Paul Smith has returned to fuel racing, again ... - NHRA.com

Paul Smith hasreturned to fuel racing,again, reteaming withformer driver Jeff Arendfor more Funny Car gloryby Bruce DillashawConsistency is a big word in drag racing thatusually refers to on-track performance. Butconsistency is also quite important, and oftenjust as hard to sustain, when speaking ofstaying on top of the sport’s evolving technology. PaulSmith, one of a mere handful of drag racers who hasearned a living in the sport, is one who has.“I’ve always run my cars like a business,” Smithsaid. “An engine is a toolbox. When you’re amechanic, you buy tools to make a living; in dragracing, your motor is your tools. If you take care ofyour tools, you will stay in business a long time.”In his 35th year of racing a fuel car, Smith, 58,tuned Jeff Arend to the final round of the 2005edition of the O’Reilly NHRA Thunder ValleyNationals presented by Q in Bristol. Based on Arend’sdeep-staged 4.90 from the semifinals, the former PaulSmith Driving School student was only about fourhundredthsslower than eventual winner Gary Scelzi,to whom Arend narrowly lost when his car’s fuelpumpdriveshaft broke before the finish line. It wasArend’s second NHRA national event final driving aSmith-owned and –tuned car. When Arend droveSmith’s Funny Car in Reading in 1996 while Smithrecovered from a broken ankle, Arend defeated TonyPedregon, who was in his first year of driving forJohn Force, 5.18 to 5.20, for his first and Smith’ssecond NHRA national event victory.(Above) With modern parts to begin their second straight season together, returning driver Jeff Arend drove veteran PaulSmith’s CMKXtreme Machine Funny Car to a runner-up finish in Bristol. (Top) Smith, right, tuned Arend to his driver’s onlywin, in Reading in 1996, in their last pairing before both returned to the tour in Houston last year after many years away.34 ✦ National DRAGSTER

“I’m somewhat computer illiterate,” Smith said. “Imean I can turn it on and off, and I look at the flowcontrols and the rpm, but I’m a Dick LaHaie-type ofguy. I look at the top piston rings to see if they’repitted or if the rod bearings have been squeezed wide.A happy motor is a fast motor. If it looks good, it’sgoing to run good. In Bristol, I might have glanced atthe computer once, but I was too busy watching myguys to see that the car went back together right.”Birth of a racerSmith was hired to drive in NHRA’s Funny Car eliminatorin 1970, only the class’ second year of existence.Two years later, he quit his masonry job in Miami torace full time and has been making his living from dragracing ever since. He has compiled a successful résumédespite the dearth of wins at the national level.In 1974, Smith finished second nationally toNHRA world champ Shirl Greer in the last year of thepre-Winston era. Don Prudhomme was third. Withthat notoriety and in the middle of the barnstormingFunny Car match race era, Smith moved his family tothe Northeast to be closer to the bunched trackswhere the touring pros were match racing severaltimes a week or more.“We ran IHRA, NHRA, and whatever match racesI could get,” Smith said. “I was based out of NewJersey back then, and we would race two or threeSmith, who began racing inFunny Car in 1970, only theclass’ second year as anNHRA eliminator, tuned TopFuel pilot Danielle DePorterto the NHRA Rookie of theYear award in 1992. In 1993,Smith founded the fuelmechanics and drivingschool that he still operates.times a week with the Phillips & Shores Fireball Vega.I drove the race car, tuned it, and drove the truck. Wewould race in Epping, N.H., or Atco [N.J.] on Fridayand Englishtown on Saturday.”By 1976, Smith owned a Funny Car, later calledEntertainer, before driving Larry Coogle’s TheSting car — named after the popular 1973 moviestarring Paul Newman and Robert Redford —during the 1979 and 1980 seasons. Smith made itto his first NHRA national event final in 1980,when he runner-upped to Billy Meyer at the 1980Cajun Nationals after qualifying No. 1.Building a businessFrom the mid-1980s through the 1990 season,Smith tuned for Chuck Etchells in Etchells’ first stintin the Funny Car class. Smith helped Etchells to hisfirst NHRA national event win, in 1990 in Englishtown.At the end of his tenure with Etchells, Smithopened Paul Smith’s Top Fuel Drag Racing School toteach newcomers how to build a complete engine,service a car, and earn a license. Today, his sons Johnand Mike and John’s father-in-law Virgil Hartman runthe driving and licensing portion of the school whileSmith still teaches engine building and partsservicing to about two students a week during thewinter at the Boynton Beach, Fla., school.“The guys who are good, I find them jobs,” Smithsaid. “I send them out to Dick LaHaie, DonPrudhomme, Austin Coil, Kenny Bernstein — they’reeverywhere.”Smith runner-upped to Al Hofmann in Seattle in1992, the year he tuned Danielle DePorter, drivingSmith’s Top Fueler, to the NHRA Rookie of the Yearaward. Racing sporadically in the early 1990s, Smithraced his car a few more times after his and Arend’sReading win, but from 1997 to 1999, he devoted mostof his time to running his fuel school.The modern eraIn 1999, returning Funny Car racer Bob Gilbertsonacquired Smith’s tuning and team-organization skills. Ayear later, Gilbertson had his first NHRA national eventwin and Smith his third when they won in Houstonfrom the No. 16 qualified spot. In 2001, they added twomore final rounds, in Las Vegas and Denver.By early 2004, Jeff Arend and business partnerJeff Flasco had hooked up with Canadian diamondminer Urban Casavant and his CMKX company. In amatter of weeks, Smith and family had assembled aused chassis bought from Don Schumacher and aneven more used Corvette body. Nevertheless, afterSmith and Arend debuted at the fifth race of 2004,Houston, with a No. 3 4.87, they failed to qualify theoutdated car only three times through the season’sfinal 18 events. But they also didn’t win any rounds.Smith’s 2005 season already is brighter, basedlargely on the team’s runner-up in Bristol. They beganthe season with an ’05 slip-joint Murf McKinney-builtcar and Monte Carlo body. Also instrumental are thehiring of ignition specialist Ronnie Thompson, whospent the previous four years working with Lee Beardon Whit Bazemore’s Funny Car, and the continuedservice of truck driver Michael Hennessey, who hasworked with Smith since the 1970s.With the benefit of all of the best parts for one ofthe few times in a long career and a runner-up inBristol on which to build, Smith is on his way toAtlanta from Hartman’s Williamston, S.C., shop withan eye toward improving on his runner-up to EdMcCulloch there in 1990. NDOne of the many Funny Cars that Smith drove was Larry Coogle’s The Sting Trans Am in thelate 1970s. Smith (top) advanced to his first NHRA national event final round with the car atthe 1980 Cajun Nationals (above). (Below) After beginning in drag racing as a hired driver in1970 and finishing second in national points in 1974 behind Shirl Greer and ahead of DonPrudhomme, Smith began racing his own Funny Car in 1976.May 20, 2005 ✦ 35