| Martin's Got The Racing Fever Bad | By Claude Lewis
Buzz Martin has got it, bad. That is, the racing fever.
To give an example of what a trooper the 56-year-old out of Lehigh Acres is, on Saturday night at Charlotte County Speedway, he was in an eye-opening wreck that left him bruised and battered.
During the limited late model feature race, his No. 62 car hit the outside wall coming out of turn two.
It bounced off the tire barrier, then rolled over. Already stunned, Martin had to scramble to crawl out of the car when he saw flames. He then was transported to Charlotte Regional Medical Center, where he was examined and released.
The next morning, Martin could be found at his Fort Myers Beach shop, working on old No. 62.
"My experience with wrecks is if nothing is broke, don't be a wuss and lay in bed," said the Lehigh Acres resident. "You're gonna be sore anyway. You might as well go back to the shop."
As of Wednesday, the biggest thing Martin had to deal with was a scrape on his right knee, a bruised left bicep and some final work on his car to get it ready for Saturday night's Limited Late 100-lapper.
"Considering everything, I'm feeling pretty damn good," he said. "The car's frame wasn't bent. The worst damage was the right side upper and lower control arms. I have to do a front-end alignment and some fiberglass work. The car will be ready."
Although Martin has two loyal sponsors in Action Signs of Fort Myers and Smitty,s Marine Towing and Salvage, the wreck was ill-timed as far as his racing budget goes. A lot of money went into repairing the car, leaving him short on tire money for this weekend.
"We sure could use another sponsor," Martin said. "Tires cost around $450 and you have a new set to run 100 laps."
Martin is well-liked by Charlotte County Speedway race fans and respected by other drivers. He has worked his way up through the divisions, starting in road warrior and racing most everything in between. His most successful years came when he raced sportsman, as he was third in points his first year in the division and just missed the championship the following year.
This is Martin's third year in limited late model.
"They,ve all been pretty fun," he said.
Martin owes it to buddy Bob Fowler for getting him into racing.
"Bob kept trying to get me to try it," Martin said. "Finally I did at that old Baja track at the Naples Sports Park, and I had more fun than I ever had. Then they closed the track."
Fowler's wife, Karen, raced at Charlotte County Speedway but retired shortly after surviving a fireball of a wreck. Bob urged Martin to drive her car in road warrior. Since then, he's been hooked.
Martin thanks Fowler's son, Bobby, and shop pal Phil Babcock for helping him with his car.
"I'd like to thank everybody who helped Bob get the car loaded up while I was at the hospital," Martin said.
By CLAUDE LEWIS
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