Georgia’s ‘Cat Daddy’ Seeks To Go From Contender To Champion
CONCORD, NC – Feb. 9, 2008 – Last year Clint Smith showed he can be a serious contender for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series championship.
This season Smith’s mission is to prove he can win the prestigious title.
“We have to put a complete year together,” Smith said when asked what it will take for him to jump from a career-best third-place finish in the 2007 points standings to a championship in 2008. “Last year we were good enough to win the points for most of the season, but our program fell off a little down the stretch. We just have to avoid that kind of lull and be strong all the way through the year.”
Smith, 42, of Senoia, Ga., was a fixture near the top of the WoO LMS points standings in ’07, never slipping lower than third after finishing sixth in the season opener. During the first five months of the campaign, he either led or was tied for the points lead after 17 events; only eventual champion Steve Francis sat atop the standings more often (24 events).
But the Southeastern star known as ‘Cat Daddy’ lost the points lead due to a rare broken cam that left him with a 28th-place finish in the season’s 25th event, the Firecracker 100 on June 30 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., and he never climbed back on top. He won two of his four ’07 A-Mains after his hiccup at Lernerville, but he simply wasn’t able to maintain the consistent momentum he had demonstrated during the first half of the season.
“We had an excellent year, the best I’ve ever had with the Outlaws,” said Smith, a tour regular since its reincarnation in 2004 under the World Racing Group banner. “But after we lost the point lead at the Firecracker, we couldn’t keep anything going.
“When you get behind, you get to scrambling. You get knocked out of the point lead and you start trying stuff you normally wouldn’t to try to catch up, and then stuff just snowballs. That’s what happened to us.”
While disappointed to fall short of the points crown after his lengthy stint atop the points standings got visions of the promised land dancing in his head, Smith did improve a significant six spots from his best previous WoO LMS finish (ninth, in 2005). It also continued his steady, season-by-season rise in performance on the tour, buoying his hopes for a memorable ’08 trip through the grueling Outlaws schedule.
“Our first year (2004), we struggled terribly all year,” said Smith, who finished 10th in the points standings that season. “We switched cars (chassis) back-and-forth, we didn’t have the right (type of) trailer for traveling the tour, and we had no wins.
“We learned a lot of things that first year, though, and our second year (2005) we had two wins and our third year (2006) we got up to four wins (and 10th in the points standings). But the middle of the year wasn’t good (in both ’05 and ’06), and that’s why we didn’t finish better in the points.
“Last year we got stronger, more consistent, but we still need to do a little better if we’re gonna beat guys like Francis and Chub (Frank) and everybody else for the championship. With guys like (Shannon) Babb coming on board (as a WoO LMS regular in 2008) it’s gonna be a tough season, so we’ll have to be on top of our game.”
Smith heads into the 2008 WoO LMS season, which kicks off on Feb. 14 and 16 during the 37th annual Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., feeling very good about his self-operated team. He remains a stalwart in the GRT chassis camp and will continue to use RaceTek engines – and best of all, his entire roster of sponsors is back, including J.P. Drilling, Cliburn Tank Lines, J&J Steel and Steven’s Plumbing.
“The biggest concern every off-season is getting all your sponsors locked in for another year so you can run the program,” said Smith, who increased his national profile in ’07 by scoring all four of his WoO LMS victories in the Midwest (two in Missouri, one each in Indiana and Kansas). “We didn’t add any more sponsors, but we have every sponsor back. That’s a big relief when you’re trying to make a living at this.
“You gotta have money to race, and you gotta have money to pay (crewmen) because they ain’t gonna work for free like they used to a long time ago.”
The biggest change in Smith’s effort comes on the crew side, where he had to replace his well-regarded chief mechanic, Johnny Cloer Jr. of Chatsworth, Ga., who informed Smith last fall that he would be relinquishing his post to pursue his own dirt Late Model driving career with a ride on the Southern All-Stars Series. Smith hired Melvin Welch, a veteran mechanic from Alabama who had been working for Ben Thomas Race Cars, as his head wrench and brought Darrell Cooper on board to assist, with Bobby Mills planning to help Smith as well at select shows.
With the new personnel on board, Smith was glad that this year’s early-season dirt Late Model schedule included long racing meets at Golden Isles Speedway in Brunswick, Ga., and East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Fla., prior to the WoO LMS lidlifters at Volusia. Including three upcoming UMP DIRTcar Late Model events at Volusia (Feb. 11-13), Smith could have 16 starts already under his belt when he takes his first WoO LMS green flag of ’08 on Valentine’s Day.
“Running all these races has helped me and Melvin get on the same page,” said Smith, who has raced in all but one of the 154 WoO LMS A-Mains contested since 2004. “We should be ready when the points start.”
And they’ll have one goal: a World of Outlaws championship.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Tickets for the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals are available on-line at www.volusiaspeedwaypark.com.
Fans unable to attend the spectacular week at Volusia can still catch all the action on the DIRTVision Cybercast. For just $29.99 fans can purchase the ‘Alltel DIRTcar Nationals Racepass’ and watch live streaming video of all 12 nights of racing action from Feb. 5-16. Log on to www.dirtvision.com for more information.
CONCORD, NC – Feb. 9, 2008 – Last year Clint Smith showed he can be a serious contender for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series championship.
This season Smith’s mission is to prove he can win the prestigious title.
“We have to put a complete year together,” Smith said when asked what it will take for him to jump from a career-best third-place finish in the 2007 points standings to a championship in 2008. “Last year we were good enough to win the points for most of the season, but our program fell off a little down the stretch. We just have to avoid that kind of lull and be strong all the way through the year.”
Smith, 42, of Senoia, Ga., was a fixture near the top of the WoO LMS points standings in ’07, never slipping lower than third after finishing sixth in the season opener. During the first five months of the campaign, he either led or was tied for the points lead after 17 events; only eventual champion Steve Francis sat atop the standings more often (24 events).
But the Southeastern star known as ‘Cat Daddy’ lost the points lead due to a rare broken cam that left him with a 28th-place finish in the season’s 25th event, the Firecracker 100 on June 30 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., and he never climbed back on top. He won two of his four ’07 A-Mains after his hiccup at Lernerville, but he simply wasn’t able to maintain the consistent momentum he had demonstrated during the first half of the season.
“We had an excellent year, the best I’ve ever had with the Outlaws,” said Smith, a tour regular since its reincarnation in 2004 under the World Racing Group banner. “But after we lost the point lead at the Firecracker, we couldn’t keep anything going.
“When you get behind, you get to scrambling. You get knocked out of the point lead and you start trying stuff you normally wouldn’t to try to catch up, and then stuff just snowballs. That’s what happened to us.”
While disappointed to fall short of the points crown after his lengthy stint atop the points standings got visions of the promised land dancing in his head, Smith did improve a significant six spots from his best previous WoO LMS finish (ninth, in 2005). It also continued his steady, season-by-season rise in performance on the tour, buoying his hopes for a memorable ’08 trip through the grueling Outlaws schedule.
“Our first year (2004), we struggled terribly all year,” said Smith, who finished 10th in the points standings that season. “We switched cars (chassis) back-and-forth, we didn’t have the right (type of) trailer for traveling the tour, and we had no wins.
“We learned a lot of things that first year, though, and our second year (2005) we had two wins and our third year (2006) we got up to four wins (and 10th in the points standings). But the middle of the year wasn’t good (in both ’05 and ’06), and that’s why we didn’t finish better in the points.
“Last year we got stronger, more consistent, but we still need to do a little better if we’re gonna beat guys like Francis and Chub (Frank) and everybody else for the championship. With guys like (Shannon) Babb coming on board (as a WoO LMS regular in 2008) it’s gonna be a tough season, so we’ll have to be on top of our game.”
Smith heads into the 2008 WoO LMS season, which kicks off on Feb. 14 and 16 during the 37th annual Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., feeling very good about his self-operated team. He remains a stalwart in the GRT chassis camp and will continue to use RaceTek engines – and best of all, his entire roster of sponsors is back, including J.P. Drilling, Cliburn Tank Lines, J&J Steel and Steven’s Plumbing.
“The biggest concern every off-season is getting all your sponsors locked in for another year so you can run the program,” said Smith, who increased his national profile in ’07 by scoring all four of his WoO LMS victories in the Midwest (two in Missouri, one each in Indiana and Kansas). “We didn’t add any more sponsors, but we have every sponsor back. That’s a big relief when you’re trying to make a living at this.
“You gotta have money to race, and you gotta have money to pay (crewmen) because they ain’t gonna work for free like they used to a long time ago.”
The biggest change in Smith’s effort comes on the crew side, where he had to replace his well-regarded chief mechanic, Johnny Cloer Jr. of Chatsworth, Ga., who informed Smith last fall that he would be relinquishing his post to pursue his own dirt Late Model driving career with a ride on the Southern All-Stars Series. Smith hired Melvin Welch, a veteran mechanic from Alabama who had been working for Ben Thomas Race Cars, as his head wrench and brought Darrell Cooper on board to assist, with Bobby Mills planning to help Smith as well at select shows.
With the new personnel on board, Smith was glad that this year’s early-season dirt Late Model schedule included long racing meets at Golden Isles Speedway in Brunswick, Ga., and East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Fla., prior to the WoO LMS lidlifters at Volusia. Including three upcoming UMP DIRTcar Late Model events at Volusia (Feb. 11-13), Smith could have 16 starts already under his belt when he takes his first WoO LMS green flag of ’08 on Valentine’s Day.
“Running all these races has helped me and Melvin get on the same page,” said Smith, who has raced in all but one of the 154 WoO LMS A-Mains contested since 2004. “We should be ready when the points start.”
And they’ll have one goal: a World of Outlaws championship.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Tickets for the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals are available on-line at www.volusiaspeedwaypark.com.
Fans unable to attend the spectacular week at Volusia can still catch all the action on the DIRTVision Cybercast. For just $29.99 fans can purchase the ‘Alltel DIRTcar Nationals Racepass’ and watch live streaming video of all 12 nights of racing action from Feb. 5-16. Log on to www.dirtvision.com for more information.
