OXFORD – A professional driver for more than half of his life, Oxford’s Rusty Smith continues to improve.
Smith captured his second straight track championship at Spencer Speedway this past season, a title that also carried the weight of the NASCAR banner. As a NASCAR-affiliated track, Spencer Speedway’s champions earned a trip to the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Awards and the NASCAR Night of Champions Touring Series Awards Dec. 13-14 at the Charlotte Convention Center in North Carolina.
“It was a pretty elaborate thing,” Smith said of the evening. “It was broadcasted on the Internet...it was pretty cool.”
Smith and his wife Julie attended the black tie affair where Smith was representing Spencer Speedway as a two-time defending champion. Smith wasn’t at every points race at the Rochester-based track this season, but when he was, he was running near the front.
Smith won four feature races on his way to the asphalt modified championship. “When we weren’t at Spencer Speedway, we ran anywhere else we could,” Smith said.
In addition to his four wins in Rochester, Smith won two features at the Chemung Speedrome. Smith also stepped outside his comfort zone of asphalt to run nearly 20 dirt races in the modified and sportsman divisions.
“The first five or weeks of the season, before the asphalt season started, we ran on the dirt,” Smith said. “Once the asphalt season started, we pulled back for about three months, but the last two months we ran both.”
Smith ran nearly 50 races during the season finishing with 35 top-ten finishes, 26 top-fives, and the six aforementioned victories. He didn’t win on the dirt, but is making strides in just his second season running on that surface. “We were a little outclassed there at times, but we’re learning and getting better,” Smith said.
When Smith says he is getting better, that means the victories are not that far off.
More information on Smith’s 2013 season is available on his Facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/34racing.