Eldora Speedway
Big E invert stings Georgian, but this time Smith belongs
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt.com staff reporter
Garrett Smith in the Eldora pits. (Zach Yost)
ROSSBURG, Ohio — This time last year, Garrett Smith felt like a virtual nobody lost in the overwhelming nature of the World 100 at Eldora Speedway.
The teenaged racer decided to partake in the sport’s Super Bowl during his fledgling Super Late Model rookie campaign because what did he have to lose? Quickly, Smith learned just how far he had to go to be remotely competitive. | Complete World 100 coverage
“I really had no business being here,” Smith said, the undercurrent of his words deriving from the embarrassment that he couldn’t even qualify for one of the two 24-car B-mains on both nights of the 50th and 51st World 100s.
It’s safe to say that this year’s 52nd World 100 isn’t a harebrained initiative for Smith’s fledging talents, as the recent high school graduate accumulated the fourth-most points through the crown jewel’s prelims. No matter how the week ends, rounding an identity on the road to becoming a full-time racer is an accomplishment that can't be stripped from Smith's possession.
“I actually came here for once and feel like I deserve to be here,” Smith said. “Fourth of 108 cars, that’s really good."
Now, Smith’s pristine spot lost all its value when Eldora's Wheel of Misfortune — as spun by high-point driver Chris Madden — landed on a six-car invert for Saturday’s series of 15-lap heat races that only transfer three to the big dance.
That means Smith will have to start sixth in heat four — alongside Chris Ferguson in row three, behind Brandon Overton and Zack Dohm in row two, and behind front-row starters Devin Moran and Brian Shirley.
Good luck trying to determine which drivers could actually transfer outright to the main event, and for all that’s known, Friday’s disqualified prelim winner Ricky Weiss could put it in the show off determination alone from the 14th-starting spot.
Scenarios aside, Smith’s made himself relevant this week, and relevant among the sport’s best. The top-six point-getters, in addition to Madden and Smith, included Bobby Pierce, Brandon Sheppard, Jimmy Owens and Jonathan Davenport.
And by finishing fifth and fourth in two prelims, Smith was also one of three drivers to place inside the top-five both nights. Davenport and Madden, the sport’s top-ranked drivers all summer, are the remaining two drivers to join Smith in the feat.
“No matter how this ends, we’ve had a good week,” Smith said. “It just kind of sucks. Being fourth in points and having to start sixth in the fourth heat race when they take three (to transfer). It’s Eldora. That’s what everyone says. We’ll give it our best shot.”
While Smith is mostly the same meek teenager from a year ago, he’s almost an entirely different racer. That’s what sheer experience can do to a driver. Smith estimates he’s raced roughly 60 times in the Super Late Model since taking the plunge into the sport’s deep end — and nearly drowning — last year.
“It was definitely hard. When you race this much, you get so much better every night,” Smith said. “Even some of the bad runs are good (learning experiences). I feel like I’m a completely different driver now. Yeah, things are working out this weekend.”
Now that Smith’s out of school, he’s “a free man,” he says, and the goal from here is to continue carving out a longtime place in the sport.
“I just graduated high school and I’m ready to hit the road,” Smith said.
Smith's highlights of 2022 came with a Prairie Dirt Classic prelim victory at Fairbury (Ill.) American Legion Speedway in World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series competition. The Eatonton, Ga., racer also notched an April 21 triumph on the Schaffer’s Spring Nationals tour at Tri-County Racetrack in Brasstown, N.C.
“We’ve had a good year this year so far,” Smith said. “I feel like we’ve went higher than our expectations. I mean, yeah, we’ve had a pretty good year this year.”
Since making a grand entrance onto the Super Late Model scene last November by coming narrowly short of a World Finals victory at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, Smith’s steadily garnered more attention wherever he’s gone this season. With that, he’s slowly emerged from his shell.
“I’m just getting a little bit more comfortable,” Smith said. “The more races I’ve run, the more comfortable I’ve gotten this year.”
While Smith's victory at the Prairie Dirt Classic came in a preliminary night feature, success in that weekend's stacked field helped him navigate big stages such as this week’s World 100.
“If anything, it boosts your confidence,” Smith said. “It makes you feel like you can actually do it. That was a cool win. I kind of like the little bullrings.”
And like Smith said in his prelim victory lane interview at Fairbury — “I have a lot of laps here on iRacing” – Eldora is another track that, while he doesn’t have a lot of real-world experience at, he became familiar with it via video screen.
“This track is very technical,” Smith said. “It’s hard to drive with the speeds you’re carrying and how fast you’re still going when it slicks off. Especially the top line here is pretty thin. You have to get up on the wheel here and drive the hell out of it.”
Given Eldora’s fickleness, Saturday night could go a multitude ways for Smith. He could not make any progress in a rather stiff heat, be relegated to a consolation race, and throw his elbows up for some kind of last-ditch attempt at the big dance, or not face any of that and find an outright way to the main event.
Conventional wisdom also suggests that the further the heats go, the more the track should slick off, thereby creating more passing opportunities and open doors for mid-pack starters to make moves forward.
When asked what the realistic goal is now having to start from the sixth-starting spot, Smith didn’t have to think hard about his answer.
“I want to win it,” Smith said. “I still want to win it.”
