Martins Motorsports

Tommy Joe Martins in the No. 44 at Daytona International Speedway in 2020.

On December 24, 2019, two years after shutting down its operations, Martins Motorsports announced its return to the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2020, with longtime sponsor and family friend Rodney Riessen joining Craig Martins as the team's co-owners. The team will field the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro SS for Tommy Joe Martins.[1] The team bought chassis from GMS Racing and JGL Racing to help bolster its inventory, which already included a road course car Martins ran for MBM Motorsports in 2019.[2] The team failed to qualify for the season-opening race at Daytona, and had to temporarily lay off all of its employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] Midway through the season, the team hired Buddy Sisco as crew chief and results turned around.[3] On October 24th, Martins recorded both his and the team's first top-10 finish at Texas Motor Speedway with a 10th-place finish; Martins had confirmed a 2021 return earlier that month.[4][5]

On April 14, 2017, the team announced a nine-race Xfinity slate for 2017[6] with Tommy Joe Martins,[7] car No. 45[8] and sponsor Diamond Gusset Jeans,[9] starting with the spring race at Richmond and focusing primarily on short to intermediate tracks with the exception of the Indianapolis race.[10] After failing to qualify and withdrawing from the first two planned events, the No. 45's schedule was folded into a ride with B. J. McLeod Motorsports, which culminated with a career-best 11th-place finish at Iowa for the driver.[11]

This car was the team's secondary focus in their 2014 foray, with Clay Greenfield behind the wheel at Daytona. However, he along with Willie Allen failed to qualify, making Martins Motorsports 0 for 2 in that race.[12] The car withdrew the next week after no driver was found to drive it. The team then took time off to prepare for the spring Bristol race, where Tommy Joe Martins crashed in qualifying and withdrew.[13] To recoup from that, the team did not return until Michigan, when Benny Gordon qualified the car but then switched to Martins when he failed to qualify the 76.[14]

Martins in the No. 76 at Road America in 2014.

The primary focus in 2014, Nationwide veteran Willie Allen failed to qualify the 76 at Daytona and Bristol.[15] Tommy Joe Martins then took over the reins of what was left as the team's only entry after the demise of the 67, making eight races in the 76 and failing to qualify for four, including its last three attempts. The team primarily start and parked, but ran full races at higher-paying events like at Talladega and Charlotte.[16] The team's last attempt was at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.[17]

The team debuted in 2011 at Lucas Oil Raceway with Tommy Joe Martins behind the wheel. The team returned at Iowa Speedway in 2017 with Matt Mills behind the wheel and additional races to be determined.[18] Though the car never hit the track that weekend, the scheme was included in the original version of NASCAR Heat 2. The additional races were in the team's No. 44 entry. Martins returned for the 2017 Jag Metals 350 but a possible suspension problem led to a wrecked truck in practice, and a blown right front tire three laps into the race ended Martins' weekend. The backup truck was loaned from fellow independent Mike Harmon.[19]

The first race for Martins Motorsports was in 2009, when Tommy Joe Martins ran a four race schedule, recording a best finish of 21st at Chicagoland.[20] The team and driver returned for one race as the No. 42 in 2011, finishing 33rd at Lucas Oil Raceway.[21] After taking all of 2015 off to recover from a failed Xfinity Series effort, the team returned in 2016 with Martins as the full-time driver except for a qualifying crash at Martinsville (spot sold to Austin Wayne Self),[22] Eldora (dirt racer J. R. Heffner),[23] and a DNQ at Homestead-Miami.[24]

On February 13, 2017, Martins Motorsports announced a partnership with another family Truck team, Brandonbilt Motorsports,[25] to put driver Brandon Brown in the 44 truck for "select races".[26] However, the operations of the 44 truck ceased with the 2017 Xfinity announcement except for Heffner again piloting the truck at Eldora.[27] After ceasing operations, owner points of the 44 truck were sold to Faith Motorsports. When that team ran into organizational trouble mid-season, Matt Mills drove the truck for a race at Kentucky but crashed out. The much-anticipated return of Heffner the following race[28] was derailed due to a blown engine early in the weekend, the entry never making it to the grid. After the Eldora race, the 44 became a joint-prepared effort between Martins and AM Racing.[19] That relationship lasted through the end of the season except for Faith and Ted Minor running a Las Vegas shooting paint scheme at Texas.[29][30]