LAKE CITY, Iowa — Two starts into his 2025 season and Mike Smith was rethinking his decision to move up to a Karl Chevrolet IMCA Northern SportMod.
A checkered flag run his third night out, however, helped convince him he was in the class where he belonged.
Smith, from Lake City, Iowa, and already much accomplished in the Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stocks, would compile 13 feature wins in 43 starts, earning national rookie of the year honors along with Boone Speedway and Buena Vista Raceway track titles in the open-wheeled division.
“Running for rookie of the year was never really a goal. With the way the year started, I was ready to go back to a Hobby Stock,” admitted Smith, 19th and 10th in those first two SportMod outings before getting that first win, on April 12 at Boone. “There’s a huge difference between the two cars, mostly steering and traction. There were a couple things we tried to sort out with the car we started the season with that didn’t play out. Then we switched to a Brand X Racecar and suddenly everything we tried worked.”
Smith totaled 10 wins in that 2024 ride, purchased from Brandon Spanjer. He’d finish fifth in the national points race and fourth in Iowa State standings.
“The car I bought was one of the first in Iowa and like the third car off their jig, so that’s really special to me,” Smith said of his built-in-Beatrice, Neb. hotrod. “They helped me out a lot. I took off with the car and I think they’re onto something special. I think down the road they’re going to have a lot of SportMods out there.”
Smith had one career start in the class, in a John Logue First Timer’s Race at Boone Speedway, before this season.
“I always wanted to move up to a SportMod at some point but there were other (non-racing) things I wanted and needed to buy,” he explained. “Racing is fun, but this is just a hobby for us, always will be, and if you know us you know it’s not our top priority. We just race to have fun.”
“I kind of wanted to move up to the Stock Car but didn’t know if I was ready to race with my dad, uncles and some of the other guys in the division just yet,” continued Smith, “And what I really wanted to do was something different. My uncle Doug won a national championship and Super Nationals in a SportMod so he’s had good success in the SportMod and I wanted to see if I could follow in his footsteps.”
The winner of 107 features, the 2022 Junior National Champion and a two-time Super Nationals champion during his six years in a Hobby Stock, Smith developed a quick appreciation for the level of established competition in the SportMod division.
“It was fun to race against a lot of different drivers in the SportMod. It was a good reality check to race against guys who had been in the class for years and have way more experience,” Smith said. “It made me dig deeper and figure out who I was as a driver and how to bounce back.”
After honing his open wheel skills against the host of veterans in the class over 43 regular season starts, he’d return to Boone and finish an impressive second to Jake Sachau in the SportMod Big Dance at Super Nationals.
“I’m never afraid of competition. I like seeing where we stand up against guys like Jake and (national champion) Brayton Carter and get better from it,” he continued. “We had a good run at Super Nationals and were damned impressive in my opinion. I was flattered to race against the best of the best in the world.”
