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NAME:
"Racing
just seems like it was what I was meant to do," Clint
Smith said. Smith has been doing just that for the last
27 years. A professional in dirt track competition, Smith
races in 60 to 70 events each year and has had hundreds
of 1st-place victories. In 1989 and 1990 Smith won back-to-back
track championships at the Seven Flags Speedway in Douglasville,
Ga. His winning streak continued, and in 1992 Smith won
the Southern All-Stars Racing Series Championship and
followed that up with championships in 1993, 2000, and
2003. He currently holds the record with the most championship
titles of any other driver for the series. In between
Southern All Star title runs Smith maintained his achievements
in the sport by being named champion of the Hav-A-Tampa
Racing Series. "The Hav-A-Tampa Series was the cream
of the crop at the time (in dirt track competition),"
Smith said. "It had the biggest races, the most TV
coverage, and the most money." Because he did not
miss any of the series competitions from it’s inception
in 1990 until 1998, Smith had been called "the iron
man of Hav-A-Tampa" by racing enthusiasts. Smith
has also finished well in some of the largest and most
celebrated dirt track events in the United States. Clint
has raced in famed events like the Dirt Track World Championship,
The Dream and World 100 at Eldora Speedway in Ohio. 
This
past year, 2007, he was called upon by Tony Stewart to
provide a car and assistance to Jeff Gordon for The Prelude.
The Prelude is an event preceeding The Dream every June
where drivers from Nascar and even the NHRA come together
and drive dirt late models in a race which was broadcast
on Pay-Per-View by HBO to raise money for the Tony Stewart
Foundation and the Victory Junction Gang. Jeff Gordon
and team had such a good experience, especially after
Gordon finished 3rd in the event for his very first time
in a Late Model, that the team came to see Clint race
at a couple of events throughout the year, invited him
to join them pitside at the Nascar event in Atlanta and
the use of their shop when in North Carolina. Clint will
once again provide a car and equipment for Jeff Gordon
in the 2008 Prelude.
Through
his notable performances on the racetrack, Smith has attracted
multiple sponsors ranging from tires to snack food companies.
"Sponsorship is the most vital part of racing,"
Smith said. "You’ve got to be able to sell
yourself and you’ve got to have something to offer."Over
the years Smith has participated successfully in a variety
of competitive games and sports including a two-year stint
on a dart league and memberships in five bowling leagues.
However, nothing has been as constant in his life as racing.
"It’s always kept my interest," Smith
said. Smith said that the aspects of racing that he enjoys
most are the pursuit of victory and the excitement of
the sport. "It’s exciting that someone would
want to be me for that split second (of victory),"
Smith said. "(I’ve) supplied a thrill to somebody
for that moment, and that’s a good feeling. Joining
Smith on the road and always by his side for support is
his wife, Kim and their daughter, Jenna. They travel with
Clint everywhere they can and Smith says, "Kim takes
care of my timing and Jenna is learning how so that we
will have the field covered and know what we are racing
against". Clint has spent the last 3 years traveling
with the premier series Dirt MotorSports World of Outlaws
Late Model Series. This series maintains contracted drivers.
He is coming off his best season yet with the World of
Outlaws finishing with 4 wins and 3rd in season points.
The series travels a very broad spectrum of tracks around
the country, including a few stops in Canada and has reached
many fans with its internet based broadcasts and now a
television deal reaching millions on the cable network
SPEED channel. By: Eric Fulcher
and Sandy Walker
