When Justin Martz’s previously unsponsored #60 super late model showed up at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday evening more than a few people had some questions about the shiny new gold decals on the side of the car.
"A couple of the guys were kind of ribbing me when they first noticed the Evel Knievel decals on the car," Justin laughed. "I’ve had to do some creative driving this year to avoid some of the altercations out on the track and they thought the decals were a reference to those instances."
Everyone’s questions were answered, however, when Evel Knievel himself arrived at Martz’s pit area a few minutes later. As Knievel told the Bullring crowd before the super late models took to the track, "I’ve been a supporter of Justin’s racing since the beginning. He is a very talented driver and I’m proud to be a part of his racing team."
And with Evel Knievel in the stands, Justin Martz put on an impressive performance for the crowd. After qualifying third, Martz ended up on the outside of the second row when the invert dice were rolled. Within ten laps Martz had worked his way to the front of the pack and started to open up a substantial lead. Martz’s Quality Motorsports teammate Mike Ray who started in the third position chased Martz through the crowd followed by Chris Clyne. Ray and Clyne went head to head for several laps before Clyne took over second place but was unable to even get close to Martz as Justin stretched his lead to a quarter of the track and held that position for over twenty laps.
With very few cautions in the race, the pack became strung out and Martz quickly began lapping the slower cars. As Martz wove his way through the lapped cars he was held up by several of the less experienced drivers on the track. While Martz was passing a group of the slower cars in turn two on lap 34 of the fifty lap main event, Clyne finally managed to catch up with him and drove his #14 car directly into the rear of Martz spinning him and causing a number of the lapped cars to spin out of control.
"I’m not sure exactly what happened with Clyne," Martz said later. "Although he has been running here at the Bullring for a couple of years, he is still a young inexperienced driver and he has a car with a lot of power. Chris has had some control problems out here on the track this year and tonight he just drove straight into the back of my car and spun me. Unfortunately here at the Bullring the rule is that if two cars make contact and the yellow flag comes out both cars go to the rear of the field regardless of whose fault it was."
"Up to that point we had the best run going that we have had all year. The car was really hooked up and I was trying to run smooth consistent laps to save the car and the tires in case we needed them at the end of the race. There are some really good drivers out at this track that will race with you side by side and provide some great competitive racing. Tonight just wasn’t one of those nights."
Track officials, saying they had no discretion when applying the contact rule, sent both Martz and Clyne to the rear of the pack. Mike Ray, Martz’s Quality Motorsports teammate who was running in a strong third position, got caught up in the altercation and had to make a quick trip to the pits for repairs putting him also at the rear of the field when racing resumed. The #62 car piloted by Quality Motorsports team owner Jerry Spilsbury was seriously damaged in the incident and left the track for the remainder of the night.
When the green flag came back out, Quality Motorsports teammate Mike Cofer took the lead. Martz immediately started working his way back up through the field and in the thirteen laps that remained moved all the way back up to ninth place as Cofer took the checkered flag. Cofer’s win marked the seventh win in eight races for the Quality Motorsports team. "Mike did a great job moving into the lead after I was spun," Martz said. "He had some trouble out on the track early in the race and really worked hard to win this one."
"It was great to have Evel Knievel out here at the track tonight," said Martz after the race. "I really appreciate all of his support and we are looking forward to the rest of the season with the Evel Knievel logo on the side of our car. He plans to come back out to the Bullring as often as his touring schedule permits this summer."
Unfortunately, subsequent to the race, members from the two teams were involved in a verbal confrontation that resulted in sanctions for both drivers. "I take full responsibility for my actions and those of my crew," Martz stated when the sanctions were announced. "As hard as everyone works to get these cars ready to race it was a huge disappointment to all of us, including the fans, when the #14 car hit us and took us out of the lead. Up to that point we were really putting on a great show for the spectators. However, we have put that incident behind us and are looking ahead to the rest of the season."
After a week off, Martz and the rest of the Quality Motorsports team take to the track again for the Chris Trickle Father’s Day Doubleheader on June 19, 2004.
For more information contact Martz Motorsports at 406-410-0870.
