...

. Mark and Matt planned on working together throughout Mark's limited NEXTEL Cup schedule. During a March 8, 2008 airing of

Speed Channel Speed was an American sports-oriented cable and satellite television network that was owned by the Fox Sports Media Group division of 21st Century Fox. The network was dedicated to motorsports programming, including auto racing, as well as aut ...

's ''Trackside'', Mark announced that Matt ended his racing career. Mark stated his son wanted to concentrate on his education but didn't rule out a possible return to racing; later that year Matt Martin stated that racing was "not my thing nymore. As of September 2010, Martin has moved to North Carolina to take an internship with

Hendrick Motorsports Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 291 Cup Seri ...

, working with the organization's strength and conditioning coach.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Matt Living people 1991 births People from Port Orange, Florida Racing drivers from Florida