“Hearts were on their sleeves” for a race team’s season debut last weekend…..

Napierville Dragway’s first FuelTech Pro Modified Series (presented by RM Racing Lubricants) event of 2021 included a determined and high emotion effort from Coburg Ontario’s Xtreme Motorsports.

That popular race team which is owned and operated by Al and Shaye Martorino, did endure a devastating setback just this past April with the sudden and unexpected passing of their long time car and crew chief – Rob Andrews.  The Napierville event was their first appearance since that sad development.

While the team ultimately did fall just short of an event victory – their weekend effort was a superb one – including being #2 qualifier (3.807 secs) and running quick laps of 3.826 secs and 3.852 secs during eliminations with the Prime Shine Auto Spa sponsored supercharged Mustang.

“It’s been tough on all of us,” confided Al Martorino.  “But we needed to do this and come out as soon as we could.  Rob would have most certainly wanted that — so we all came together.  We all felt him “up there” rooting for us!”

“It’s been a big adjustment — in all honesty he was the glue for our race team,” Al continued.  “He oversaw every aspect and was for sure the most passionate guy about racing on our team.  He was one of a kind – and now we’re moving forward with this season in his honour.”

While Rob’s role on the team will never be replaced — the team’s entire effort (including Rob’s daughter Amanda) was apparent as was the advisory expertise of Lyle Williams and Kirk Silberman all of which did help to transmit a huge positive message for the future.

Posted by Bruce Biegler

Photos by Bruce Biegler & Brennan Shortall