Smith Caps off Blizzard Season with Season Best Finish

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tex Motorsports Marketing
www.texmotorsports.com
Contact: Chris Ragle

Austin, TX 9/29/09- The final blizzard race of the season at Five Flags Speedway found Casey Smith on the outside looking in on the fight for the season long Blizzard series points championship. However, all was not lost for the #99 Rapid Disposal Chevy Impala as the field for the final Blizzard race of the season took shape.

This race was the last chance for Casey to dial in his new Hamke race car at Pensacola’s Five Flags Speedway for December’s 42^nd Annual Snowball Derby weekend. Smith qualified eighth for the Miller Lite 100, just four positions ahead of championship points leader Bubba Pollard. Smith’s qualifying effort proved to make a big difference from the drop of the green as he would be just ahead of the big wreck that would take out Bubba Pollard and a number of other cars. Track officials would red flag the race for eight minutes to clean up the front stretch.

When the racing resumed Smith began his march to the front of the field. By lap fifteen Smith had worked his way into the top five by passing John Bolen for the position and by lap twenty he had blown by “Fast” Eddie Mercer for the fourth position. The second caution of the night came out on lap thirty as the leaders including Smith all stayed out on the track. As the green flag flew on the second restart of the evening Smith was able to get by fellow Texan Stephen McCurley for the third position where he would stay through the three quarter mark of the 100 lap event. Just after the seventy-fifth lap, Smith made his move on Johanna Long for the second position. Just a few laps later the caution would fly for the third and final time at lap eighty-six.

After the pit stops, Casey Smith restarted third behind Hunter Robbins and Augie Grill. It took just three laps for Grill and Smith to work their way past Robbins and that would be how they would finish the Blizzard series finale. With Smith’s season best finish of second it moved him up one position in the final point standings to close the 2009 Blizzard series season in fourth.

“We had a good car tonight especially on the long run, but Augie was the class of the field tonight,” stated Smith. “No one was going to catch him. We would’ve liked to have been in the thick of the championship battle, but we have had some bad luck this year. Obviously we had some good luck tonight with being just in front of the big wreck at the end of the first lap, so hopefully our luck has changed. But most importantly I believe we have a good baseline with this car for the Derby in December. It was a good way to end the Blizzard season for us.”

Saturday night did not go nearly as well for Casey Smith, or any of the other teams who had hoped to compete in Mobile this week as Mother Nature dominated the day by washing out the final Gulf Coast Championship race of the season until Saturday, October 24^th at 8 pm.

For all the latest news on Texas native Casey Smith visit his website at www.caseysmithracing.com. For pr and web related issues with Casey Smith Racing contact Chris Ragle with Tex Motorsports Marketing at cragle02@yahoo.com or call 704.706.3666.