CONCORD, NC - Oct. 19, 2009 - Brady Smith has put together a pretty impressive season for a first-time follower of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series.
But the 32-year-old talent from Solon Springs, Wis., won't consider his 2009 Outlaws campaign complete unless he can score a victory – and with just three A-Mains remaining on the schedule, he knows he's running out of time to correct that glaring goose-egg on his performance record.
Fortunately for Smith, he's heading into the tour's season-ending spectacular at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway – the postponed Topless Showdown on Nov. 4 and the third annual World of Outlaws World Finals on Nov. 5-7 – carrying plenty of momentum. He finished second in Sunday's unsanctioned Dirt Track World Championship at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway, just falling short of stealing the prestigious 100-lap event from fellow Wisconsin resident Jimmy Mars with a late-race pass.
“Charlotte has never been very good to me, but we've been fast there,” Smith said on Monday afternoon after returning from his successful weekend in the Hoosier State. “We've gotten ourselves going in the right direction lately, so if we can put a complete night together I feel like we'll have a good shot to win one down there. I'm actually pretty excited to go there.”
Smith's late-summer WoO LMS slump seemed a distant memory as he bid for a dramatic $50,000 triumph under a bright sun at Lawrenceburg. A quiet seventh on lap 74, Smith discovered an inside line following a restart a couple circuits later and rode it to the brink of his second career triumph in a big-money, crown-jewel dirt Late Model event.
After passing WoO LMS points leader Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., for second place on lap 87, Smith quickly caught Mars and came within inches of leading lap 90. Smith actually pulled his Team Zero by Bloomquist car ahead of Mars on the backstretch, but Mars thwarted the challenge by dipping lower on the three-eighths-mile track and held on for the remainder of the distance.
“When I found that traction on the bottom, the car felt so good I thought we were just gonna keep rolling by everybody,” said Smith, who was attempting to add a DTWC score to his $35,000 victory in the 2007 Knoxville Late Model Nationals. “It's not a track where you can just blow your way by somebody, though, and (Mars) saw me before I got him cleared. He's a smart enough driver to know he had to do something, so he started moving down and that affected how I had to enter the corner. Once he got back in front of me and took my line, I was done.
“I'm very disappointed we didn't win the race,” he continued. “It's just such a huge financial difference from second to first (Smith earned $15,000) – that's what's on my mind. We race for a living, and for our team, my fans, my sponsors, my family, the win would've done so much for us.
“But there's nothing to be ashamed about finishing second to Jimmy, and it feels good to run up front again. We struggled for awhile, so we definitely needed a run like this.”
Indeed, Smith hasn't been very happy with his performance since late July – more specifically, since the WoO LMS event on July 25 at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio. That evening Smith appeared headed to a fourth-place finish in the 50-lap A-Main when a broken rearend forced him out with just eight laps to go. He would have moved to a season-high fifth in the tour points standings if he had maintained his position to the checkered flag; instead he fell to seventh in the rankings and never recovered.
After registering an impressive 11 top-five finishes in the season's first 26 events – the fourth-best total of series drivers during that span – Smith has just one top-five and two top-10 finishes in the last 11 A-Mains. In addition, four of his six DNFs this season have come over the last 11 races.
“Sharon was the beginning of our downfall,” said Smith, who enters the World Finals virtually assured of an eighth-place finish in the WoO LMS points standings. “After that, we just couldn't do anything right.”
Smith said he could chalk up much of his late-season frustration as part of the natural learning curve for a WoO LMS newcomer. Running new tracks, adapting to different surfaces, maintaining equipment far from home, living on the road for extended stretches – no driver can truly be prepared to handle the demands of a national touring schedule until experiencing it first-hand.
“With the World of Outlaws tour, guys who have done it before have a definite advantage,” said Smith, who decided to go out fulltime with the Outlaws in 2009 after making a name for himself in selected major events across the country in recent years. “We had some mechanical failures (this year), and we realized there's some things we should've done differently with our equipment (to possibly avoid them). We learned that to be successful you do everything you can do to prevent mechanical failures.
“Now we know what to do. We didn't before running with these guys.”
When asked to grade his initial season traveling with the Outlaws, Smith paused for a moment and responded with “B-minus,” mainly because he hasn't met his expectation of reaching Victory Lane at least once. The personable, level-headed racer has certainly come close to winning, however, recording three runner-up finishes and twice seeing potential triumphs stolen from him by flat tires – one that knocked him from the lead on the final lap of the May 22 event at Missouri's U.S. 36 Raceway, and another that ended his stirring late-race charge on July 16 at Huron, S.D., just as he was about to grab second place.
Despite the heartbreaks and morale-testing struggles, Smith knows the knowledge and experience he gained this season on the WoO LMS has set him up for a bright future – and more sterling runs like he enjoyed in Sunday's DTWC.
“I think it's forced me to be a better driver,” Smith said of following the tour. “It's forced us to work a little harder too, so it's definitely made us better as a team.”
*****
Smith was one of 10 WoO LMS regulars to enter the DTWC at Lawrenceburg. Eight of the tour fulltimers made 26-car starting field.
Rick Eckert of York, Pa., finished third after an up-and-down outing that saw him lead lap 64 and slip as far back as fifth. Francis climbed as high as second but settled for fifth driving Tim Logan's No. 11, while Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., was sixth; Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., was seventh; Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., was 12th, Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., was 18th (after slowing to bring out a caution on lap 74); and rookie Jordan Bland of Campbellsville, Ky., was 25th.
Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., and WoO LMS Rookie of the Year points leader Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio, meanwhile, failed to qualify, finishing ninth and 10th, respectively, in the second consolation. Frank's weekend went downhill in Saturday's second heat when he spun twice.
Austin Hubbard, a 17-year-old from Seaford, Del., who has entered 25 WoO LMS events this season in preparation for a fulltime assault on the tour in 2010, turned heads by setting the overall fastest time in Saturday's group qualifying session. He transferred through a heat race and finished 21st in the DTWC.
*****
Ticket information on the World of Outlaws World Finals – the only event this season fans can see the WoO Late Models and Sprint Cars compete on the same card – is available by logging on to www.lowesmotorspeedway.com or by calling the Lowe's Motor Speedway ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Crane Cams (Official Valvetrain), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), Fusion Energy Boost (Official Energy Boost), SuperClean (Official Cleaner-Degreaser) and VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to contingency sponsors Champ Pans, Eibach Springs, Hoosier Tires, Integra Shocks, Jake's Custom Golf Carts, Ohlins Shocks, Racing Electronics, Quarter Master and Wrisco Aluminum; Crane Cams Engine Builder's Challenge participants Cornett Racing Engines, Custom Race Engines and Pro Power Racing Engines; and Chassis Builder Challenge participants Rocket Chassis and Team Zero by Bloomquist.
But the 32-year-old talent from Solon Springs, Wis., won't consider his 2009 Outlaws campaign complete unless he can score a victory – and with just three A-Mains remaining on the schedule, he knows he's running out of time to correct that glaring goose-egg on his performance record.
Fortunately for Smith, he's heading into the tour's season-ending spectacular at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway – the postponed Topless Showdown on Nov. 4 and the third annual World of Outlaws World Finals on Nov. 5-7 – carrying plenty of momentum. He finished second in Sunday's unsanctioned Dirt Track World Championship at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway, just falling short of stealing the prestigious 100-lap event from fellow Wisconsin resident Jimmy Mars with a late-race pass.
“Charlotte has never been very good to me, but we've been fast there,” Smith said on Monday afternoon after returning from his successful weekend in the Hoosier State. “We've gotten ourselves going in the right direction lately, so if we can put a complete night together I feel like we'll have a good shot to win one down there. I'm actually pretty excited to go there.”
Smith's late-summer WoO LMS slump seemed a distant memory as he bid for a dramatic $50,000 triumph under a bright sun at Lawrenceburg. A quiet seventh on lap 74, Smith discovered an inside line following a restart a couple circuits later and rode it to the brink of his second career triumph in a big-money, crown-jewel dirt Late Model event.
After passing WoO LMS points leader Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., for second place on lap 87, Smith quickly caught Mars and came within inches of leading lap 90. Smith actually pulled his Team Zero by Bloomquist car ahead of Mars on the backstretch, but Mars thwarted the challenge by dipping lower on the three-eighths-mile track and held on for the remainder of the distance.
“When I found that traction on the bottom, the car felt so good I thought we were just gonna keep rolling by everybody,” said Smith, who was attempting to add a DTWC score to his $35,000 victory in the 2007 Knoxville Late Model Nationals. “It's not a track where you can just blow your way by somebody, though, and (Mars) saw me before I got him cleared. He's a smart enough driver to know he had to do something, so he started moving down and that affected how I had to enter the corner. Once he got back in front of me and took my line, I was done.
“I'm very disappointed we didn't win the race,” he continued. “It's just such a huge financial difference from second to first (Smith earned $15,000) – that's what's on my mind. We race for a living, and for our team, my fans, my sponsors, my family, the win would've done so much for us.
“But there's nothing to be ashamed about finishing second to Jimmy, and it feels good to run up front again. We struggled for awhile, so we definitely needed a run like this.”
Indeed, Smith hasn't been very happy with his performance since late July – more specifically, since the WoO LMS event on July 25 at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio. That evening Smith appeared headed to a fourth-place finish in the 50-lap A-Main when a broken rearend forced him out with just eight laps to go. He would have moved to a season-high fifth in the tour points standings if he had maintained his position to the checkered flag; instead he fell to seventh in the rankings and never recovered.
After registering an impressive 11 top-five finishes in the season's first 26 events – the fourth-best total of series drivers during that span – Smith has just one top-five and two top-10 finishes in the last 11 A-Mains. In addition, four of his six DNFs this season have come over the last 11 races.
“Sharon was the beginning of our downfall,” said Smith, who enters the World Finals virtually assured of an eighth-place finish in the WoO LMS points standings. “After that, we just couldn't do anything right.”
Smith said he could chalk up much of his late-season frustration as part of the natural learning curve for a WoO LMS newcomer. Running new tracks, adapting to different surfaces, maintaining equipment far from home, living on the road for extended stretches – no driver can truly be prepared to handle the demands of a national touring schedule until experiencing it first-hand.
“With the World of Outlaws tour, guys who have done it before have a definite advantage,” said Smith, who decided to go out fulltime with the Outlaws in 2009 after making a name for himself in selected major events across the country in recent years. “We had some mechanical failures (this year), and we realized there's some things we should've done differently with our equipment (to possibly avoid them). We learned that to be successful you do everything you can do to prevent mechanical failures.
“Now we know what to do. We didn't before running with these guys.”
When asked to grade his initial season traveling with the Outlaws, Smith paused for a moment and responded with “B-minus,” mainly because he hasn't met his expectation of reaching Victory Lane at least once. The personable, level-headed racer has certainly come close to winning, however, recording three runner-up finishes and twice seeing potential triumphs stolen from him by flat tires – one that knocked him from the lead on the final lap of the May 22 event at Missouri's U.S. 36 Raceway, and another that ended his stirring late-race charge on July 16 at Huron, S.D., just as he was about to grab second place.
Despite the heartbreaks and morale-testing struggles, Smith knows the knowledge and experience he gained this season on the WoO LMS has set him up for a bright future – and more sterling runs like he enjoyed in Sunday's DTWC.
“I think it's forced me to be a better driver,” Smith said of following the tour. “It's forced us to work a little harder too, so it's definitely made us better as a team.”
*****
Smith was one of 10 WoO LMS regulars to enter the DTWC at Lawrenceburg. Eight of the tour fulltimers made 26-car starting field.
Rick Eckert of York, Pa., finished third after an up-and-down outing that saw him lead lap 64 and slip as far back as fifth. Francis climbed as high as second but settled for fifth driving Tim Logan's No. 11, while Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., was sixth; Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., was seventh; Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., was 12th, Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., was 18th (after slowing to bring out a caution on lap 74); and rookie Jordan Bland of Campbellsville, Ky., was 25th.
Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., and WoO LMS Rookie of the Year points leader Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio, meanwhile, failed to qualify, finishing ninth and 10th, respectively, in the second consolation. Frank's weekend went downhill in Saturday's second heat when he spun twice.
Austin Hubbard, a 17-year-old from Seaford, Del., who has entered 25 WoO LMS events this season in preparation for a fulltime assault on the tour in 2010, turned heads by setting the overall fastest time in Saturday's group qualifying session. He transferred through a heat race and finished 21st in the DTWC.
*****
Ticket information on the World of Outlaws World Finals – the only event this season fans can see the WoO Late Models and Sprint Cars compete on the same card – is available by logging on to www.lowesmotorspeedway.com or by calling the Lowe's Motor Speedway ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Crane Cams (Official Valvetrain), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), Fusion Energy Boost (Official Energy Boost), SuperClean (Official Cleaner-Degreaser) and VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to contingency sponsors Champ Pans, Eibach Springs, Hoosier Tires, Integra Shocks, Jake's Custom Golf Carts, Ohlins Shocks, Racing Electronics, Quarter Master and Wrisco Aluminum; Crane Cams Engine Builder's Challenge participants Cornett Racing Engines, Custom Race Engines and Pro Power Racing Engines; and Chassis Builder Challenge participants Rocket Chassis and Team Zero by Bloomquist.
