Although this season has been quite successful as far as poles (6) and laps led, we just were not able to keep the car fast enough for the last quarter of each race to hold off the 2 time series champion Casey Sipe.  After making some significant adjustments to the front suspension of the car, we were able to keep the car handling well for the entire race and held off Sipe to the checkered flag.  This was the first Pro-6 win for the H.E.A.T. #41.  Thanks to everyone involved with the H.E.A.T. program for their support!

Warren Smigo in the Pro-Six HEAT Racecar #41 crashed at 70 mph last Saturday during a practice race at Langley Speedway. Fortunately, he was unhurt but the car is another story!

The H.E.A.T. Racing team arrived in Richmond late Friday night ready for an exciting weekend. After an early rise, they met up with the other H.E.A.T. staff members for the VIN etching event in Petersburg. Just after noon, the team set out for the Virginia Motorsports Park in Richmond. In all of Burton’s 25 years of racing, he believes VMP is the nicest racing facility he’d ever been to. The officials and drivers were all top-notch and gave the team a warm welcome. As they went through tech, Justin found a fuel leak in the carburetor bowl of the #1 car. With the assistance of other drivers and crew at the track, Burton made the necessary repair, kicking bad luck to the curb. Justin studied the track before practice trying to figure out a good line. 

“Looks like we are snake bit,” Burton Martin exclaims after a second disappointing race weekend. They had hoped to have all the bad luck behind them now. Justin had a good practice until bad luck came during qualifying. He broke the right front coil cover nut on the shock. This could not be repaired at the track. Due to this part failure, Justin knew he would be unable to make the feature. The Martin H.E.A.T. Racing goal then was to make a couple green flag laps before retiring from the race.

Martin Racing, Rick and Pam participated in the Food City Family Fun night on Friday, March 20th at Bristol International Raceway. The event began at 4:00 p.m. and lasted until 9:00 p.m.  There were thousands of race fans on hand to enjoy music, food, and many race car drivers.  It was a beautiful sunny day with a little chill in the air.  Justin was on hand to sign autographs from 6:00 p.m. to almost 8:00 p.m. (we ran out of autograph cards).  Lots of fans stopped by and we gave outs lots of HEAT and Insurance Fraud information.  A great event to start the year off!

Warren Smigo and the H.E.A.T. Pro-Six team had a great year at Langley Speedway and finished third in the points championship. Although a win eluded us this year, we had one pole, three Second Place and ten Top Five finishes.

Congratulations, Warren, for receiving the “Sportsman of the Year” award from Langley at the end of the year banquet. Warren was interviewed twice after two of his Second Place finishes. He thanked H.E.A.T. and the Virginia State Police in his interview, asserting that cash awards can be obtained for auto theft tips.

With the temperature in the seventies, the weather was perfect for racing on Saturday at Lonesome Pine Speedway. Major changes were made to the car including springs and sway bar. Burton and Justin had also been working on the set-up for the Good Year tires. H.E.A.T. qualified in 4th place but felt they could have done better. The 50-lap race started off a little edgy. The #21 Monte Carlo got bumped going into the third turn on the first lap and Burton had to work to hold onto the car, loosing several positions. H.E.A.T. fought their way back to finish the race in 5th place. With only one caution in the race, the laps ran out. Burton said H.E.A.T. easily had a Top 3 car.

Loyal fans and friends plus gorgeous weather made Food City Family Fun Night a wonderful occasion.

Drivers signing autographs this year included: Kevin Harvick, Bobby Labonte, Kasey Kahne, David Ragan, Marcose Ambrose, Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kenny Wallace and numerous other drivers including our very own, Justin Martin. Juan cut his signing down to one hour. Bobby Labonte only signed 350 autographs before quitting. Justin not only signed autographs for two hours but was available during the day when requested. Justin signed around 1,000 autographs.

What a night! It rained some during the day but eventually cleared. Justin was excited to get back to the dirt along with 27 other Pro-Late Model drivers. Practice was divided into three groups. Justin dialed his car in and qualified 17th. Justin had a great race going until he tangled with another car! Don't you just hate when that happens?

It was smoking hot at Motor Mile when a total of 33 late models showed up. The cars were split into two groups for practice. The H.E.A.T. racecar went out in the first group, dodging a wreck that eliminated two cars from the event. Justin handled the car great. Burton qualified 28th in the first race and 26th in the second race. The drivers had their work cut out for them. The left front tire blistered somewhere during the second lap and resulted in terrible vibration early on lap 29. They were hesitant to start the second race on the tires, not knowing what would happen.

The Martin/ H.E.A.T. Racing Team was again beaten by the weather. Rain and storms Saturday canceled the racing action. Nonetheless, the drivers are ready to gear up again next Saturday night and travel to Lonesome Pine Speedway. Think sunny thoughts!