Justin Martin was a solid player in the Limited Drag Radial category of competition at Diamond Pistons No Mercy last weekend. The car was rattling off numbers in the low ‘teens despite the molten hot temperatures and he was one of the guys favored to have a shot at winning the race as well. Martin came into the event with the national class record at 4.111. That was run at the Outlaw Street Car Reunion earlier this year and while people were expecting a dogfight between himself and the likes of others such as Dan Pharris, no one really expected records because of how hot the air and the track would be all week.
Wade Rich and the SGMP staff did an incredible job with the track and Justin, along with Pete Harrell (engine man) and his crew dropped jaws from Georgia to the Middle East when he uncooked the first 4.0-anything pass in the history of the category designed to provide a more cost friendly options to hardcore radial racing outside of Radial vs The World. It was a run that sets the stage for discussion of the first 3-second pass in class history which would seem to be close to attainable in late fall or even winter air and the right race track. Will it happen by the time we get to Lights Out in February? There’s no real telling but when guys can do this on a 130+ degree track, with all the humidity and rocketing ambient temperatures we had, that’s a worthy question.
Watch this car work and watch the numbers come up on the board. It was fun as hell to see these guys chip at it and get better with every rip (virtually) that they made at SGMP.
