Cobourg drag racer wins big in London at Mopar Nationals Pro Mod series race
Rebounds from crash month before that left side of car crushed
COBOURG — Working on cars, off-road crawlers and drag cars is a family affair for Al Martorino, the owner of Xtreme Motorsports Racing.
He and his team took home a big win in the Pro Mod series at the 20th annual Canadian Mopar Nationals, which were held at the Grand Bend Motorplex, located northwest of London, Ont., on Aug. 4.
The event featured three days of racing and included 300-m.p.h. top fuel dragsters, 250-m.p.h. nostalgia nitro funny cars, 220m.p.h. nitro Harleys and 250 m.p.h.-pro modifieds to name a few
It also attracted close to 350 race teams.
Martorino told Northumberland News that 12 cars took part in the new Pro Mod Sportsman Dragster Series and he was awarded $6,000 for first place.
“It’s absolutely awesome and we worked so hard for it,” he said. “Unfortunately, there were some cars that broke at this race. But all-in-all it was still an amazing weekend.”
However, the road to get to Grand Bend was a tough one, he said, pointing out that the entire side of his 2006 Mustang was taken out when he crashed into a wall during the Nitro Nationals at Toronto Motorsports Park about a month before.
“We had to work for two weeks to get that whole side of the car fixed and re-square it,” he said. “In fact, at that race we went the fastest we have ever gone, 5.84 at 247 m.p.h., at the last race before the semifinals where I hit the wall.”
The team only had several weeks to get the car back together, and he credits his team and sponsors for getting him back to the track.
“I would like to thank all my crew people — crew chief Rob Andrews, his wife and his daughter, Amanda Andrews, my wife Shaye, and my two main sponsors, Lyle and MaryAnn Williams (the owners of Prime Shine Auto Spa in Strathroy),” said Martorino. “I am very fortunate to have all these guys on our side. Nobody works as hard as we do at the track.”
His team is sponsored by Prime Shine Auto Spa, Quick Drive Racing, Williams Mobile Service, Motorsports Unlimited, NGK Spark Plugs, Ajax Engines, Bears Performance and US Gears.
“We had another racer lend us a part to get through this weekend as well, so the sportsmanship in this racing series is absolutely amazing, “he said.
Martorino was born and raised in Cobourg and said he comes from a family of mechanics.
“My whole family has been mechanics, so we just work and work and work. I have always wanted to go fast in something.”
His team works on the Mustang — which is powered by a 526 cubic inch HEMI that produces about 3,000 horsepower — at Xtreme Motorsports and Maintenance Ltd., located at 8943 Danforth Rd. E. in Cobourg.
For more information about Xtreme Motorsports Racing, visit their Facebook page or the Xtreme Motorsports and Maintenance Ltd. page on Facebook.