Memorable Gulf Coast Weekend Ends with Win and Points Lead for Smith
Texas Driver Ends Long Winless Streak
AUSTIN, TX. –This past weekend is one that Casey Smith and his team won’t forget for a long time. The Austin, Texas native made the trip to the Alabama/Florida border area memorable as he went home with a victory and the Southern Super Series point lead.
Smith ended a winless drought on Saturday night at Mobile International Speedway in Irvington, Alabama and finished third on Friday night to end the weekend as the point leader in the Southern Super Series.
On Saturday night, he dominated by leading every lap in the 100-lap event at the high-banked, half-mile oval.
“We have been struggling here. We dominated in 2007 and 2008 along with having a good car in 2009, but since then we have been struggling every since,” an elated Smith said in victory lane. “This is the best car we have ever had here and it feels good to be back in victory lane.”
The car was so good that Smith had a hard time slowing it down to conserve tires for the long run.
“My spotter got on the radio and reminded me that this is a 100-lap race. I couldn’t go any slower cause the car was that good,” Smith recalled. “I was worried that Bubba Pollard and Daniel Hemric may have been saving their tires and if we got a late race caution, I wasn’t sure if I could hold them off. But, luckily we were able to hold Bubba off and get the win.”
The win for Smith ended a drought that dated back to a Viper Series win at South Alabama Speedway on August 2, 2008.
“This feels good, because you don’t know when it will come again,” exclaimed Smith.
The night before, Smith went to Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida for the Southern Super Series/Blizzard Series 100-lap event.
After starting eighth, he moved up sixth saving his tires for a late race run. On lap 65, he made the save of the night and lost a few spots.
“The car got pretty tight. I am not sure if I didn’t get my tires cleaned well or not. Hemric got up on the inside of me and I don’t know if I didn’t give him enough room or if he dive bombed me, but I almost ended up in the fence,” Smith recalled. “Several people told me that they never seen someone save it like that, I was lucky on that deal.”
Smith was able to get going and start marching his way to the front.
“We had a few quick cautions and were able to pick up some spots. I thought for sure we would end up second, but we ran third and it’s a good points night for us,” Smith said. “We were fast, but didn’t have enough time to gain all of those spots back.”
Smith now holds a 61-point lead in the Southern Super Series standings heading into the next Gulf Coast weekend on May 22-23.
Sources: 51 Sports/Casey Smith PR