Yet, as Smith continues to explain why he has charted a unique course for his racing career, you learn that it is more than an issue of money and fun that has led him to stray further from home. “Anybody can go fast around a big race track,” he says. “You stand on the gas and steer; anybody can do that. Not everyone can go fast on a little bullring, and that is what I like. You have to drive it, and you have to pass.
“There isn‘t a lot of passing at these race tracks around here anymore. That takes the fun out of it. You can have a top-shelf winning car and run 15th and you stand there and wonder why you can‘t go anywhere. Then you beat yourself up, and you beat yourself up over nothing, because if you start that same car on the front row you can win the race. Once in a while you can have someone who can come up through the field, but they are exceptionally good.
But even those guys can‘t do it every week. It‘s occasional. It is like once in a great while someone can start at the back and go forward because they had a really good car that night. But, for the most part, if you see someone pass five race cars, that‘s the hard charger.”
While Smith may talk about fun being the loadstar for all he does, this belies the reality that he is a tough old-school racer who must be more pragmatic than romantic to survive. As he says, “We have to race smart. It‘s tough for me now because the 360‘s are where the 410‘s used to be, and the 410‘s are way beyond where you can afford it. It‘s a vicious cycle.”
He gets help from CRC industries and NGK spark plugs, but he notes, “It still costs a lot when you drop the door at the beginning of the night.” When it comes right down to it, he always harkens back to what his father told him: if he was going to make it in this game, he was largely going to have to do it on his own.
Luckily, he has the skills it takes. “I can do everything,” he says. “I run CSI shocks, and they do my initial build but I build the chassis and the engines; I can do it all really. Most people nowadays just write a big check and it all shows up at the door and they go racing. It is easy to go racing now. Most people we go racing with now have a pile of money. I don‘t know where they come up with it, but they show up with these big rigs and fulltime, paid guys.
“It‘s crazy. When you see me somewhere in the country, I drove the car there. No one else; I drove it. I have one helper, Jerry Burkett, who is retired. He has been with me on and off my whole career. I pay his way in and I feed him. He just likes to go with me and help, but I can‘t afford to pay him. When he can‘t go, I have gone by myself.”
Where will he show up next? It‘s anyone‘s guess. “I get a big calendar out,” he says. “And I have all of these races on it. I look at the weather, and that is the one I pick. I usually do the USCS and ASCS stuff. In fact, I just went and raced with ASCS in Michigan, which I shouldn‘t have done. But one of my sponsors wanted me to go and they helped with half the fuel bill. We ended up only getting one night in. I don‘t like travelling too far if I can‘t get multiple races in. Usually, you like to think the first night will pay your fuel bill, which doesn‘t always work out, but that‘s how I look at it. That‘s in a perfect world. If everything is going good and you run in the top-three you can do OK. But that doesn‘t always work out either.”
Early in the 2021 season he raced with USAC during the club‘s Keystone Invasion tour. Owner Hank Byrum is a Mach 1 customer who has had great success with Kyle Cummins at the wheel. Hank wanted to maintain his USAC owner‘s points, so Smith carried his number over the course of four events in April. Competing with a 360 put him at a decided disadvantage, so he may slap in a 410 and run wingless when USAC returns in June.
In a change of heart, he also plans to compete in USAC‘s East Coast series. “I am pretty surprised I‘m doing it because I was actually against the series a little bit when it started. That was because we were struggling to get the wing 360 stuff going out here. Then they wanted to start a non-wing series. I love the non-wing stuff, but we needed to help the wing stuff get going too.”
One thing he is clearly excited about is getting a chance to compete in USAC‘s Silver Crown series. He is slowly putting a car together, and if all goes well it may be possible to debut his new piece when the tour pulls into Selinsgrove in August. “I‘m just about done with the car,” he says. “But, to put it together I have to tear another car apart to get what I need. Buzz Wilson is going to help me with the engine. If he doesn‘t have it done, I can use one of my ASCS engines. If we can get a race in this year, great. If not, we will be doing them all next year.”
Click below to continue reading.