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“Bad Ass” Accentuated!
Bruce Biegler - August 4, 2007
 Tim Martin, from Barrie Ontario, is making a serious bid for a little bit of drag racing history.
A veteran of some 10 years in the Southern Ontario Top Dragster class, Tim has now evolved from a nitrous-injected and rear-engine dragster (which was one of Canada’s quickest) to an unreal new supercharged 23T Altered. Tim made that acquisition towards the tail end of 2006 when he purchased a Mike Bos-built car from U.S.-based racer Joe Mulligan – who has since gone Pro Mod class racing.
“We realized some limitations that our dragster had and the supercharged stuff had always been attractive to me,” said Martin. “After we got the car we put a lot of focus on our engine program over the winter in conjunction with Al Billes. With his help and on his dyno we made some huge horsepower gains. The car is now somewhere around 2500 HP.”
 Martin and his talented team, which includes his father Wayne and crew chief Len Price, have since come out of the season gate flying. They ran a 6.11 and 6.12 secs and qualified #1 in TD with the 2100 lbs car during the recent IHRA Mopar Canadian Nationals. They have also been credited with runs of 6.07 secs and 6.09 secs at over 232 mph while competing within Grand Bend’s thriving Quick 8 series. Those runs rival the quickest ever recorded in Top Dragster class history and the team feels that their first “five” is just around the corner.
“Being the first TD to run in the “fives” has certainly become our target,” Tim added. “This car is built exactly for that. It’s really just function of having the right conditions before it happens.”
Martin was also quick to taunt the talents of Al Billes, who has put him on the verge of a history making run.
“I agree with what Raymond Commisso, Tony Pontieri and many others have been saying – Al Billes is Canada’s single biggest drag racing secret.” he concluded. “Having him as a consultant for our team is like having a Michael Jordan sitting on the bench.”
 Southern Ontario fans should take note that Tim’s team will frequent Grand Bend Motorplex prior to running the IHRA Canadian Nationals at TMP in September. With the onset of cooler conditions either one of those facilities may produce the milestone TD class mark.
For additional background information on the team check out the Tim Martin Racing team profile within DragRaceCanada’s Northern Exposure subsection.
(Bruce Biegler Photos)
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