BEATRICE, Neb. — Dedication, friendship and family support propelled John Martinez to a breakout year behind the wheel of the Richards Speedshop/Carstens Trenching/Extreme Motorsports no. 27I, racing for car owners Dillon and Kaylee Richards.
“Last year at Oktoberfest my best friend Dillon Richards wanted me back in a race car,” Martinez said. “I had started that year racing but ended up having to step out of the seat because my wife and I were expecting our new baby in the winter. He kept telling me ‘you’re going to race,’ and he built it and put a Richards Speedshop setup on it.
“We went to Beatrice this spring and won that, then went to Hays and won their Spring Special, and we just got on a roll clicking wins off. About halfway through the year at Salina in June that car got claimed, so the car I ended up racing the rest of the year we built in three days.”
“Anywhere I could go or that Dillon and Kaylee wanted me to go, we would make it happen,” he added. “We went all over — they even had me go with them to Minnesota this year. Historically I wouldn’t push myself, but they kept telling me, ‘get in as many races as you can.’ Once we started winning and doing good, they said I should try and go for the national championship. Dillon helped me so much going through the car in the middle of the week while I was at work, and Kaylee was like my secretary keeping tabs on my starts and finishes.”
Martinez, from Beatrice, Nebraska, delivered a storybook season by winning his first IMCA Sport Compact national championship. He became the eighth Nebraska driver to capture the title since the division’s inception in 2007.
His championship year produced 23 feature victories in 46 starts, including 10 at Salina Speedway, five at Beatrice Speedway, three at Concordia Raceway, and single wins at RPM Speedway, Park Jefferson Speedway, and Redwood Speedway. He also earned track championships at Concordia and Salina, both the first of his career.
Across his 46 starts, Martinez recorded 37 top-five finishes, 41 top 10s and 29 podiums, reflecting the steady pace and precision that carried him to the top of the standings.
The 2025 campaign was defined by consistency and streaks. Martinez opened the season with early back-to-back victories at Beatrice and RPM before rolling into a hot stretch through late May and June that included multiple weekend sweeps at Beatrice and Salina.
By midsummer he rattled off a four-race stretch of victories spanning Park Jefferson, Salina and Redwood. He ended the year on another heater, winning six of his final nine starts and closing with back-to-back September triumphs at Salina Speedway to lock down the national crown.
“It was hard juggling all the racing and having such a young one at home,” Martinez said. “My number used to be 00J, but I changed it for my daughter Iyla because she was born on December 27 and the ‘I’ is for her name. My wife was so amazing supporting me and taking care of our daughter — I wouldn’t have been able to do this without her.”
The 2025 season was also special for the Richards family. Dillon’s WEB Chassis has now produced back-to-back national Sport Compact championships, with Dillon winning the national title in 2017 and Kaylee capturing it last year. Martinez’s championship adds another proud chapter to the team’s growing legacy.
