Drag Illustrated Issue 160, September 2020 | Page 73

MARINIS GAINED EXPERIENCE GRUDGE RACING IN NEW YORK BEFORE BECOMING A RECORD-SETTING NITROUS-POWERED DRIVER .
driving and tuning when he had the first – and still only – blast in the 5.50s in a nitrous car at Maryland International Raceway last October .
But it ’ s all part of what continues to drive Marinis . If he went fast once – like really , really fast – he can do it again . When you love the sport as much as he does , it ’ s a process that never ends .
“ Helping Chad get that first win , that meant a lot ,” Marinis says . “ But I ’ m just trying to go fast and I just want everything to be perfect .
“ Give me something with an engine and I ’ ll make it fast .”

W hen he ’ s racing – or even during race season – Marinis doesn ’ t need an alarm clock . Forget a wake-up a call , too .

Marinis ’ mind is so locked in on racing , the lure of the track simply lets him know when it ’ s time to get moving .
It ’ s a fascinating realization for Marinis , but it ’ s never a burden and it ’ s never overwhelming . In fact , the more opportunities the better , and the more he ’ s in a car , the better tuner he ’ s become .
September 2020
“ I ’ ve got so much going on , I think it is an advantage ,” Marinis says . “ That ability to tune has made me a better driver , and I get to experience it all front to back . That ’ s important for what I do . If you don ’ t experience it all , you ’ re just going by somebody else ’ s opinion .
“ In this day and age , it makes me one of the few doing it , driving and tuning , and that ’ s something I take a lot of pride in .”
That makes Marinis ’ expertise even more valuable , and that ’ s due to the wealth of experience he ’ s enjoyed at nearly every level imaginable .
It started with grudge racing on the local circuit near JFK airport in Queens where Marinis drove in so many different cars he lost count .
If there was an open car , Marinis was willing to drive it , and he learned on the fly . It gave him a special sense behind the wheel , but perhaps an even more valuable knowledge base for tuning .
He became the go-to guru for his fellow grudge racers – which is where the “ Mr . Perfect ” nickname was born – and it became a critical part of Marinis ’ tuning DNA .
Without those early experiences , Marinis doubts he would be the tuner or the driver he is today .
“ You ’ re not going to go out and get into this game and just jump in headfirst , especially these days ,” Marinis believes . “ There ’ s so much going on in these cars suspension-wise , shocks-wise , engine-wise , and there ’ s just so many variables . You need something and someone to lead you in . You ’ re not doing this on your own , on this level , right away .
“ I ’ ve been doing it for so long , it just kind of evolved to this whole deal . But I didn ’ t have to learn everything at once . It was a continual process and just trying to keep up with the evolution of things . I still try to come up with good ideas and come up with things that are the evolution .”
From grudge racing , Marinis moved into class racing in the late-2000s , making an immediate impression in the drag radial ranks .
He qualified third at his first race with radial tires on the 2000 Mustang , performing extremely well at the 2011 YellowBullet . com Nationals . From there , Marinis has been a major player wherever he ’ s raced in X275 , finding success at Lights Out and No Mercy , winning MDIR ’ s World Cup Finals : Imports vs . Domestics race in the Mustang , despite having just an eighth-mile set-up for the quarter-mile event .
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