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Justin Robinson is a marked man at the Mt. Pleasant Speedway.

The Shepherd native and driver of the No. X1 in the Miller Lite UMP Late Model class, Robinson begins the 2009 racing season as the two-time defending Mt. Pleasant Speedway Late Model track champion.

"I don't think it adds any pressure," Robinson said of defending his titles. "The first one was the toughest to get and the one I was most nervous for."

Robinson, 26, is a second generation racer, following in the footsteps of his late father, the late Mike Robinson, who was the 1982 Mt. Pleasant Speedway Late Model track champion.

Justin Robinson's career got an unexpected and unfortunate beginning.

In 2000 during the second week of racing at the Crystal Motor Speedway, Robinson's father died after a race. After his father's death, Justin took his Dad's car out and raced it about four times in his memory at Crystal that season.

"It ws an emotional time and it was a little tough to get into the car," Justin Robinson said in a 2007 Morning Sun article.

The full-time racing career of Justin Robinson began in 2001 and he has not looked back since.

With the 2009 Mt. Pleasant Speedway season just two weeks away, Justin Robinson said he is approaching this year just like any other.

"I want to win as many features as possible at Mt. Pleasant and then maybe get a 'big win' under my belt like the Who 55, Wood Tic 100, or a Sunoco Series race and then hopefully another track title at Mt. Pleasant will fall into place," he said.

To become a three-time defending Mt. Pleasant Speedway Late Model track champion, Justin Robinson said he has to have many things fall his way.

"Everything has to fall just right and you have to have some luck on your side," Robinson said. "You have to be consistent throughout the whole season. You're not going to win every race, but if you can avoid the 'DNFs' (did not finish) and make sure you finish in the top 10, then you will be right there at the end of the season."

This season Mt. Pleasant Speedway's Late Model division will see a change, one in which Justin Robinson believes is for the better.

"I'm looking forward to the different tires with their switch to UMP sanction," he said. "In the past any time we wanted to run out of state or a Sunoco race, we had to buy different tires.Now it will help racers learn about the Hoosier tires and the different compounds available."

With the UMP sanctioning, Justin Robinson said the Late Model drivers have the choice of a weekly choice of a 20 compound tire, which is the softest, a 30, or a 40, which is the hardest tire.

"It will makle the racing more interesting and exciting for the fans to see what happens," Justin Robinson said. "It won't be the same thing every night."

The cream of the crop in the Late Model divison at the Mt. Pleasant Speedway, Justin Robinson is quick to give credit to his other competitors.

"The Late Model class has so many good racers who can win on any given night," he said. "The whole class is good from top to bottom."

Racing at the Mt. Pleasant Speedway Friday nights, Justin Robinson and his No. X1 team can also be seen traveling across the state and even venturing outside Michigan for a few select shows.

"I think it makes you a better racer to go over to other tracks because you get to race against other drivers and see what other tracks are like," he said.

Off the track Justin Robinson is also soon to take on a new role. The role of father. On April 26, Robinson and his girlfriend Katie, are expecting their first child, a baby girl.

"It will definitley change things for the better," Justin Robinson said. "As she gets older we will have something to bond over, just like my sister and I did with our Dad."

At 26 years-old Justin Robinson appears to have a bright racing career ahead of him.

"It seems like it's all happened so fast," he said of his accomplishments. "I don't take any of it for granted."