Charles Smith is off to a good start at Motor Mile Speedway this season. He’s currently sitting third in the points standings and is coming off a third-place finish in the season’s second race.
Smith, started his racing career in U-Cars at Motor Mile Speedway and moved up to Limiteds in 2015. Since then he’s been trying to find his way to victory lane but has finished a best of third twice. After only competing in one race last year at South Boston Speedway while Motor Mile was shut down and is happy to be back at his home track.
“I didn’t race as much last year except down at South Boston once,” Smith told RACE22.com. “I didn’t figure it out too good and didn’t have the time or the money to test and stuff. I just took a break and hoped that Motor Mile opened back up and it did. I got more laps around there than anywhere.”
This year he’s teamed up with Andy Favre in hopes of running better and maybe getting his first win.
“Andy Favre helped with setups a little bit this year. Plus I’ve got a new car and we’ve got a decent piece, I don’t know if we’ve got a winning car by far but we’re working on it. It’s hard to win in Limited or any class. Most of these guys could run Late Model with the driver ability and all that. If they could afford it they could be up there running that.”
To get that first win Smith knows that things will have to go his way and the competition is stacked.
“I think with this draw I’m going to have to get a good draw and probably have to lead every lap,” Smith said. “It’s a competitive class and it’s going to be hard to get around Karl (Budzevski), Cory (Dunn), Daryn (Cockram), Wes (Thomason) too when he’s on it and Richard Caldwell too, we’re all right there. You never know when (Chase) Dixon and (Josh) Gobble are going to figure it out.”
During the last race on his way to a third-place finish, Smith had a run in on the final lap with Thomason. Smith says he’s sorry it happened but thinks it was just a racing deal.
“It’s a green, white, checkered and we’re going for everything we got. I apologized to Wes. I didn’t mean for it to happen but we were coming down there getting into turn one. He entered the corner above Cory (Dunn) and tried to come down about the time I filled the hole. It’s just a racing deal. I was going for all I could and I thought he was going to stay up high but he didn’t. I know he’s like me, he struggles to race and I wouldn’t like it if it was me. I told him I’m sorry but I think luckily it didn’t hurt his car too bad I don’t think.”
Smith hopes to put that incident in the rearview mirror and build on his early season success. The Limiteds will get two new tires this week and Smith knows that could change a lot and he isn’t sure how the tires will wear since the track changed to a harder, more durable tire during the off-season.
“We get two tires this weekend so I expect qualifying to be a good fast lap,” Smith continued. “Everybody I’ve talked to including myself just didn’t have any grip the last race, our tires are gone. Those F-50’s ain’t lasting us like we thought they would. I don’t know if they’ve changed the compound or if it’s just Motor Mile or what. The F-50’s we ran at South Boston didn’t fall off nowhere near like the ones we have this year.”
Smith is supported by Fisher Law Firm, The Tree Beaver, Blue Ridge Drilling, L&G Storage and will be looking to get a good draw for tires and to put his car out in front of a strong field of cars during the 40-lap Limited Late Model race this Saturday night at Motor Mile Speedway. Despite this being only the third race, Smith thinks it could be close to time to start points racing.
“Going into this year I really expected a good car count but it’s been better than I expected. You just never know but I hope everybody stays with it and we can keep from tearing the cars up it’s going to be good. It’s a tight points race. We’re sitting 25 points out of the lead and five out of second. I don’t want to say it’s time to points race but it might not be long before we have to think about it. Was never in my mind when the season started but we’re close and I want to keep my nose clean the best I can.”
Smith and the rest of the Limiteds will compete this weekend along with a 100-lap Late Model Stock Car race, Mod 4 and twin U-Cars on tap for the Shively Electric 100. For more information visit www.MotorMileSpeedway.com.
Cover photo by Jaden Austin.
