When Bobby Martin was a child, he’d stare at the wheels of his stroller spinning round and round as his mother rolled him from place to place.

He went on to construct more than 200 model cars before he was old enough to have a driver’s license, a common hobby that Martin took to the extreme.

Once he got his first car, driving it around town became his “favorite thing in the world.”

All of this is part of what the Lewiston native calls his “car fever,” and now it has him making a name for himself on the national funny car racing scene.

At the NHRA U.S. Nationals held this past Labor Day weekend at the O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, Martin took first place in the top alcohol funny car class. He started racing in 1985, turning professional in 1991. With the win at the Nationals, it all came full circle for Martin.

“It’s the biggest event that anybody can win in the sport,” said Martin, who now resides in Beaver Falls, Pa. “It’s like winning the Super Bowl.”

And his victory didn’t go without notice. The event was televised on ESPN2, allowing the 1974 Lewiston-Porter High School graduate to get mainstream exposure on one of the most rewarding days of his career..

“We got some interviews on national television,” he said. “It’s exciting — all your family and friends can see you, plus it’s good for the sponsors.”

The win is also gratifying for Martin for another reason: It brings a sense of fulfillment to him and his wife, Lori, who collectively devoted themselves to racing back in 1991.

“It was basically just the two of us with a couple friends helping out,” he said. “We didn’t know the first thing about it and just decided to go into it because that’s what I wanted to do and (Lori) wanted to help make it happen.

“We worked together as a team with the idea that we were going to give it 100 percent.”

Martin’s group, Bobby Martin Racing, joined forces with ParkerTech Racing, out of Milford, Mich., two years ago. In 2008 they finished ranked in the top 10 in the nation, a feat Martin hopes to improve on next season.

“We’d like to finish in the top five in 2010, or maybe even contend for the championship,” he said.

A more immediate goal of Martin’s is to get his funny car, which has the body of a Dodge Charger, to reach 260 mph. He made it to 259.16 mph in the qualifier at the Nationals, posting a standing-start quarter-mile time of 5.57 seconds. While the addition of another .84 mph would mean wonders to Martin, there’s no denying the adrenaline rush he’s already having.

“It’s absolutely the biggest thrill I’ve ever experienced,” he said. “There’s a lot of work and effort and time and even money that goes into something like this, but it’s so exhilarating and so much fun to be out there that you just get addicted to it.”

While not on the track, Martin spends time speaking to young kids at schools and churches in his area, working to make a tie-in between education, particularly automotive and vocational, and racing.

“I enjoy speaking to students to motivate them to pursue their dreams and to achieve their highest potential,” he said. “So that’s a big accomplishment that I’ve been able to have — an influence in the education industry through racing.”