HOUSTON, TX (Thursday, January 16, 2025) – Rafael Martinez is not a man to cut corners. After a track day at Circuit of The Americas in 2021, the creator of RAFA Racing Club was not content with just going racing himself—he is working to change the way racing enthusiasts can express their love for the sport and provide young racers with opportunities they could only dream of.
After launching a global multi-car program in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama and in GT4 Europe last year – the Rafa Racing Club brand will focus its activities in North America in 2025.
With 11 cars across five separate series, including a massive presence in the IMSA paddock, Martinez’s dreams for the RAFA Racing Team are only just starting to come to fruition.
”The love of cars has always been a thing for me. My mom and dad always talked about how the only thing I played with as a kid was cars,” Martinez said.
“But being born in El Salvador and coming from a modest home, car racing or owning fancy cars was never really in the cards for us. It was something we aspired to, wanted to work towards, and dreamed of, but it wasn’t anything we ever had.
“I moved to the US when I was 12, and it was still never really the thing that I pursued or thought was possible for me – racing or doing anything outside of owning cars and loving them and seeing them on TV.
“My passion growing up was soccer. That’s what I grew up playing. That’s the sport that was in my blood.
“And while I passionately followed and watched, racing – just like football, baseball, basketball, all these other sports – it was never something that I ever envisioned for myself.”
Being talked into coming to a track day at Circuit of The Americas was the first step for Martinez in establishing RAFA Racing Club and chasing his motorsport dream.
“One of the guys that works for me now talked me into coming out to COTA – meet some people that he thought would be a good group that I could get to know and hang out with,” he said.
“So in March 2021, I headed to the track and took my first passenger ride.”
One lap was all it took—the first step in the creation of RAFA Racing Club.
“After that lap, I was immediately hooked. I couldn’t believe that I had never been exposed to it,” Marinez said.
“I returned two or three times just to get hot laps and hang out with the guys.
“I started thinking about actually doing a track day behind the wheel. My first experience ever driving was in May of 2021. Pretty quickly, I knew this was something that was going to be part of my life.”
Martinez’s success in business came from dedication, hard work, and a desire not to cut corners. Once that fire was lit for racing, he knew he had to pursue this.
“Not cutting corners was instilled in me by my father growing up – if you’re going to do things, you’re going to do them right.
“When I started, there were not the resources available where I could go and kick things off. I started looking for easy schools to attend, communities to be part of, and places I could go to and enjoy racing – similar to how people go on a Sunday and watch a football game.
“There was nothing really at the time – and still there isn’t – a place where I can join a community and enjoy racing with like-minded people.
“I thought to myself, there has to be something. I started doing a lot of research to understand the business and learn more about the racing world.
“I understood the track days. I understood the cars and coffee, but I wanted to take the next step. I started thinking there could be an opportunity to build something different that other people hadn’t.
“And that’s where the whole concept of RAFA Racing Club came about.”
The first RAFA Racing Club facility is nearing completion in Houston, and will allow high-performance car enthusiasts to enjoy, network, and bond as one team. The venue’s goals include housing high-performance cars, sim training, physical training, coaching, business networking, and more.
But the RAFA Racing Club brand—racing as family always—quickly expanded, with racing programs across the globe providing opportunities for several young drivers.
“The more that I learned about the business, the more challenges that I saw that people had in terms of barriers of entry and the cost,” Martinez said.
“I had no idea what the cost of racing was. I started writing my own checks and seeing how quickly the tires burnt out, and the costs started to accumulate. I started building what is now our mission – helping drivers who otherwise wouldn’t have an opportunity.
“We’ve got a few drivers now that we’ve brought on board that we’re developing into proper pros, and things are going well. It is not about just going racing, but making a difference in creating a concept that didn’t exist for people to enjoy racing.”
Last year was a massive step for Martinez – driving one of the four RAFA Racing Team cars in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama and well as contesting the European GT4 Championship.
“This is the only sport where you can actually pay to play with the pros. You can’t just enter the PGA tour, suit up and play in the NBA, or write a check to put on a helmet to play in the NFL,” he said.
“But in this sport, if you get good enough and can be competitive or at least be safe, It’s something that you can actually say I’m racing in a professional series against some of the world’s top drivers – It’s a pretty unique and incredible opportunity that this sport provides.
“Once I did my first race, I knew I would be racing for the rest of my life. Now that I’d done it, I set about creating a platform to develop drivers and have some of our club members take the next step.
“I think creating something like that would be a pretty cool opportunity. So, I started formulating the concept and the idea for some of the buildings we’re now in.”
Martinez’s “day job” is trading in natural gas – but he has continued to expand the RAFA Racing Team with important steps for 2025.
He has formed a partnership with Smooge Racing to run a massive multi-car program this year in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, Pirelli GT4 America, Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America, and Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup. He also expanded the RAFA brand into the media world by purchasing The Race Media, the UK-based motorsport media group that publishes The-Race.com.
“We’re the largest independent content creator for videos, podcasts, and journalism covering F1, IndyCar, MotoGP, and much more. The opportunity to buy this very far-reaching media company was an opportunity that I didn’t see coming, but one that we jumped on pretty quickly,” he said.
“That was a pretty big opportunity for us. We will establish ourselves as a huge media company, and create unique programming and content to focus on what we’re doing on track.”
Martinez’s first race for 2025 will be the upcoming opening round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge at Daytona International Speedway, where he will team up with racer and renowned music producer Jim Jonsin aboard a Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO.
But that won’t be the only place where you will find the RAFA Racing Team name on the Daytona road course. The team’s two-car entry in IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge will feature Porsche Sprint Challenge Cayman champion and multiple-time Call of Duty World Champion, Ian Porter, plus young Brazilian stand-out Kiko Porto aboard a pair of Toyota Supras, plus Matthew Dicken in an LMP3 prototype.
But wait, there’s more – two RAFA Racing Team entries also will be on track in the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup series in collaboration with McCumbee McAleer Racing. Uruguayan racer Maite Caceres and last year’s Porsche Sprint Challenge star, Caroline Candas will be on track at Daytona.
If you haven’t seen the RAFA Racing Team brand on track yet – you soon will.