Smith conquering big goals one round at a time 

BOWLING GREEN, KY – A year ago, Will Smith was just getting his feet wet in a class he’d dreamed about for years. Now, Smith is in the hunt for the LODRS North Central Region Top Alcohol Regional Championship. The progress he and the Hirata Motorsports Team have made in just a year’s time is impressive to say the least. While each team member had vast experience in the sport, the team itself was a new unit and has quickly gelled, rising to championship caliber.

With two semi final and two final round finishes to their 2019 credit, the Smith/Hirata team sits third in regional points, just 32 points out of first. The next two weekends, with the Bowling Green regional and The Big Go, will go a long way in shaping Smith’s points standings, but to him every round is the same.

“We have a legitimate shot at the championship,” Smith said with confidence. “And at the end of the day, we have the experience, consistency and performance capabilities to win. My personal philosophy is to go out and focus on the task at hand – take it round by round. When you do it that way, the round wins and hopefully event victories will take care of themselves. We’re not going to focus too much on the points. We’re going to do what we know we’ve got to do and let the rest take care of itself.

“We’re looking to pick up where we left off from Norwalk, Indy and Chicago, maintain consistency and continue improvements in our performance. We’re really getting to where we need to be. Now’s the time to solidify all the gains we’ve made.”

Smith has marketing partners, friends and family joining him at Bowling Green and Indy, giving him extra incentive to turn those round wins into major victories. “I’m looking forward to spending time with marketing partners, family and friends. See if we can’t park it in the winner’s circle with everybody there.”

Smith, who is also currently leading North Central Region JEGS All Stars, will join Cruz Pedregon and other renowned NHRA drivers at Pedregon’s Open House for an autograph signing and driver meet and greet on Thursday, August 29 in Indianapolis.

“Making it to Indy is a big deal for any racer. Being in a position to possibly win the event is incredible, and being able to join in Pedregon’s Open House to sign autographs is such an honor. It’s almost hard for me to believe that some of my lifelong dreams are coming true. But I also know that we have all put in the effort, time and discipline to put ourselves in this position.

“We missed the field in Indy last year by a hundredth of a second so the team is pretty hungry this year,” Smith confides. “Where we are now is a big change from last year. We struggled in a lot of ways, but now we’re to the point we’re disappointed if we’re not going rounds. And we’re still learning – I don’t care how experienced you are, you still learn from each pass down the track.

“We can run as quick as anybody out there, and people know that I’m not going to give any slack on the starting line. I feel good about Bowling Green and Indy. We’re optimistic about these next two weeks. We’ve got a car that win both races. But, like I said, we’re going to take it one round at a time.”

Will Smith Motorsports and Hirata Motorsports thank partners Lucas Oil, Protect the Harvest, NGK Spark Plugs, Schepel Buick/GMC/Cadillac, TeaCo Geophysical, 4G Transportation, Hirata’s Lowell Body Shop, Hirata’s Lowell Automotive, Hirata’s Hammer’d Customs, R&R Connecting Rods, Strange Engineering, ProThings Apparel and Race Ugly Speed Shop.