ROCKY MOUNT, VA :: Jonathan Smith will be piloting a familiar car at Ace Speedway during today’s season opener. Smith, who has only raced at Ace Speedway once in his entire life, will be stepping up and taking the wheel of Rodney Cook’s racecar as the veteran racer continues to battle cancer. Smith began racing 10 years ago by competing in Go-Karts before moving up to Mini-Stocks and Late Model Stock Cars. Smith has won championships in both Go-Karts and Mini-Stocks.
“We were going to do a rental deal with Rodney Cook,” Smith said. “He’d run one car and I’d run another. That’s when he found out about his cancer. Hopefully we’ll run well and win for him. We’d like to get a solid top five finish today. It’d be great to win one for him. I have the equipment. I’ve never raced at Ace before with this kind of equipment so it would be great to win one for him and get things of his mind and he’d know his car is still there.”
Smith doesn’t think Cook will be out of the car for long though.
“I figure by midseason he’ll be back and we’ll be racing with each other. If we can find sponsorship for the full season, we’ll both be on the track. Rodney will be back as soon as he can. He’ll push them to clear him as soon as possible I’m sure.”
Smith inherited the racing bug from his father and grandfather.
“My grandfather and father raced a few years ago so I went in to go kart racing and went from there,” Smith explained. “It’d be great to move up in the future but we’ll stay where we are now until we get the opportunity.”
Smith hopes to get a top five finish in the season opener at Ace.
“It’d be great to be in the top five. The equipment is there, it’s just a matter of experience and being in the right place at the right time. As for Rodney, We’ll be willing to do anything we can to help him.”
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