Published: October 09, 2008 11:27 pm         

Driver picks up where dad left off

Tim Smart is carrying on a family tradition as he wraps up his second season in the competitive pure stock division at Enid Speedway Park.

I’ve interviewed many young men over the past 20 years that follow in their father’s footsteps as they embark on a career in stock car racing, however Smart is the first driver that began his racing career literally in the same car his father piloted nearly a quarter of a century before.

According to the elder Tim Smart, he and his brother David competed in the same car in 1984 and finished fifth in the overall point standings. Following a successful season career obligations sent them mile apart, with Tim landing in Las Vegas and David in Chicago. Five years ago fate returned them to their hometown of Alva.

“We were at the farm and ran across the old car buried in the sand,” said Smart. “We decided to put Tim in it and see what he could do. We discovered Tim was a natural. He’s got the guts to get in there and really drive a race car.”

This family’s passion for dirt track racing began on a jungle gym in Liberal, Kan., during the 1960s. Smart and his brother, who were only 8 and 4 at the, time pulled a sheet of plywood up on top of the gym and extended it to the fence creating a makeshift platform where they watched the Friday and Saturday night races.

“We never actually got to go to the track, we just stood on that board and watched the races all night long,” said Smart. “We both decided that we were going to race cars.”

This self-professed family of gear heads admits their lives revolve around cars. The Smarts own and operate a car lot during the week along with a car restoration enterprise. Working on the race car in the pits on Saturday nights and tinkering with it in the shop during the evenings keeps this family close.

“My whole family is really close,” said Smart. “We take care of each other. That is what really matters.”

It is very apparent Smart and his dad enjoy the camaraderie of racing, as he jumped out of the quick No. 27 after hot laps and gave his father an enthusiastic high five that erupted into a huge bear hug.

Smart admits following family, his passion is racing.

“Racing is my passion, it is what my life is all about,” said Smart. “Some call it a hobby, but it is way more to me.”

The highlight of this young driver’s racing career is picking up his first feature win this year.

“That night we hit the set-up and everything was perfect,” said Smart.

This enthusiastic competitor plans to continue his quest for the checkered flag in the pure stock class next season.

“We’ll be back out with a pure stock next year,” said Smart. “I still have a little bit to learn about driving.”