My name is Emma Martin. I am 20 years old and from Independence, MO. I graduated from Platte County High School in May 2017. I have raced competitively for 12 years, but I have been around racing all my life.
The moment I knew I wanted to become a racecar driver was in 2004 when I had the opportunity to sit in my friend, Kevin Burns' Grand National. My first time driving was in a five horsepower kart at Liberty Raceway in Liberty, MO. I started racing in 2005 when I was six years old in the rookie class at Thunderlake Speedway in Kansas City, KS. I competed in the Rookie class till I was eight years old, where I then moved up to Jr. Amateurs till I was 10 years old. I ran many top five finishes while I was in that class; and when I turned 11 I advanced to the Jr. 1 Lights/Heavies class.
However, midway through the year of 2010 I was involved in a fireworks accident that concluded the end of my season. The accident occurred on July 4, 2010 at 12:18 a.m. I was loaded up and life-flighted to Children's Mercy Hospital. I spent two weeks in an induced coma on the PICU [Pediatric Intensive Care Unit]. At that time, my parents were told that my survival expectancy was low. After waking from the coma, the doctors then claimed I would be challenged with severe physical and mental disabilities. They thought I would have brain trauma, the CAT Scan showed no sign. They thought I would not keep my left leg or five of my fingers, I use them on a regular basis. They thought I would never walk again, needless to say, I step on the gas pedal just fine. In short, I've learned to see obstacles as an opportunity for growth, not a setback.
Although I lost a lot of seat time, that didn't stop me from getting back in the kart in 2011 and rejoining the Jr. 1s for a second season. I also ran a second series called the Mo-Kan Series which included tracks such as: Lasoski Speedway in Warrensburg, MO, YC Raceway in Yates Center, KS and Thunderlake Speedway. I managed to achieve sixth place in the Lights class and ninth place in the Heavies class in the Thunderlake Speedway points series. After Thunderlake's season I raced down in Emma, MO at Emma Raceway as a Jr. 2 Light/Heavy. I also ran in the ChainDragone Dirt Series at Emma Raceway as a Jr. 2. I ran top five in the Emma Series as well as top three in the ChainDragone Series.
In my final year of karting, 2012, I competed in the Jr. 2 Lights/Heavies class once again. I ran very competitively against my fellow drivers. I raced in large money races, like the Firecracker 500 and the Boogieman. There were approximately 20-25 karts in my class. I managed to place fifth in both races and take away some prize money. At the end of the season I achieved fourth place in the Lights class and seventh place in the Heavies class in the points series at Thunderlake Speedway. I feel in just that one year I grew as a driver and certainly improved on my driving skills.
Thunderlake Speedway closed down which finished my career in go-karts. After two years of sitting in the grandstands and watching races of all kinds I was informed that I had the opportunity to race again. My parents and I bought and E-Mod in the winter of 2014. My season started late during 2015. There was many ups and downs in my first year of modified racing, from figuring how to drive a manual to getting a late start in the season, it was definitely a season learning. However. I managed to compete at three tracks: I-35 Speedway in Winston, MO, US 36 Speedway in Osborn, MO and Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, MO.
In my first season I was awarded the C.A.R.B Larry Kaster Driver Appreciation Award for the E-Mod class, as well as the C.A.R.B Rookie of the Year at Valley Speedway for the E-Mod class. I drove to finish competitively in the top five on Saturday nights and also managed to capture my first feature win on October 17, 2015 in my first season.
In the 2016 season, I managed to achieve seven heat wins and five feature wins. I also received the C.A.R.B Larry Kaster Driver Appreciation Award again. At the end of the year I managed to earn the C.A.R.B Most Improved Driver and finished third in points.
In the 2017 season, I won five heat races and eight features. As I ran at Valley Speedway on Saturday nights, I also ran at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, KS on Friday nights. I finished ninth in points at Lakeside Speedway and fourth in points at Valley Speedway.
In my 2018 season I ran every Friday night at Lakeside Speedway, where I managed to finish 5th out of 45 drivers in the points system.
The 2019 season has been a slow one for me, I have only raced a handful of times. However, I have moved from the e-mod division to the Midwest Lightning Sprints. I am very excited to see what opportunities unveil themselves as I continue my career in open wheel racing.