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Seeking To Be In Driver's Seat

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By TONY FABRIZIO, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 10, 2007

Few dreams would be realized if they all died with the first rejection.

In essence, that thought will be in the minds of Valrico's Michael Cherry and Sarasota's Danny 'The Hammer' Martin on Monday and Tuesday when each will try for a second time to earn a NASCAR 'scholarship' at South Boston Speedway in Virginia.

Cherry and Martin are among 24 drivers from more than 200 applicants from around the country who were chosen to try out in the fifth annual Drive for Diversity Testing & Evaluation Combine.

Eight of the 24 will be named to the 2008 Drive for Diversity class and will drive for affiliated team owners in either the regional NASCAR Grand National division or Whelen All-American Series.

'My dad and I are going to drive up there, and I'm going to give it my best again,' said Cherry, who is half African-American and at 16 became the first black driver to win at East Bay Raceway Park. 'This year, I won't be as nervous as I was last time driving the car.'

'Mike-Mike,' as Cherry is known, is the son of Jimmy and Marsha Cherry, who are white. Michael's biological father is black.

The young driver has competed in late models, limited models and sportsman cars at tracks around Florida, and with 12 wins and 18 top-five finishes, he is on the verge of winning the sportsman division title at Clewiston's Hendry County Speedway.

His success has come with nominal sponsorship in cars provided by his father, Jimmy, who, like Michael's mother, has health problems.

'Michael has done more with less than anybody I've ever seen,' said W.F. 'Casey' Ebsary Jr., a Tampa attorney who is well known in the local racing community and helped prepare a video of Cherry that was used in his application (and can be seen on youtube.com).

'I'm impressed when somebody wins. But when somebody wins with a shoestring budget, which is what they're working with, that's even more impressive. You're not talking about a kid that has a $30,000 engine in the car. You're talking about somebody who has built it from the ground up.'

Martin, 21, is of Native American descent and is an accomplished sprint car driver, with three O'Reilly USCS Hoosier Young Guns championships to his credit.

Although he turned in good times in last year's diversity combine, Martin concedes the fact that most of his background is in sprint cars puts him at a slight disadvantage.

'Those cars late-model stock cars are way different,' he said. 'In fact, before last year's combine, we rented DeSoto Speedway and two different kinds of late models - one that had a little more power and one that was easier to drive. We tried to go out for the whole day, but it actually rained most of the day.

'We went out there to get some seat time, and it was totally different. I felt like I was driving my house around the racetrack, it was so much bigger and heavier - and had a lot less power.'

Combine candidates are evaluated both on their driving ability and on skills for handling media and promotional responsibilities.

Martin explains that three identically prepared cars are used. Drivers are sent out for a couple of laps and brought back in, at which point they are supposed to advise the crew how to change the setup to make the car faster. Drivers turn some more laps, then get a new set of tires and run competitive laps.

In the media portion of the evaluation, combine officials conduct mock interviews.

'The second you get out of the car, they start shoving microphones in your face and make it seem like real life,' Cherry said. 'They do a lot of stuff like that. When you get done with that, they take you through media training.'

The two local drivers have stiff competition for spots on the team. Several of the 24 finalists are return candidates who made last year's team.

Reporter Tony Fabrizio can be reached at (813) 259-7994 or afabrizio@tampatrib.com.

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