This is a story of T.J. Smith, a 17 year old "weekend warrior' teenager, overcoming several obstacles to pick up a Feature win in the Factory Stock/Pure Stock class at Talladega Short Track during the Ice Bowl.
It all started as an idea thrown around in the middle of December if T.J. could find tires and a carburetor because the rules are different from the tracks that they run at in Kentucky. The Smith Family are regulars at Ponderosa Speedway and Lake Cumberland Speedway. They also needed to borrow a trailer from his brother to make the tow to Alabama. Of course his brother A.J. agreed and thanks to a Facebook post he got what he needed to be legal for the race.
On December 29th his father , Adrian , was involved in a big rig rollover accident. T.J. told his dad that they don't have to go the race as he was worried about his dad and his recovery of his accident. Adrian told his son they were going after T.J. put in all the hard work to get the car ready to race. With Adrian not feeling 100% he reached out to a friend , Gregg Miller , to tag along and help out. He agreed so off they went loaded down in a 1995 Ford truck and 24 ft box trailer.
They make it to the track on Thursday for practice then on Friday goes out and qualifies 41st out 63 cars putting him starting 7th in his heat race. He quickly moved up to 4th on the 2nd lap when disaster hits the young driver. He was involved in a pileup destroying his car. The LR quarter panel was pushed all the way in to the driver's seat along with broken motor mounts and both bumpers. Thanks to the race being on FloRacing his cousins in Kentucky called and said "what do you need." Tim and Sarah Patrick , who both also race at Ponderosa Speedway and Lake Cumberland Speedway, loaded up the parts they need and left for Alabama at 3am. So at 7am they are thrashing to piece the car back together with borrowed parts to get ready for the B Main that starts at 10am. He starts 8th with the only the top 2 transferring to the A. Smith gets as high as 4th before settling for a 5th place finish not making it to the A Feature but they are having a Non-Qualifiers race.
Starting 8th in the 12 lap Feature he quickly moves into the 4th spot. Keeping his nose clean he is running in 2nd place with 1 lap to go the leader spins coming out of turn 4. Smith would cross the checkers first for the very first time in his young racing career. He would think his first win would be in Kentucky and not at a track 4 hours from home in a car that was pieced together but wins are earned and hard to come by.
So after all the long hours getting prepared to race , his dad being in a rollover accident , the race car getting destroyed in a heat race , piecing the car back together , the young racer learned just how hard it is to get in victory lane but also how rewarding it is to celebrate in victory lane and never give up on your goals. Hopefully T.J.'s next win will be a little less dramatic but you never forget you're first win no matter how big or how small its a special memory.
T.J. would like to thank his sponsors and everyone who helped him
3D Hauling Tim and Sarah Patrick
Tim Taylor Trucking Robert Foster (Robert's Machine
Wolf Creek Transport Bill Daffron
Couch Trucking Gibson Motors
Double D Farms Devon Wilson
Kyle Smith Denzil Stephens
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