Casey Smith Takes Home a Pair of Top Ten Finishes

Austin, TX 6/30/09- Casey Smith went into the third round of the Gulf Coast Championship double header looking for some racing luck as he was searching for solid finishes at both Mobile and Pensacola.  Last time in Mobile it was mechanical gremlins that forced Smith’s night to end early, while in Pensacola Casey came home with a solid third place finish. 

This time in Mobile, tires were the biggest story of this hot Saturday night.  Smith qualified in eighth position in the #99 Rapid Disposal Chevy Impala and by lap forty worked his way into the top five when the caution came out.  The thought of tires blistering sent the entire field to pit row and the lack of pit crew support sent Casey to the rear of the field after pit stops.  However, Smith was able to charge through the field in the #99 Rapid Disposal Chevy Impala to pick up a fourth place finish Saturday night at Mobile International Speedway, a place that has not been kind to Smith this year.

“We had a good car all night long. It was just that pit stop that got us; we only have three guys on our pit crew so that made it tough on us.  I really don’t understand how a place that got resurfaced three years ago wears tires out like this place does. I mean there are racing series and tracks that go 150 green flag laps without having to change tires with no problems or anything. But here they make us run such a soft tire we can’t keep the rubber from coming apart.  It’s a shame because I think we had the car to beat, but it feels good to run like we did here tonight and at least we got to the finish,” said Smith after the race.

Friday night in Pensacola, Smith qualified fourth and had a very strong car throughout the night gaining the lead by lap sixty.  That’s when racing luck turned against Smith.  A couple of lapped cars spun in front of Smith and he slowed to avoid them.  Contact after the caution came out sent the #99 Rapid Disposal Chevy Impala into a spin taking him out of the lead.  The officials sent Smith to the tail end of the longest line forcing Smith to charge back through the field, eventually making his way into a three wide battle for fourth position where a late race spin relegated Smith to a tenth place finish at Five Flags Speedway Friday night. 

“We had such a fast car tonight, we ran really well.  The finish does not indicate just how good we really were tonight. We were leading when we got caught up in that mess in the middle of the race.  We got clipped and spun when the caution was already out. Then they sent us to the rear of the longest line when we should’ve been put back where we got in line after the spin.  It was just really tough, I was trying to come back through the pack to get to the front where we were all night long and got in a mess while racing hard for position.  We ran so much better than what we have to show for it,” Smith stated after Friday night’s race.