RACER: Robin Miller's Tough Guys Series: John Martin

He was his own car owner, chief mechanic and engine man and in between all that work he found time to qualify for five consecutive Indianapolis 500s in the 1970s.
John Martin embodied the little guy in Gasoline Alley from the time he made his first laps at the Speedway in 1971 as a rookie. He never had a new car or a big sponsor but his determination equalized those disadvantages. He never won a race in his decade of trying (a fifth at Ontario was his best finish) but he won the respect of everyone and anyone who watched him take on the big boys at 16th & Georgetown.
At 80, he's still a workaholic -- restoring Offenhauser engines and looking to run the SVRA race this summer.

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