Team H.E.A.T. rolled into Bristol with record breaking temperatures reaching 100 degrees. The Bristol paper estimated the crowd at 60,000 people at this annual event. H.E.A.T. had a good location and gave lots of promos away. Justin signed autographs from 4 to 6 p.m. and had a good crowd of fans. He had a first--he was asked to sign a tiny baby's t-shirt and the baby was in it!The new trailer looks great, as you can see in the pictures and was a crowd favorite. MORE >>>

Saturday, August 4th was a full day of racing for the Martin / H.E.A.T. Racing Team. It started early to travel to Lonesome Pine Speedway in Coeburn, Virginia. Upon arriving the temperature was already in the upper 80’s. The track planned three Late Model Stock Car races--one of which was a make-up race for the previous week as there was a late model race at Bristol, Tennessee and many competitors went there on July 28th. The other two were regular races. In first practice, the car was loose so Justin made a track bar adjustment and a tire pressure change dialing the car in for the second practice. Since there were three races, they decided to split them up between drivers so Burton ran the first two and Justin ran the final race. Can’t keep Burton out of the car, he loves that track! Justin had never practiced or ran at this track. Burton qualified the car in 3rd place. He started 3rd and finished 3rd in the first race. The temperatures were well over 90 degrees by this time. Burton took the green flag in the second race and ran 3rd for most of it until the last 10 laps when the fourth place car gave him a “love” tap. He managed to hang on to it but finished 4th. Justin started the 3rd race from the rear, as he was not the original qualifier, and was able to finish 8th. Justin complained that Burton had pretty well used up the tires and didn’t leave him much to work with. Both drivers were exhausted by the end of the night due to the extreme heat. They can’t wait to go back and Justin is already planning on the next race at Lonesome Pine Speedway.

The track gives the Martins lots of attention as the announcer is a federal agent with the Court System, so he gives Virginia State Police and the H.E.A.T. Program lots of air time. The track owner asked Burton to talk with the Pure 4 class about rough driving and good sportsmanship. Great job from all!

Saturday, July 28th, 2007 was a wild night for Martin Racing! Burton was driving the #21 Late Model Stock Car in a field of 26 cars. The excitement started early as Burton cut a tire in practice--no damage, just a flat. Next, came the rain while the cars were lined up on pit road to qualify. He was first out after the rain to qualify so the track was a little slippery. During the first race, there was a huge pile up on lap #3 and Burton managed to miss it. He didn't however miss some debris on the track, which managed to get stuck around the exhaust pipe. Burton ran until the next caution came out and made a fast pit stop. Justin was spotting in the tower and that left Lisa as the pit crew to run out and pull the sheet metal away from the exhaust. Fortunately, H.E.A.T. Racing stayed on the lead lap and finished 16th in the first race.

From the pictures, you can see that there were terrible conditions for the second race. That's right, you can see a photo showing a full moon - a racer's nightmare!

The fog then started rolling in and you couldn't really even make the cars out on the track. Burton hung in there and finished 18th after running 150 laps. What a night!

The Martins travel to Lonesome Pine Speedway on Saturday, August 4 for twin races.
Justin will be piloting the late model stock car there. Hope to see you all there! MORE >>>

The Martin / H.E.A.T. Racing Team traveled to South Boston Speedway on Saturday, July 21. There was a large crowd of super fast late models on hand for the race. As you can see from one of our pictures, Justin was frustrated that he couldn't get the car to handle better. We had a good race though and finished 16th. The main photo shows a new Monte Carlo SS body--a great looking car.

They travel to Motor Mile Speedway on Saturday for Twin 75's. Justin is looking forward to getting behind the wheel again.
MORE >>>

Martin Racing parked their race cars for the night and used the new display trailer to promote the HEAT Program at the July 14th, 2007 Hooter's Pro Cup race at Motor Mile Speedway. The new display trailer is awesome and gots lot of attention. Located at the main entrance gate, it was a standing room only crowd. Justin signed lots of autographs. Thanks to Star Country for their assistance in getting us this great location. MORE >>>

The Martins raced at Lonesome Pine Speedway this past weekend. There was a big crowd on hand and a total of 18 late models. They had twin races scheduled and they qualified 4th for the first race and finished 6th. In the second race, they were running in the 5th position and around lap 45 the car's brakes overheated passing lap cars and lost the brakes. This ended the hopes for a good finish and came in 14th. Burton had replaced the front pads but should have also replaced the rear ones with a different heat compound. This track is so fast that he has to use more brakes there to whoa the car up. Also during this event, Burton had a great pre-race on-track interview. The Racing Team gets a lot of air time in which to promote the 1-800-947-HEAT hotline. Burton is introduced as the racing "trooper" with the VA State Police HEAT Program as his sponsor. This track does an excellent job allowing the drivers to promote their sponsors. The officials, the owner, and all the staff are very nice and great to work with.

Unfortunately, there was a bad accident on Saturday night during the women's UCAR event. One of the cars hit the outside guardrail and went head on into the inside guard rail. She was trapped inside the car and Burton along with another trooper, Tim Deel, who was in stands, contacted 4th Division Headquarters and was able to get a medical helicopter in route. Burton also assisted the track officials in maintaining the situation. Unfortunately, she passed away at the scene. They got word today that she died as a result of a heart attack before the accident occurred. Her son is actually the announcer for the track. She loved racing so much that her memorial will be held at the racetrack on Tuesday where she will take her final lap and get the checkered flag.

Justin will race Saturday night at Wythe Raceway in #7 Open Wheel Modified. Here's hoping for a good finish.

Justin raced the #7 Open Wheel Modified on Saturday night, June 23, 2007 at Wythe Raceway. The Fan Appreciation event was huge, he signed lots of autographs, and they gave out lots of HEAT promotional material. Fans gave lots of compliments about the HEAT race car. Justin raced late in the schedule and the track was dry slick. He again started at the rear as he is not a regular but quickly came up through the field to a 6th place finish. The car had lots of power, just needed a little adjustment in handling.

On Saturday, June 16, the Martin Racing Team traveled to Coeburn, Virginia where Burton raced the #21 H.E.A.T. Late Model Stock Car at Lonesome Pine Speedway. The Team felt fortunate to get the new shocks installed on Thursday before the race. The car handled great right off the bat. The old man dusted the cobwebs off and qualified in the 3rd position. They challenged for 2nd place late in the race but Burton overheated the brakes and had to settle for 3rd place. The track was very accommodating and Burton was able to give two on-track interviews. The fans and officials remembered the Team from past races when they had the Cougar racecar. The Martins had a great time! MORE >>>

The Virginia State Police HEAT Program and Law Enforcement members from the Petersburg Sheriff’s Office and Police Department sponsored a VIN etching on June 13 at the Walmart parking lot in Petersburg. The event was notable for displaying the new HEAT trailer and for the use of the new wireless hand-held VIN barcode reader equipment.

The pictures below demonstrate how the new hand-held bar code scanner reads a vehicle VIN and transmits the information to a computer in the HEAT RV. The information is displayed on the laptop and then printed out on stencils. After VIN verification on NCIC the stencils are applied to the vehicle and the windows are etched.

The barcode scanning made a significant difference in accuracy and in decreasing the vehicle wait time.

Local publicity made this weekday VIN etching a great success. The event handled 43 vehicles and citizens were also given information regarding vehicle theft prevention and local law enforcement resources. MORE >>>

Saturday night on June 9th, Justin drove the #7 Open Wheel Modified to a 9th place finish at Wythe Raceway. The crowd was huge and the weather was beautiful. Thirteen cars started the race, which included a serious accident on the first lap. Justin had to start at the rear as he is not a weekly regular there and it was probably a good thing. The car ran well and hopefully bad luck is behind us.