Brady Smith Took the World
December 5, 2005 | By: Bucky Doren

Brady Smith (Solon Springs, WI) had one mission in mind, to win the World Dirt Racing League driver's championship. Few knew the name Brady Smith when the 2004 campaign started, but race teams and race fans along the WDRL trail knew it by season's end.

"I have a lot of confidence in our program and myself as a driver," reflected Smith prior to the WDRL banquet. "I thought from the 'get-go' there was a shot that we could win the whole thing. When we sat down and decided to run the whole thing, of course we wanted to win the Rookie of the Year, and we are very proud to have done that, but our goal was to win the whole thing."

The decision to follow the World Dirt Racing League through out the upper Midwest did not come until early April. The team raced the WDRL's opening weekend at Davenport (IA) Speedway and West Liberty (IA) Raceway the first weekend of April. The team liked what they saw, combined that with a couple of good runs, and the team decided to go for it.

Brady Smith Racing Sponsors for 2004: Kapus Erickson Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep Pro Power Racing Big River Motorsports Willow River Saloon Hood Loaders and Slashers VP Racing Fuels Bud Light Beer Copp Racing Products Key Reality Solon Springs Hardware Hawk Interstate Batteries Wehrs Machine Mastersbilt by Mars Buzz Signs and Graphix.

"Normally people would have their plans ironed out and all that stuff way before they start racing," explained Smith. "For what ever reason we didn't, and we had just decided that it was time to go out try and do more than what we had done before."

After three years running his Mastersbilt Late Model around his Solon Springs, WI home, Brady Smith ventured out to take on the world of dirt track racing. Three wins, sixteen top-five finishes, and twenty-one top-ten finishes (in twenty-six races) later, Smith was the WDRL Champion. Smith finished 121 points ahead of two-time defending WDRL champion Kyle Berck. Its an impressive feat when you consider it was only his fourth year in a late model, and it was his first on the road.

The 2004 WDRL Champion has been in a Mastersbilt chassis all four years of his late model career, and the last two years, it has been a "Mastersbilt by Mars." Smith says that it's the support from Mastersbilt and by Jimmy & Chris Mars that has really helped the team grow and understand chassis.

"Out first year in a (Mastersbilt by) Mars car, we got a lot better, and now this year," Smith said. "I just feel we've learned a tremendous amount about the car, and Jimmy & Chris (Mars) have really helped us out a lot.

"Jimmy & Chris have their cell phones on all the time. There were times at the race track I'd call them up. They were off racing 'Xtreme' racing somewhere. As a matter of fact, at Lakeside (Speedway in Kansas City, KS) I ended up called (them) Friday night during the middle of the races," Smith remembered. He knew what he wanted to do to the car that night, but wanted to ask if there was anything else that would help. Things must have worked out as Smith took the win that night at Lake Speedway.

The Kapus Erickson, Pro Power Engines, number "2" made a lot of new friends along the way. Smith realizes that race fans are a big part of this sport and what keeps it growing, and he felt a sense of pride to make so many new fans this past season.

"I've never, in one year, made more fans then I think I made this year," admitted Smith. "It's a neat deal to go out on the road for the first year, and you just meet so many people. There are nice people every where you go. The fans are a big part of racing."

So will there be a repeat as the WDRL championship for 'The Deuce' Brady Smith? That is still up in the air at this time.

"We are looking at running for Xtreme DirtCar Series for 'Rookie of the Year' or coming back and defending the (WDRL) title," explained Smith. "But we really can't commit to anything without look at both series schedule."

Racing is still not a full-time job for Smith who sells cars for a living at Kapus Erickson Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep in Superior, WI, but driving full time is a major goal for Smith.

"I am in the process of trying to find some major sponsorship help to be able to go race full time," Smith commented. "That is my goal for next year. I want to race full time, and I just need some financial support to be able to do it, so that's where I am at right."

What ever the plan is, Brady Smith will be a name race fans will be reading about for years to come.

You can listen to more on Brady Smith with RaceRPM.com's "From the Driver's Seat: Brady Smith" by logging onto www.RaceRPM.com/Live.
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