“Ripping ruts, naked pictures, riding after an awesome rain and the occasional threesome. Riding for Woodland Merchant Services.” With a Twitter profile like that, it’s obvious that Cole Martinez (@colemartinezz) of Rimrock, Arizona, hasn’t forgotten how to have fun on his dirt bike. Of course, after his tenth-place finish in the Western Regional 250SX Class in Phoenix, it’s obvious that he knows how to lay down the speed on a professional level, too. To learn more about this young up-and-comer, we got him on the phone for this week’s Privateer Profile.
Racer X: Congrats on your great night in Phoenix, but before we start talking about racing let’s talk about your Twitter profile. What’s going there?
Martinez: [Laughs] Well I saw Machine Gun Kelly’s thing and I kind of just made my own like his. It’s kind of funny. It’s more of a joke than anything.
Naked Pictures. Are you sending them? Receiving them? What’s up?
I don’t know [laughs], just receiving them.
So you’re on the receiving end of a regular flow of naked pictures? How many a week are we talking here?
Not many, honestly. I really need to up my game, actually.
Indeed. Well let’s talk about racing. How exciting was it to transfer to the main on opening night?
I was so happy! My goal going into Anaheim was to just get the job done. I wanted to transfer out of the heat race, but if I had to go to the LCQ, that was fine. I ended up going through the LCQ and made it to the main. I’d been working so hard just to get to that point. I was so pumped to be in the main that I ended up just kind of riding around the whole time!
Martinez transferred straight from his heat race to the
main event to take tenth in Phoenix.
Simon Cudby photo
Well you didn’t just ride around in Phoenix. You transferred straight from the heat and took tenth in the main!
I was ecstatic; it was my hometown race. After making the main in Anaheim, I made a new goal for Phoenix, and it was to get into the top fifteen, which I accomplished. I came out tenth and couldn’t ask for anything better, especially in front of the hometown.
What was the difference between Phoenix and Anaheim for you?
Just feeling like I belonged there. I felt more comfortable knowing I belonged in the main, and I wanted to do battle. I wanted to be in the race.
There are some big names on big teams in that top ten in the West. How far do you think you can penetrate into that group?
I’ve raced a lot of those guys my whole life as an amateur. I feel like I belong there, and the more experience I get the better I’ll be. I want to take it one race at a time and keep building, and hopefully get further in that top ten. I just want to keep improving.
You qualified for a 250SX race in Las Vegas back in 2012, right?
Yeah I raced a few rounds in 2012, but I got hurt getting ready for 2013. I had to get a full shoulder reconstruction and didn’t race supercross at all in 2013. I put all my effort into it this year.
It had to feel great to make the main after coming off that injury.
Yeah, it felt awesome. All the hard work that I’ve been putting in over the last year is paying off and I’m pretty happy about it.
Though he doesn't have anything lined up yet, Martinez would like to
take a shot at the 2014 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.
Simon Cudby photo
What is Woodland Merchant Services, and how did you end up with them as a sponsor
They do credit card machines for businesses. When you run a card, it goes through a merchant service. Anyway, the owner of that business got in touch with me to buy a bike that I was selling on Craigslist about two years ago. From then on we stayed in touch and we finally put a deal together. Now I have an awesome bike, and I can’t thank him enough for what he’s done for me.
You acquired a sponsor by selling a bike on Craigslist?
Yeah! Turns out that he was looking to help out a local guy in Arizona anyway, actually, but he wasn’t too familiar with the scene. Someone told him about me, and then when he bought the bike from me it all started coming together.
That has to be one of the weirdest sponsorship stories of all time. So anyway, other than ripping ruts, receiving a steady flow of naked pictures, riding after an awesome rain and of course, the occasional threesome, what are your plans for the rest of the year?
We plan to do the rest of the West and maybe a few 450 rounds in the East. We’re not for sure on the 450 rounds yet though. The main plan is to just take it one race at a time. As of now my deal is supercross only so I don’t have a plan for the outdoors. I would love to do them if I can put something together, but as of now I don’t have anything going. I’m really happy with the help I’m getting from Woodland Merchant Services, Dave Kertz, AXO, HJC Helmets, Dragon, SkaseMX, Nathan Fite, Dunlop, VP, my suspension guy Dave Cruz, 2X Motorsports, the Lemoine Family, Works Connection, Dubya, Talon, Excel, DID Chains, Renthal, CP Pistons, Crank Works, Injectioneering, Galfer, Jeff Johnson, my dad and friends who are always behind me, Delwest, Pro Circuit, GET, Malaska Motorsports, Web Cams, Milestone MX, my mechanic Max, Rekluse and anyone I forgot.
Thanks for your time and good luck at A2.
Thank you.
