Rafael “Rafa” Martinez is the Founder of the RAFA Family of Companies and Principal of Maximo Capital. Born in El Salvador, he moved to Houston at 12 after his family fled the civil war. He built his business career trading natural gas.
He took his first ride-along at Circuit of the Americas in March 2021 and was hooked after one lap. By 2024 he was racing in GT4 Europe and Porsche Sprint Challenge North America. Today he races the Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 in IMSA with RAFA Racing Team, which won 32 races in 2025 across IMSA, SRO, and ARCA/NASCAR programs.
Off the track, he founded RAFA Racing Club, a members-only motorsports club headquartered in Houston. It is now expanding nationwide through a $250M joint venture with XSpace Group. He also runs RAFA TV and a growing set of performance and lifestyle brands, all built around one idea: Race As Family Always.
John Oreovicz is a veteran American motorsports journalist, author, and commentator who has chronicled the highs and lows of Indy-car racing for more than three decades. Based in Indianapolis and a longtime attendee of the Indianapolis 500 since his teenage years, he has written for major outlets including ESPN.com, RACER and Autosport.
He is perhaps best known for his award-winning 2021 book Indy Split: The Big Money Battle that Nearly Destroyed Indy Racing, which provided an in-depth account of the turbulent era of American open-wheel racing from 1996 to 2008.
Most recently, Oreovicz published Class of ’99: Triumph & Tragedy in the 1999 CART Indy Car Series (Oct 2025), a compelling exploration of one of the most consequential seasons in Indy-car history, blending contemporary reporting, fresh interviews, and cultural context to examine the legendary 1999 championship saga and its tragic turning point. With a keen combination of insider access, journalistic rigor and lifelong fandom, Oreovicz brings clarity to racing’s most dramatic chapters—making him an ideal voice for motorsports audiences seeking deeper narrative, not just statistics.
The Pits Are Open With Will Marotti airs Thursdays at 6pm Eastern on SPEED SPORT 1.
