Hal Martin | |||||||
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Born |
Galliano, Louisiana, United States |
December 29, 1985 ||||||
NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
17 races run over 3 years | |||||||
2014 position | 60th | ||||||
Best finish | 35th (2013) | ||||||
First race | 2012 Kansas Lottery 300 (Kansas) | ||||||
Last race | 2014 U.S. Cellular 250 (Iowa) | ||||||
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NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career | |||||||
1 race run over 1 year | |||||||
Best finish | 94th (2009) | ||||||
First race | 2009 MemphisTravel.com 200 (Memphis) | ||||||
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Statistics current as of August 2, 2014. |
Hal Martin (born December 29, 1985) is an American driver. Due to his Louisiana heritage, he is nicknamed "The Ragin' Cajun".
Martin began his racing career when he was 15 years old, racing 80cc and 125cc shifter karts, racing around the Gulf Coast of the United States and winning the 2004 Louisiana State 80cc Shifter Kart Championship. He then went to several driving schools to improve his driving skills as he prepared to move up to full-bodied stock cars, including the Buck Baker Racing School and Andy Hillenburg's Fast Track High Performance Driving School in Rockingham, North Carolina.
In 2007, Martin won the Mobile International Speedway Track Championship in the Pro Late Model Division and was crowned the 2007 Louisiana State Champion by Late Model Digest. He would follow that up with two more wins the following season while competing on various short tracks around the Gulf of Mexico, followed by running some ASA Late Model Series races in 2009 and 2010.
In 2009, Martin graduated from the University of New Orleans with a degree in mechanical engineering.
Following his completion of Hillenburg's driving school, Martin was approved to compete in the ARCA Racing Series. He made his series debut at Mansfield Motorsports Park, finishing in 11th place. He would follow that up in his next race two months later with a 3rd-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway, his best finish to date. While he was competing on various short tracks around the Gulf Coast, Martin was gaining valuable experience on some of the biggest tracks in the country while competing in ARCA, including Daytona, Talladega, and Pocono. In 11 career ARCA starts between 2009 and 2011, Martin has a best starting and finishing position of 3rd place, while also tallying 3 top ten finishes.