Ryan Martin Debut’s with 2023 Spears PLM Champ at Kern

Bakersfield, CA – Ryan Martin will be seeking his first Spears Pro Late Model Series victory this weekend at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway (CA) in the “Spears Manufacturing 60 presented by Liuna”. He will team up with the 2023 series champion Linny White, who will serve as the Crew Chief for Martin’s 2024 effort. White is a two-time winner in the Spears SRL Southwest Tour at Kern and earned three wins at the facility in his Pro Late Model in 2023. Martin hopes to use that success to capitalize on gaining his first series win.

Martin finished fifth in the Speas Pro Late Model Series standings in 2023, racing for Garcia Racing. The group had success at the ½-mile tri-oval, earning three top-10’s with a best of fourth last April. Martin is anxious to get the season started after wet weather wiped out the first two events of the season. He is excited to pair up with Linny White Racing at his best track on the series schedule.

“I’m super excited to get the 2024 season underway”, Martin exclaimed! “With the notorious rainy weather over the winter, it will be nice to get back into a Late Model and start driving them again. We worked hard over the winter with our previous partners and new partners for this year to make it happen, and to partner up with Linny really shows the strength of our program. Kern County is a great facility, and it will be cool to see what they do with the new ownership group. I have a lot of laps there and statically it’s my best track, so I’m really looking forward to unloading Friday and getting on track!”

Martin will make his 13th start in the Spears Pro Late Model Series on April 20th. The Edmonton, AB, Canada driver will be working hard to grab the $2,500 victory, as the series will compete alongside the ARCA Menards Pro Series West teams on a big weekend of racing in the oil town. This will be the fourth season for the Pro Late Model series, founded in 2021, and Martin hopes to be its’ fourth champion in 2024.

Celebrating its twenty fourth season in 2024, the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S. “The SPEARS Southwest Tour Series…Where the Champions Race”.

Story: K. Peters