Kris Martin, a hearing-impaired racer, talks about his path from karting to NASCAR. He uses an FM system to manage his hearing loss and has faced sponsorship barriers, but sees his racing as inspiration for others with disabilities.
NASCAR Race Hub, exclusively on Speed. I was born Pong Pong Pong in Gap. My grandfather was a racer. I thought myself, wow, it's so cool. So I started racing go-kart when I was 10.
Late models, short track, long track. He can do anything with a car. I've never seen anybody better.
This is my dream. That's why I want to be a racer. People wonder how did he win.
Two problems with hearing loss. Can't hear very well, we got to make things louder. The second problem is when you're in background noise, and the car is very noisy. We need to cut out that background noise. This is called an FM system. Kris will connect this to his helmet. This wirelessly connects to his cochlear implant.
I turn down the background noise. I turn my FM up so I can hear only the spotter and Susie. I can hear the engine. I can hear her babbling. That's how I hear her call. If something's wrong, I know right away.
People don't know that he can go out there and he can race. We experienced that when we went to North Carolina and he raced. There was quite a controversy.
They thought I would whip them. Okay, I can't hear anything else.
The deal was that he go out and practice. If he was okay, they'd let him race.
I don't touch anybody. I'm just clean. They can hear me already. I come from Summit of Donny. All the fans, the officials, the drivers are very happy. I'm very impressed.
You basically get extremes from, "Isn't it just like glasses?" You know, "Why can't you hear just with a hearing aid?" All the way to, "How can you do anything at all because you're deaf?" Really not a lot of barriers left if you try hard enough.
There's only one thing holding him back from doing what he wants to do, and that, that is the money to become a professional race car driver.
Some people say no, they can't sponsor me because they're uncomfortable with me coming here in care.
I get emotional when I talk about him. Never got a break in racing. He couldn't get money enough to race.
I'm kind of stuck in here. People don't get it or don't understand. He just needs a chance to go out and drive.
I just want him to have that equal opportunity to follow his dreams.
Growing up, I just starting to be part of AMP, and part of AMP just kept going, and I never stop. Gracie helped me and put me here. I teach kids. You can do whatever you want. Don't listen to other people at all. You can't do anything, you can. I want to show them that him at home.
They have their own struggles and they realize that, you know what, he got through those struggles and he did it. They feel like they can do it too.
He's been an inspiration for us.
He's my hero. Nothing bothers me. It doesn't impact me, hold me back because of hearing impairment. People say, "No, Owen can't do it." I can prove it to them that I can do it.
He's one hell of a man.
He really is. If you want to be a racer, you have to go get it. That's my goal, to be in NASCAR. That's what I want to be. I believe myself.
He's an inspiration for sure. If you're hearing impaired or know someone who is and were impacted by Kris's story, let him know on Twitter @KrisMartinRace.
