Thomas Joseph Martins began racing at age five in karting in his native Mississippi. Financial difficulties forced him to stop racing at sixteen, at which point he enrolled at the University of Mississippi to pursue a degree in journalism. During his sophomore year he returned to competition, driving in Sports Car Club of America-sanctioned events. That blend of writing and racing would later define his public profile: Martins maintained a widely read blog throughout his career chronicling the realities of competing without factory backing.
Martins' professional career began in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series when he joined Nashville-based Baker Curb Racing, before transitioning to his own family operation, Martins Motorsports. Between 2009 and 2011 he ran five Truck Series races with limited equipment, including a single truck and a used engine sourced from Roush Racing.
After a brief stint in the ARCA Racing Series, Martins returned to NASCAR in 2014 with plans to run a full Nationwide Series (later Xfinity Series) schedule, though those plans collapsed and he did not race in 2015. In 2016 he purchased the owner points of Billy Boat Motorsports' No. 15 truck and ran a full season in the Truck Series under the No. 44 banner. He completed twenty races, recording a best finish of fifteenth at Michigan International Speedway, and was notably absent from the Alpha Energy Solutions 200 at Martinsville Speedway after wrecking his truck in qualifying.
For 2017, Martins split the Truck schedule with Brandonbilt Motorsports while simultaneously pursuing Xfinity races with his family team and later B. J. McLeod Motorsports. At Daytona he drove the No. 99 Chevrolet for MDM Motorsports, suffering an early crash that relegated him to last in the thirty-two-truck field.
In 2018, Martins ran more than half the Xfinity Series schedule with B. J. McLeod Motorsports, continuing to draw attention to the performance divide between Cup-affiliated teams and underfunded independents. He memorably compared the Xfinity Series to a sports car race run with mixed classes — Cup-affiliated entries acting as prototypes while small teams like his competed in a Grand Touring division.
Midway through the 2019 season Martins moved from B. J. McLeod Motorsports to MBM Motorsports to pursue a partial Xfinity schedule focusing on road course events. He made his MBM debut at Watkins Glen International in the No. 66 before parting ways with the team at season's end.
Martins revived Martins Motorsports for a planned full-time 2020 Xfinity campaign, though early-season qualifying failures — including failing to make the field at Daytona — tested the programme. He claimed his first career Xfinity Series top-ten finish at Texas Motor Speedway in October 2020, a milestone that validated years of perseverance on a minimal budget.
On August 30, 2021, Martins announced a partnership with Caesar Bacarella to co-found Alpha Prime Racing. He shifted to a part-time driving role from 2022 onward, sharing the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro with multiple drivers while taking on a more prominent ownership role within the organisation.
Beyond his results, Martins became one of the more recognisable voices addressing financial inequality in NASCAR's lower series. His blog posts — particularly a widely shared piece on the economic structure of NASCAR — earned notice within the wider motorsport community and established him as a driver willing to speak openly about the structural disadvantages facing independent teams. His career path, marked by persistent reinvention in the face of funding shortfalls, reflects the experience of the majority of drivers who attempt to make a living in NASCAR's second and third tiers without manufacturer or corporate support.