Sports

Goshen’s Martin ready to hit the track

Although it will be about another month until the 2019 Claremont Karting Series kicks off on May 5th, there is one local racer who is itching for his chance to get back out on the track.

The reigning Claremont Karting Series Driver of the Year, Colton Martin, is a 4-time track champion and has 36 feature wins under his belt.

He’s just ten years old and is a fifth grader at Newport.

Colton’s father, Bryan, used to race at Claremont Speedway in the limited sportsman division. Bryan sold his racecar and used that money to help buy Colton’s first go-kart.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Colton as he began his racing career four years ago.

At seven years old, and about to compete in his first career race, Colton almost called it quits on day one.

“The day didn’t start out well,” Colton said. “I was nervous. My first practice I got into a wreck with two other karts and I was ready to go home. I didn’t even want to look at it.”

“We got his kart fixed up and he still wasn’t sure if he wanted to race,” said his father.

But, Colton changed his mind and gave it a go. He ended up winning his first-ever race and then went on to win his next 8 feature races.

Now, four years later, Colton has finished in the top three in 85 out of 90 track appearances.

He has three track championships at Claremont in the wing cars, junior bandit, and junior sportsman divisions. He also had a tiger kart championship at Route 106 Race Park in Pembroke.

Most kids Colton’s age are focused on baseball, football, or basketball. He not only plays basketball and football, but this hobby of go-kart racing has become a huge passion. His goals for the upcoming season are simply “to have fun, race hard, and continue to get better as a driver.”

He will be competing in junior bandit, junior sportsman, and junior champs this season. Junior champs is full of 12-15 year olds, but Colton is up for the challenge.

Colton thanks his close family for the support to continue to chase this passion.

“I’ve gotten help from my Mom and Dad, Mammy and Grandpa Todd, my uncles Rich, Justin, and Jeremy, Grandpa Martin, and my sister Brooklynn,” he said.

He plans on racing in the Claremont modified series when he gets older.

For now, Colton is playing AAU basketball for the Newport Tigers until the start of May, with Bryan as the head coach.

2019 sponsors Colton would like to thank: GM Trucking, American Tire & Brake, Revered Painting, Bedding by Bourdons, City Auto Sales, Minckler Automotive, Motion Graphixs, Zullo Fabrication, Osgood Welding, Rolling Thunder Chapter 2, The Bullpen, Kyle Welch Lawn Mowing and Landscaping, Sunapee Paving, and New England Outdoor Furnace.

The Claremont Karting Series will race on Sundays, with practice starting at 11:30 a.m. each race day. The races will be on May 5, May 19, June 2, June 9 (NH Challenge), June 16, June 23, June 30, July 14 (Race #7 and NH Challenge), July 28, August 4, August 11, August 25 (NH Challenge), September 8, September 15, September 22, September 29 (Championship race), October 5 (Day 1 of The Big Show), October 6 (Day 2 of The Big Show).

Avatar photo

As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.