Tom and Ryan Martino of Youngstown, Ohio-based Martino Motorsports will be trading in the NHRA quarter mile for a guest appearance on an upcoming episode of the newest Discovery Channel project, Fat N’ Furious: Rolling Thunder.
The show will anchor Discovery’s newest automotive driven “Motor Monday” lineup at the 10:00 PM EST time slot starting June 23, 2014 immediately following the highly anticipated series return of Street Outlaws.
“It’s about time Youngstown, Ohio, gets a little recognition for having some of the baddest hot rods and tuners on the planet. From private multi-million dollar car collections to weekly car cruises full of hundreds of classics and rare finds, you’ll see it all when you come to Youngstown,” states Ryan Martino, crew chief and co-driver for the father-son NHRA Top Dragster duo of Martino Motorsports.
“Fat N’ Furious: Rolling Thunder will undoubtedly give viewers a first hand look at why Youngstown is the real deal when it comes to putting the ‘muscle’ in muscle cars.”
Premiering on the Discovery Channel Monday, June 23rd at 10 p.m. ET/PT, Fat N’ Furious: Rolling Thunder follows the antics of the hilarious, large-and-in-charge car junkies of Christmas Automotive as they boost business by hunting down left-for-dead cars and bringing them back to life.
“Tom, Chuck, Andy, Steve, and the rest of the Christmas Automotive crew were fun to work with on this project. We literally just picked up our new dragster from paint at R&R Auto Body and were getting it prepped for assembly when Christmas and his crew showed up at our shop,” said Tom Martino, a 40-plus years drag racing veteran.
“Bottom line is that in between the constant jokes and non-stop entertainment they provide, these guys know cars inside and out and know how to get them to flat out perform.”
The Martinos are no strangers to the camera. Both Tom and Ryan have made countless television appearances over the years including appearances in commercials for associates of their race program, features on their race team, live interviews, and a national award-winning public service announcement for the American Red Cross in the mid-’80s.
“Even though this is one of our first reality television show appearances, fans, fellow racers, and automotive enthusiasts will definitely get a kick out of our appearance on Fat N’ Furious: Rolling Thunder. After the experience, I can definitely see my dad and me getting more involved with a show of our own down the road. The back door of our race trailer reads ‘The Adventure Continues…’ for a reason,” Ryan Martino said.
“When you spend a week preparing for a race, three to four days at an event away from home with competitors and fans from all over the world, and only six seconds on the track at a time, you have all kinds of free time to come up with some wild and crazy ideas.”
(Photo by David Smith)
This story was originally published on June 18, 2014. 
