6th Annual Danny Martinez, Jr. Memorial Races and Law Enforcement, EMT & Firefighter Night presented by J-N-B Tire & Auto

This weekend, at 7:30 PM, J-N-B Tire & Auto in Poteau, Oklahoma along with Tri-State Speedway and many area law enforcement agencies will pay respects to officer Daniel Martinez, Jr. who lost his life in the line of duty in 2007.

We will also honor ALL area law enforcement, emergency medical technicians (EMT's) and paramedics, as well as all area fire fighters with a FREE night of racing in honor of what they do to protect and serve us on a 24, seven day a week, 365 days a year basis. All you have to do it present your badge or ID at the front gate for a FREE adult admission!

The following is from the Officer Daniel C. Martinez Memorial Scholarship Fund page (www.odmms.org):

  Officer Daniel C. Martinez Jr., 33, had been with the Fort Smith Police Department for eight months when on March 23, 2007, he was dispatched to responded to a call to help a desperate mother get her 3yr old child from a residence where she had a run in with her ex-boyfriend earlier in the day.

    The ex-boyfriend had been arrested

and the mother had returned to pick up her child. She met Officer Martinez in the parking lot. They went to the front door and the brother of the man arrested earlier answered and told them to wait a minute, then shut the door. He returned with a 9 mm handgun and shot Officer Martinez, then shot the mother in the back, shoulder, and elbow as she fled. 

    The shooter fled from the home in a car and killed himself before Oklahoma Highway Patrol officers found him near Spiro, Oklahoma. 

    Officer Martinez had served for several years with the Poteau Police Department, Panama Police Department, Shady Point Police Department, and Wister Police Department, all of which are in Oklahoma. He joined the Fort Smith Police Department on July 3, 2006. He is survived by his wife Alice and five children.

Not only was Danny a revered and well respected police officer but he was also a life-long race fan and later became a racer right here with us at Tri-State Speedway. He was also in the process of building a car to race with us just over six years ago when he was tragically killed.

Please come out and support not only the memory of Danny, but come out and help us raise funds for the Officer Daniel C. Martinez Memorial Scholarship Fund, which is was founded in 2007 and is sponsored by the River Valley Marine Corp League Detachment # 1248 in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

The scholarship, once funded, will be open to college students who demonstrate a financial need. Scholarship applicants must have maintained a 3.0 grade-point average, but can be studying any college major.

The goal of the scholarship is to eventually make this a full-ride scholarship to cover tuition, books and room and board. It will be awarded by the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith which will decide on a recipient each semester. We are very much on way to our goal of a fully funding scholarship! 

Don't forget that all donations are tax deductible.

If you would like to make a donation before, or after this Saturday night, please contact: Randy Swaim at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

You can make a donation by mail at: 

Officer Martinez Scholarship Committee
P.O. Box 11304
Fort Smith, Arkansas  72917-1304 

Please make donations payable to:
"RVMC #1248" or the "UA Fort Smith Foundation" or "FSP Officer Martinez Memorial Scholarship" and on the memo line please include: "Officer Martinez Memorial Endowment Scholarship".

We'll see YOU this Saturday night for more of the best side by side, door to door, three and four wide racing action on the smoothest, widest and fastest track in this part of the country!