OXFORD – Oxford’s Rusty Smith is in the business of driving fast, and his start to the 2011 season could not be much faster.
Smith equaled his win total of a season ago winning for the second time in three races Sunday at Mountain Speedway in St. Johns, Pa. Smith was racing at the speedway on back-to-back nights, and followed up a runner-up finish Saturday with a comfortable win on Sunday.
“We started sixth (Sunday), and took the lead by the eighth lap,” said Smith, who charged to the front from the outside. “It was a little bit of a battle to get by the leader, then we just pulled away and had a 10-car-length lead.”
The only drama in Sunday’s race was a caution on the last lap. On the restart, Smith easily held off his nearest rival on the last straightaway to take the checkered flag.
The Blueox Energy Products-sponsored driver pointed to Saturday’s race as an even better performance, that in spite of placing second. In that race, he began in the 15th position, and needed to wind his way through a competitive field to reach the top three. On a late-race restart, the first-place driver bobbled when he spun his tires, and the second-place racer quickly sped to the front. Smith, who was running third, took a couple of laps to move into second place, and by that point, victory was out of reach. “I just ran out of time,” Smith said. “If the leader had not bobbled, I think my chances (of winning) would have been better.”
Smith said he hasn’t made an major changes to his car from last year, but is getting top-shelf results. “I’m not sure why we’re doing so well. Maybe it was my offseason workout program,” Smith said jokingly. “The track is right for us and we run well there. I think that is the biggest thing.”
Smith hopes to continue his success this coming weekend at Mountain Speedway before he returns to race in New York at Chemung Speedrome and Shangri-La II Speedway later this month.