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Biography :: While most three year old chldren are chasing balls around the house, Hal Martin was pushing 1/64 scale NASCAR models around a make believe track on both his parents' and grandparents' kitchen tables. As soon as his feet reached the pedals, he drove his battery-operated replica of "Big Foot" from his parents' to his grandparents' house. "It seems as though he put over 100,000 miles on that thing," said his father, Lafourche Parish Assessor Michael Martin. "He drove it until the tires wore out." Hal is a sixth generation South Louisiana nineteen-year-old Cajun who is presently a sophomore at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette majoring in mechanical engineering. Hal was born with the sport of auto racing in his blood. When he was a year old, he saw a powerboat race at Lake Pontchatrain, and has attended races since then including the Grand Priz du Mardi Gras in New Orleans and an Indy Racing Leauge race in Atlanta. He also attended countless trips to NASCAR's Talladega, Atlanta and Charlotte tracks. When Hal was fifteen, he attended the Gumbo Grand Prix in Houma, LA. "He told us that he wanted to participate in the Charity event," said his mother Tammy. The game room at his home is literally a NASCAR museum of sorts. There are car parts on the wall and numerous autographed memorabilia scattered throughout. He has a collection of model cars including one from the late Dale Earnhardt which is autographed by Earnhardt. "This car is pretty special to me," says Hal. He also has pictures and autographed items including car parts, racing equipment, and hats. Each year Hal and his family attend a charity function in Talladega that benefits The Alabama Institute for the Deaf and the Blind where he purchases racing memorabilia to add to his collection. As a young teenager vacationing in Tennessee, Hal was picked to race a go-kart against NASCAR Champion Dale Jarrett. "That was fun," Hal said. Hal is also an avid remote control car racer. Hal started racing R/C when he was ten years old and has won some pretty big regional and state races. Hal said that he enjoys R/C racing and spending many weekends with his dad in Slidell, Baton Rouge, Morgan City, Lafayette, Chalmette, and Destrehan R/C tracks. In June of 2002, he participated in his first national R/C event in Houston, Texas. He is presently a nationally sponsored team driver with Team Losi and Banzai motorsports with R/C. The 2002 Gumbo Grand Prix was his second race where he sat in the driver's seat. His first was in a borrowed kart at a local go-kart track in Donaldsonville, LA. Since then Hal has participated in World Karting Association (WKA) 80cc Shifter and 125cc Shifter karts. He has numberous wins and podium finishes that can be seen in his resume. Since there are not many racing venues in Louisiana, Hal decided to attend high performance racing schools to sharpen his skills and evaluate his talents. He first attended the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Phoenix, AZ to learn road racing in a Corvette and Open wheel "Indy type" Formula Ford. He then attended NASCAR-based schools including the basic course at the Buck Baker driving school in Rockingham, NC and the advanced Baker course at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The basic course focused on consistency and the advanced course focused on both consistency and tight side by side racing scenarios at race speeds. In all three courses he scored above average to superior. Hal then attended Andy Hillenburg's Fast Track Driving School at Michigan International Speedway. This venue allows aspiring drivers to qualify for their ARCA certification if they are successful in completing the class and driving course. Hal's rating at this school was excellent. At Fast Track the drivers race together and excecute drafting and passing maneuvers as well as racing two wide and two deep in a Talladega style four pack. He has recently tested in Lakeland, FL for his final qualifying event. This one-on-one test was in a full ARCA racing auto with a full race setup. His score was superior and Hal was imformed that he is one of the best short track racers Mr. Hillenburg has ever seen. Andy Hillenburg's Fast Track organization is one of the teams Hal is considering driving for should he be successful in securing funding. Andy has raced in ARCA, NASCAR Nexttel Cup and the Indy Racing Leauge. Hal will always remember that he was first a fan and now a driver. His long term goal is to get an engineering degree. His immediate goal is to race hard in his quest to drive in the Nextel Cup Series. Hal hopes to one day sit in the driver's seat of a NASCAR Nextel Cup car but he realizes that he must pay his dues and take one race at a time.