By Myra Bean
Tommy Joe Martins of Como is beginning to live the NASCAR dream.
He graduated from Ole Miss in 2012 with a degree in journalism but racing is his first love.
He admits he was nowhere near the student he should have been as he skipped class and made bad grades because he had no motivation.
He started racing in 2008 while a student at Ole MIss.
“I had raced go karts when I was younger but I had always wanted to race cars,” Martins said. “My dad knew this. I think he was trying to get me excited about something again, so he and I got into amateur sports car racing. We had a ton of success, set some track records, won a lot of races, but my main focus was trying to find a way into NASCAR.”
He raced locally at Nasvhille Fairgrounds Speedway & in a national series called the ASA Challenge series in 2009. I also made my first NASCAR Truck Series starts for our own family team. It was such a dream come true to be able to compete on that stage. Basically until 2014 I raced part time. Just a few races a year here or there.
In 2014 the family started its own team, Martins Motorsports, racing the #76 car in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. They competed in 11 events with the best finish coming at Talladega, finishing 14th.
“We were such a small, underfunded car compared to a lot of the major teams in the sport,” Martins said. “For us, finishing in the top 30 was a major accomplishment. The team only had three guys on it total. But we had our ups and downs, eventually having to shut the team down because of a lack of funding.”
In 2015 Martins took a job as a racing instructor at Ron Fellows Performance Driving School right outside of Las Vegas. As the official driving school of Corvette, Martins had the opportunity to coach all sorts of people on track driving and all sorts of every day driving skills.
“It’s been a really rewarding experience,” he said.
Now, Martins is getting potentially his best opportunity in NASCAR.
With the help of Diamond Gusset Jeans, based out of Tennessee, he has been able to start his team again, the #44 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
“The equipment we have this season is by far and away the best I’ve ever had going into a season,” Martins said. “I truly believe that we’re going to have a chance to race for top 10s and potentially win races. I can’t stress how much having a sponsor for this year means to our team and to me. Diamond Gusset manufactures all of their clothing right here in the U.S., and that’s an amazing thing to be able to promote their brand to NASCAR and Ole Miss fans.”
Martins considers himself an underdog drive.
“We’re a family team,,” he said. “I’m so proud to be able to represent Ole Miss as the first graduate to ever compete in NASCAR. That’s something I’d never even thought about until my parents pointed it out. Being a NASCAR driver is temporary. I’m going to have my career as long as I can. I love it. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do.”
Martins said he will always be an Ole Miss Rebel and is painting his helmet like an Ole Miss football helmet for this year.
Martins is active on social media and people can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram this year. The first race is Daytona, Friday, February 19 at 6:30 p.m. central time on Fox Sports One.
He has 23 events lined up for this year.