The Scoop
T.J. SMITH – “IF YOU’RE NOT LAPPING 2ND PLACE, YOU’RE STILL NOT FAST ENOUGH”
Posted on: Tuesday August 1, 2023
Greenville’s T.J. Smith continues to work the learning curve in his rookie season with the Midwest Sprint Car Association (MSA) sprint cars.
T.J. Smith is one of the more well-rounded stock car drivers in Wisconsin.
The 30-year-old from Greenville has raced in no less than one dozen divisions on three different surfaces within the past couple of decades – including ice, pavement and dirt.
In 2023 Smith’s newest challenge came with a full-sized wing on it. Smith bit the bullet during the off season and purchased a sprint car to wheel in Midwest Sprint Car Association (MSA) action at Plymouth Dirt Track and the other tracks on the MSA’s traveling series schedule.
If taking on an entirely new challenge weren’t enough, Smith continues to wheel a grand national sportsman car owned by Mike Schaffer. All of this while burning the midnight oil with his own business installing flooring The Floorsmith.
So how exactly did Smith wind up racing a full-sized sprint car? Well, the past couple of seasons Smith got a taste of open wheel racing after he battled with the WingLess sprint car series. A bulk of those shows took place at Wilmot Raceway.
Smith thoroughly enjoyed his two years with the WingLess series. On average Smith averaged 20 to 25 Wingless sprint car races per year. This was from a guy who at one point was raced 80 nights one year – not missing a night from Thursday through Sunday nights. However, Smith readily admits he bit off more than he could chew before he bought the car. “We were racing a modified on dirt and working with Racetech at the time,” Smith recalled. “I started messaging Lance Fassbender (veteran sprint car driver) when I started inquiring about getting into the WingLess sprint car division. I talked to Jason Cox who worked at Racetech. He’s the son of open wheel legend Tim Cox. I remember Jason took me under his wing. I remember sitting in his basement for three hours one night and he started writing out a bunch of stuff – things I needed to acquire and other items I needed to know if I was serious about going WingLess sprint car racing.”
With the assistance of Jason, Smith was able to purchase a car in Indiana through a team the Cox knew. Smith had a crate motor he yanked out of his modified and had it built to the specs to make the powerplant legal for WingLess sprint car competition. “The theory was it was supposed to be the cheapest sprint car racing option available at the time,” Smith said.
According to Smith he did enjoy his time behind the wheel doing the WingLess thing. But the three-hour commute one way to Wilmot – where a bulk of the shows took place – began to take it’s toll. “I loved the fact I was racing open wheeled stuff, but the long travel started to lose it’s appeal a little bit,” Smith admitted.
Working for himself installing floors can be a two-edged sword. Years ago, Smith would simply work just enough to pay the bills. Knocking off early on a jobsite at 2 p.m. to travel to go racing or to even work on the car in the shop can be either a curse or a blessing. But at the end of the day – the work still has to come first.
“I wanted to compete with something a little bit closer to home and I started looking harder at racing an MSA sprint car,” Smith recalled. “The base track for these cars is Plymouth Dirt Track which is about an hour from my house. I’ve never been afraid to travel and with MSA I can race weekly at Plymouth and still travel a little bit, too. But the traveling with them is much closer to home and it includes many tracks I’ve already raced on at some point.”
One of the other benefits about racing closer to home was the ability to sell his racing program to potential sponsors. “It just made sense to make the move to the MSA series for many reasons,” Smith said. “Don’t get me wrong – I love hitting different tracks. I’ve always enjoyed the challenge of rolling into a place brand new place and embrace the challenge and be competitive.”
Case in point – a few years ago on a whim, Smith loaded up the car and headed to a track in Peoria, Illinois and shocked the field finishing seventh in his IMCA-style car against the much more beefed-up United Midwest Promoters (UMP) rules modifieds. “Peoria remains one of my favorite tracks outside of Wisconsin,” Smith said. “Trying new things keeps racing fresh and exciting for me. I thought it was super cool to post a decent finish out of state like that.”
T.J. Smith(69) goes wheel-to-wheel with veteran Ben Schmidt in MSA action at Eagle River Speedway. (RC Custom Designs photo)
As for the learning curve with a winged race car? The improvements keep coming week by week. Smith recently scored his first ever podium finish at Eagle River Speedway in northern Wisconsin. Running two years with a WingLess sprint car has only helped Smith adjust to the winged sprinters. “I think there is correlation in that with the WingLess car you are always backing it into the corners,” Smith explained. “But with the winged car it’s almost easier or smoother to corner it. It’s a catch 22 with where the car is going to go. That wing with its downforce will dictate where your car winds up.”
There is no substitute for seat time in any form of motorsports. This is a concept Smith is well aware of and embraces at every turn. “I’ll be at every race possible with this winged sprint car because I need the seat time,” Smith admitted. “I’ve got a long way to go.”
As of July 30 Smith has scored five grand national feature wins. (danlewisphoto.net)
Wheeling a quick, nimble winged sprint car versus horsing a 3,000 lb. grand national can also pose a challenge to Smith from time to time. Smith races the grand national at special events and has scored five feature wins already this year – including the latest one at The ‘Burg Speedway in Luxemburg on July 30. “Those two cars and their respective driving styles are two completely different animals,” Smith confessed. “Sometimes when I climb behind the wheel, I’ll have to tell myself ‘O.k. you’re in a sprint car tonight’ or ‘o.k. you’re in the grand national tonight.’ When I jump behind the wheel of the grand national, I almost must force myself to slow down at times. The struggle is real! I’ve stepped on my (expletive) more than a few times with both cars. You don’t have the tire to catch you with the grand national. Not like the sprint car.”
Smith owns all his own sprint car equipment and although he is a hired gun essentially in the grand national, Smith has the task of maintaining both cars with a skeleton pit crew which can help most of the time on race day. His dad Todd Smith helps when he can. “Dad could tell you how to build a grand national in five minutes, but the sprint cars are outside of his wheelhouse,” Smith admitted. “But he comes along and does what he can to help.”
One pipe dream that Smith still possesses at age 30 is taking a shot of racing for a living someday. “I’d love to race 410 sprint cars for a living, but you almost have to relocate to Indiana to do that,” Smith admitted. “It’s a total longshot at best. I get that. I still have a dream. But to even consider something like that even IF the talent was there, you’d have to find a partner, a team owner, not only financial help with the motor program alone but also a pit crew. And I totally get that. A guy can dream anyways.
I want to be ‘that guy’ who can jump in almost anything and be decent. I needed to race more than I was able to with the WingLess car. I enjoy the versatility. I want to do it all. So far, we’ve taken a liking to what we’re doing. But to me there is a ton of room for improvement. Always. To me, if you’re not lapping second place you’ve still got room for improvement.”
So far past the mid-season point in his rookie campaign in the MSA sprinter Smith gives himself a midterm grade of C-minus. “As a driver you should always try to do better. Lately the car has been coming home in one piece. You can never be satisfied. That’s the attitude I take pretty much. You can win a race and keep your head on your shoulders and get back at it next week. I make mistakes yet every week. I’m constantly striving for excellence.”
At 30, Smith still has dreams of someday racing for a living.
The days of Smith racing 80 nights in a season, four nights a week are pretty much over and done with. Yet Smith has raced at an estimated 100 racetracks during his career. His feature win total is estimated somewhere in the mid-70s. He’s earned nine track and series championships – many of them coming at Oshkosh Speedzone and 141 Speedway in Francis Creek.
So, what is the favorite asphalt track Smith as raced at over the years? “Truthfully I really loved Golden Sands Speedway in Plover,” Smith said. “It’s super smooth and it’s really wide.”
Sadly, two of Smith’s favorite racetracks no longer are in existence. “When it comes to Wisconsin dirt tracks, I absolutely loved a pair of fairgrounds racetracks – Chilton and Oshkosh. Chilton’s bullring was always a real tacky surface and Oshkosh was so wide. There was so much room at that place you could run anywhere. Sadly, neither track is open anymore and that’s a shame. I really miss both of those places.”
Smith’s team of marketing partners includes The Floorsmith, House of Flooring, Hank & Karen’s Pub and Grill, Precision Cut Construction, Valley Sealcoat Inc., Carow Land Surveying, Finishline Towing, Gomez Fishing and Guiding Service, BDRT, Kutter’s Landscape & Maintenance, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, Fox Cities Towing, JD’s Drive In, Autoworx, Competition Specialists and Precision Powder Coating & Blasting.