F.J. Smith to be honored into Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame
CAYUGA, ONTARIO – One of Canada’s top drag racers is to be inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in April.
Noted racer and car builder F.J. (Fred) Smith, of Cayuga, Ontario will be honored by his peers in the racing community during the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame Induction Gala April 17 at the Sheraton Center in Toronto, Ontario.
Smith is the main proponent behind the Can-Am Stock/Super Stock Series, which races during many weekend events that the Pro Modified Racing Association and Quick 32 Sportsman Series compete.
“I’m just starting to realize the importance of the honor,” said Smith after learning about his induction. “Just look at the list I’m joining. It’s pretty satisfying to be in the same group as Bernie Fedderly, Gary Beck, and Frank Hawley.”
Not only was F.J. (“Fred”) Smith one of the top drag racers in both Canada and the US, he went on to build some of the finest, most competitive Stock and Super Stock class cars. The cars built in his shop by the banks of the Grand River at Cayuga in Southern Ontario have won numerous NHRA “best engineered” awards.
Smith’s crowning achievement was the conversion of a front-drive car, which became the norm in the early 1980s, and stuff in a V8 engine with a traditional rear-drive setup without butchering the car’s integrity.
Working with the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors, who at the time was heavily involved in drag racing, Smith developed a car for the Super Stock classes in NHRA and IHRA competition, a car which received the blessing of the sanctioning bodies. By 1987 Smith was very busy building these cars, always improving on the basic design. Some of his achievements, such as the four-link rear suspension and front-end strut are used exclusively in the classes.
“Building has been more satisfying,” he said. “There’s a little piece of me in each of my cars that are still winning.”
“To be included on the same list as someone like Villeneuve is great,” he said. “I’m just a little guy from Cayuga that did well.”
The former high school teacher has not raced actively himself for some years now, but is actively involved. He continues to build cars, has passed the driving torch to his daughter Victoria, and is the main proponent behind the Can-Am Stock/Super Stock series which tours throughout Ontario and several US states.
The Can-Am Stock/Super Stock Series, started in 1996, has raced with the PMRA and Quick 32 Sportsman Series for several years, and will continue to do so at selected events in 2010.
