Slideshow: Drag Racing Pioneer Dode Martin Remembered

The passing of an icon

Dorin "Dode" Martin is a man whose name is synonymous with drag racing. For decades and decades, he not only built but raced and sold drag vehicles and chassis. He was a man who served as a technical director for the NHRA among many other hats, but his origin story is one worth revisiting. 

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Humble origins

Martin was born in 1925 in Southern California. Martin taught himself to weld and carried that same self-motivation into his hot rodding hobby. In his teen years, he debuted his first build. Martin paired a 1928 Chevy chassis and driveline with a T-body dropped on top. This would prove to be his ride until he was drafted into World War II. In 1944, Martin fought in the Battle of the Bulge and suffered frostbite to his hands and feet. After spending time in five military hospitals, he was flown to England where he spent another three months in the hospital. Following his return to health, Martin was tasked with guarding German prisoners who surrendered. 

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Breaking into the industry

After his military service, Martin began spending time at the Santa Ana Drag Strip. Inspired by Dick Kraft's bare bones "Bug" Model T, Martin stripped a Model A fame, took the engine from his coupe, and paired it with the transmission and rear end of his lightweight racer. It was after this build that C.J. "Pappy" Hart dubbed the vehicle a "dragster," one of the first known uses of the word in the racing world. 

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Dragmaster is born

Martin met Jim Nelson at Master's Automotive. Nelson was working as a manager for the speed shop but also was the assigned Technical Director for the NHRA. Nelson was a fan of Martin's lightweight, slippery Dragster. He offered to give it a new heart with a Chevy overhead valve small block V8. The Masters Auto Supply "Dragliner" was born. They won the Best Engineered award at the 1957 NHRA Nationals and took home the 1958 Top Eliminator in C/Dragster. The following year, Jim's brother, Tom, was added to the team as a master fabricator and engine builder. Dragmaster was in business. 

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Rise in popularity

The Dragmaster chassis quickly rose to prominence as the popular setup for twin-engine race builds. However, "Sneaky Pete" changed the game in 1961 with a single-engined Dragmaster. The single-engine setup was hundreds of pounds lighter and he took it all the way to a Nationals title. Martin and Nelson went back to the drawing board and used a chassis based off of a Chrysler Wedge configuration. They were rewarded with a 1962 NHRA Nationals title. Tom Nelson served as the face of Dragmaster during this time, Jim Nelson was the engine-building wizard, and Martin was the Da Vinci of chassis design. 

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Spreading the love

The Dragmaster chassis were popular with racers all over. Not only did Sneaky Pete run a version of the Dragmaster Dart, Roland Leong took a Dragmaster back to his native Hawaii. He later returned to the continental 48 with Danny Ongais as his protege. Danny would eventually run his own Dragmaster. Tom Hoover was also a fan of the Dragmaster and ran a few after the fuel ban was lifted. 

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Leaving the NHRA

Although the team of Martin and Nelson pulled out of the NHRA, they focused on building exhibition cars. They built three Dodge 330 sedans featuring supercharged 480 cubic inch motors. The NHRA later created the Supercharged Factory Experimental class for vehicles that would eventually become the Funny Cars of the 1970s. 

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Adapting with the times

Martin and Dragmaster continued their brilliance in chassis building by moving on to fiberglass bodied, tube chassis T-buckets. Their Streetster T-bucket kits were popular during the height of the T-bucket revival. 

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End of an era

Dragmaster was eventually sold in 1995. Nonetheless, Martin remained a fixture in the speed scene of Southern California hot rodding. He continued to host a yearly party at his shop in Carlsbad, CA. 

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Dorin "Dode" Martin 1925-2018

Martin passed away on February 1st, 2018 at the age of 92. The war veteran, innovator, and drag racing legend will surely be missed.

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