Lernerville Speedway reaped benefits from Helen Martin’s business sense, kind nature
BUFFALO TWP — When Don Martin died in 1993, his dream of Lernerville Speedway’s long-term success didn’t die with him.
His wife, Helen, saw to that.
The couple formed the Don Martin Trucking Company in 1962. Five years later, Don Martin began fulfilling a dream with the formation of Lernerville Speedway in Buffalo Township. He had bought his first race car in 1960.
And Helen stood by his side through all of it.
“A key part of her life was supporting Don in everything he wanted to do,” her grandson, Don Roenigk, said. “The trucking company, the racetrack … she was a big part of all that. She knew Lernerville was Don’s dream, and she wanted to be loyal to him.”
Helen Martin died Wednesday at the age of 100 — but not before continuing ownership of Lernerville for a decade after Don’s death.
She didn’t babysit the business. She enhanced it.
“The family had a good staff running the track, and Helen trusted us,” former track manager, promoter and race director Albert “Ouch” Roenigk said. “We put in a Musco lighting system that cost $50,000 so racing could be televised live there. We added more bleachers.
“Helen wanted to make the facility better, and she succeeded.”
Under her watch, a TV deck was built above the main concession stand to handle television cameras and broadcast personnel. Helen not only relied on her workers, she was one of them.
“Don’s name is attached to the speedway, but Helen did things behind the scenes,” longtime Lernerville publicist Carol Gamble said. “She worked in the office, answered phones, spoke with sponsors and customers.
“She was ahead of her time. She went to Duff’s Business College, commuting back and forth from Pittsburgh every day, during a time when women were expected to say home and cook.”
Helen earned a degree in business and went on to use that knowledge for the betterment of Lernerville Speedway and its customers.
The Martins used funds from their trucking company to build the speedway and keep it solvent through its early years. The speedway began with a roughly cut dirt track, a small set of stands and a small building for business operations.
“They made the most of what they had,” longtime dirt racing media mogul and Lernerville Hall of Famer Don Gamble said. “‘Ouch’ was a magician. He could fix anything. They made the most of whatever was available to them. The original stands were made out of secondhand metal.
“Don and Helen were a team. Helen was such a classy lady. Look up the word class in the dictionary, and her picture should be there. I never heard her say anything bad about anyone. She was so good to people, just an amazing lady.”
The daughter of a single mother from a poor background, Helen became a loyal wife of 48 years, a savvy business woman who developed into one of the most successful female dirt track owners in the country.
Her daughter, Patty Roenigk, described her as “generous, full of integrity and fair to everybody.”
“She was tactful, never offended anybody,” Patty said. “She had emotional intelligence when she spoke to people. … She knew what to say, when to say it and how to say it.”
Helen visited 37 countries, bringing mementos home from each. Besides her business acumen and world travels, she displayed a warm human side in everything she did, even while playing cards.
“Her game was 500, and she was very competitive, yet had a good sense of humor,” Patty said. “Don treated the card games lightly and would make jokes. Helen tossed a glass of water in his face during a game, and I remember the water dripping off Don’s nose. … Just one of those funny moments.”
Helen sold Lernerville Speedway to the World Racing Group in 2004. She continued to come to the facility for years afterward, to visit and say hello. She worked full-time at the facility until she was 79.
During her ownership years, she bought a fire vehicle for the speedway out of her own pocket “because she felt the track needed one for safety reasons,” her grandson said. She supported community fundraisers, and baseball fields were constructed on property grounds to support youth baseball.
“She was just a class act, all the way around,” Don Roenigk said.
