Cyclist turned drag racer in Bensalem

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor

Drag racing fans can see Funny car driver Marty Nothstein up close this Tuesday, June 16 in Bensalem.
Nothstein, 38, an Allentown native who once was an internationally renowned bicyclist who won gold and silver Olympic medals in cycling, now drives an NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car for Follow A Dream racing team.
Nothstein is making an appearance from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Texas Roadhouse on Street Road in Bensalem.
A 1989 graduate of Emmaus High School, Nothstein retired from competitive cycling after the 2006 season and went straight to drag racing. He is in his third season driving an Alcohol Funny Car, which is the undercard division to the NHRA's nitro divisions.
Starting tonight, Marty will compete in the NHRA Super Nationals at Old Bridge Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey. The event continues through Sunday.
The racers returned to Englishtown today with mixed emotions, thoughts of Scott Kalitta, who was killed last year in a horrific crash when his parachute failed to deploy in a Super Nationals qualifier still fresh in their minds. Kalitta’s car, a modified Toyota Solara, continued down the drag strip, hit a concrete post at 200 miles-an-hour and erupted into a fireball. The 46-year-old driver was pulled from the wreck barely clinging to life and was pronounced dead a short time later.
In order to prevent a recurrence of what happed to Kalitta, the NHRA has increased track distance from a quarter-mile to 1,000 feet.
Nothstein has won two races in the 2007 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series season; one at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida in the season opener, the other at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois. He finished 11th in points his first year in drag racing.
In cycling, he captured a silver medal in the match sprint at the 1996 Summer Olympics held that year in Atlanta. Four years later, he captured an Olympic gold medal in the same event in Sydney, Australia.
Nothstein still keeps his hand in bicycling. He’s the first-year executive director of Trexlertown’s Valley Preferred Cycling Center (VPCC) where he got his start in the business. The World Series of Bicycling kicked off Friday, June 5 at the Trexlertown cycling venue. Annandale, N.J. native Jame Carney outsprinted young gun Lanell Rockmore of Bethlehem in the final half-lap to take the season opener.
Next up at VPCC is the Festival of Speed which takes place on Friday. After that, it’s on to the BRL All-Star Finals on June 26. For more information, visit www.thevelodrome.com.
The Texas Roadhouse is located at 1545 Street Road in Bensalem. For more information, call 215-639-7427.
Old Bridge Raceway Park is located in Old Bridge Township, N.J. on 230 Pension Road in Englishtown. For more information visit www.etownraceway.com or call (732) 446-7800.