SMITH BACK RACING AFTER ACCIDENT; HOPES TO GET FIRST PRO MOD RACE WIN OF THE SEASON IN CHARLOTTE
CONCORD, N.C. – Any athlete would tell you that the road to recovery is not an easy one. For many, it can be a long, stressful situation filled with questions and doubt.
For NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing driver Rickie Smith, those questions were all too familiar. Just four months ago during qualifying for the Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway, Smith’s ’68 Camaro went out of control and hit the wall just after Smith crossed the finish line. The impact resulted in a broken knee for Smith, putting him on the sidelines for seemingly the rest of the season.
Such an injury can be difficult to overcome for any athlete, but for Smith, who turns 53 in December, the hopes of finishing the season seemed a distant memory. That is, until Smith got those words that every athlete is excited to hear.
“A week before Indy I got clearance from the doctor to put weight on it,” said Smith. “That’s all I needed to know. I was up and got going to Indy right after that.”
Now, as the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series makes its ninth of 10 stops in 2011 at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at zMAX Dragway, Smith has a sense of rejuvenation and a second-chance to finish the 2011 season with a win.
“We bought a brand new car, a ’12 Chevy Camaro, and debuted it in Indy,” said Smith. “Right off the bat we qualified fourth for the event and had the car to win, but made a few mistakes here and there and didn’t get where we were hoping. But all in all, we did pretty good and are pretty happy with the results.”
A second round finish in the first race back from a near-season ending injury is not bad at all, but Smith, a native of King, N.C., is hoping that heading to his hometrack of zMAX Dragway might bring some added luck, and maybe even his first win of the season.
“zMAX is really our home track,” said Smith. “It’s a super nice facility and we’re just glad to have such an amazing facility like this so close to home. Most everyone we know will be out at this event, so it’s a normal deal that when you get close to home, everyone’s wanting to come out and see you do your best. I hope we can do that for all our family and friends.”
As the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod series heads into its final two races of the 2011 season, Smith knows that success isn’t always guaranteed and that sometimes, a little luck is all you need to completely change your year around.
“It would be such a big deal for us to go in to zMAX and win,” said Smith. “I’m getting in the later stages of my driving career so to get a win would be huge. And we’ve got the car to do it, we just need a little bit of luck and need to get the driver tuned up and maybe, just maybe, we will walk out of zMAX Dragway with a Wally.”
Smith will have plenty of competition in the Pro Mod category as the series has just two more stops until the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing world champion is crowned. Points leader Khalid Balooshi swept the first two events of the season in his Speedtech ’68 Camaro and is hoping to return to the winner’s circle before season’s end. Second-place driver Danny Rowe hopes to make one last push to take over the points lead, while defending event winner Melanie Troxel will try to race to her third win of the season in her ProCare Rx ’53 Chevy Corvette.
Featuring the world’s fastest and most unique doorslammer cars with an extremely diverse collection of vehicles, including ’63 Corvettes, ’68 Camaros, ’67 Mustangs, and ’68 Firebirds as well as late-model cars, the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series offers something for every kind of hot-rodding enthusiast.
The O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals will also be part of the 60th anniversary celebration of NHRA. Drag Racing legend “T.V.” Tommy Ivo will be on hand to sign autographs, meet fans and participate in the festivities.
• SCHEDULE: Get Screened America qualifying sessions are scheduled for 2:30 and 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 16 and 1 p.m. on Sept. 17. The first round of Pro Mod eliminations begins on Sept. 17 at 3:30 p.m. Pro Mod eliminations resume on Sept. 18.
• TICKETS: Tickets are available for the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals. Please call (800) 455-FANS (3267) or visit www.zmaxdragway.com to purchase tickets online.
• ON TV: ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise 30 minutes of racing highlights from the Get Screened America Pro Mod Series portion of the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals on Sunday, Oct. 2, at 4 p.m. (ET).
• ON THE WEB: Get live timing, scoring, multimedia and the latest news updates from every NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Series event on the Internet at www.nhra.com. Visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
O’REILLY AUTO PARTS NHRA NATIONALS
WHAT: Fourth annual O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals, the ninth of 10 events in the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series. The race will also showcase the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.
WHERE: zMAX Dragway- Track is located on Bruton Smith Blvd., off I-85 at exit 49 in the Concord, N.C. area.
COURSE: Championship drag strip; Track elevation is 630 feet above sea level; Track direction is southwest to northeast.
WHEN: Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 15-18.
SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY, Sept. 16
GET SCREENED AMERICA PRO MOD SERIES qualifying at 2:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, Sept. 17
GET SCREENED AMERICA PRO MOD SERIES qualifying at 1 p.m.; first round of eliminations at 3:30 p.m.
SUNDAY, Sept. 18 - Pre-race ceremonies, 11 a.m.
GET SCREENED AMERICA PRO MOD SERIES eliminations continue at approximately 3:30 p.m.
TELEVISION:
Sunday, Oct. 2, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise 30-minutes of racing highlights at 4 p.m. (ET).
2010 WINNER: Melanie Troxel
TRACK RECORDS:
5.843 seconds by Brad Personett, Sept. ’10; 254.66 mph by Personett, Sept. ’10.
NATIONAL RECORDS:
5.772 sec. by Melanie Troxel, June. ’11, Englishtown; 258.71 mph by Troxel, June ’11, Englishtown.
TICKETS: Order tickets by phone at (800) 455-FANS. Tickets also are available online at zmaxdragway.com.
GENERAL ADMISSION (includes pit pass) - Thursday: Adult, $10; Child (6-12 years), FREE. Friday: Adult, $20; Child (6-12 years), $5; Saturday: Adult, $40; Child (6-12 years), $5. Sunday: Adult, $40; Child (6-12 years), $5.
RESERVED SEATS (includes pit pass) -Thursday: Adult, $10; Child (6-12 years), FREE. Friday: Adult, $25/35; Child (6-12 years), $5. Saturday: Adult, $45/55; Child (6-12 years), $5. Sunday: Adult, $45/55; Child (6-12 years), $5.
NHRA GET SCREENED AMERICA PRO MOD SERIES POINT STANDINGS
(Following the eighth of 10 races; victories in parentheses)
1. Khalid Balooshi, Doha, QATAR, Speedtech '68 Chevy Camaro (2) 563
2. Danny Rowe, Laguna Hills, Calif., Sterline Bridge '68 Chevy Camaro (2) 495
3. Mike Castellana, Muttontown, N.Y., Al-Anabi '69 Chevy Camaro (2) 432
4. Kenny Lang, Grande Pointe, Manit., Summit Racing Equipment '69 Chevy Camaro 398
5. Rickie Smith, King, N.C., IDG '12 Chevy Camaro 374
6. Ed Hoover, Gilbert, S.C., Trussell '68 Chevy Camaro (1) 369
7. Melanie Troxel, Duluth, Ga., RoadRage.com '53 Chevy Corvette (2) 362
8. Mike Janis, Lancaster, N.Y., Eaton '11 Ford Mustang 354
9. Roger Burgess, Duluth, Ga., ProCare RX '53 Chevy Corvette 342
10. Raymond Commisso, Toronto, ProCare RX '68 Chevy Camaro 325
