Smith Motorsport

2011 Season

2011-03-03T17:49:00.003Z

It's nearly racing time!!!! Well here we go again and we find ourselves at the start of another season (Well nearly). Things have gone well here with both the www.a1performanceproducts.com truck and the www.nothingbutalpinestars.com truck both ready to be unveiled for the new season. We have already had our first taste of action this year competing in the live action arena at the autosport show, Action being the key word as once again pickups decided to do a little rubbing! This year is once again set to eclipse the previous with a very sizeable calendar and new drivers joining the fold, 2011 is set to be Fantastic. Have a look at the 2011 race dates and see what races you can attend but be sure not to miss Brands Hatch on the 26/27 March where the www.nothingbutalpinestars.com truck will be unveiled in it's stunning new livery!

2010-11-19T19:31:00.007Z

2010 Season Over

2010-10-31T20:28:00.001Z

Well thats it, The 2010 season is now over. A massive congratulations to Steve Dance on winning the 2010 Championship and to Nic Grindrod on the 2010 Oval Championship. Its been a long season, A somewhat emotional one i guess seeing as i am sat writing this feeling very down, Now i know you may be thinking that going into the final rounds we werent going to recover and win the championship and i fully agree with that, I don't feel like this because we didnt win it, I feel this way as i have worked out the final points and no matter which way i look at it, we lost the championship through 1 engine failure. I dont know how the rest of the team are feeling right now as they are still travelling back from Brands (I couldnt be there due to work) and the earliest i will catch up with them is tomorrow, On saying that i cannot be sad about the season on a whole as we had a great season apart from 1 hiccup, 2 fastest qualifying's, 4 fastest laps, 1 Win, 2 2ND's and 5 3RD's. Consistency had been our key this season and it is something we can build on next season, Normally it would be quiet time now before prep for next season but not this time, Both trucks will be stripped and rebuilt over the next 2 months, But moving on from that we all have plenty of work to do, Myself i have the challenge of attempting to re-design SmithMotorsport.co.uk, Work on the Pickup Truck Racing site and also keep adding and building www.a1performanceproducts.com so there is going to be no quiet time to be had. So thats all there is to say at the moment, On a final note, Well done to all who make Smith Motorsport what it is, Geoff Smith, Steven Fishburn, Danny Snowdon, Barry Fishburn, Myself and Michael Smith (had to thank Michael as he is integral to the team lol) we done well this year and we will build on this!

Long Break

2010-07-18T19:52:00.000+01:00

Well we seem to be pretty far into our long mid season break now and it's been pretty much Relaxed so far, We attended the Hot Rod world final, The F1 @ Silverstone and now parts of the team are enjoying a 3 week break in the South of Spain. Unfortunatly there is not really any news to report as such, Pickups were on TV Friday gone and repeated times over the weekend. I must say it was a good show and projected the pickups well as a closely raced championship (at least i thought so), So i guess thats a good thing,17 Trucks looked well on TV aswell and also the drivers put on a great show and showed we can mix it up and rub each other as good as the Touring Cars if not better! Well Thruxton approaches and if we can repeat or better what we did at Mallory then we are in for a storming weeked! Till then, Keep checking back for any new updates.

9 Week Break

2010-06-20T11:09:00.002+01:00

Well a good meeting was had at Mallory Park last weekend where we managed to take a 2nd, 3rd and 6th and extended our lead very slightly in the championship which can only be classed as a succesful weekend. The racing was very close and hard fought and also seen a turn out of 17 Trucks, which is a far cry from what we saw at the last Rockingham. So moving on from Mallory, i am sure you are all aware that we should of had dates at Rockingham and Mondello Park in Ireland. Well them 2 rounds have been cancelled due to a number of reasons which as a team we agree with, There seemed to be clashes with lots of other events ie Hot Rod World Final, World Cup and various other factors so it seemed to be the only sensible thing to do. The Rockingham Round is possibly to be rescheduled for September. So with a 9 week break ensuing what will we do? Well there is BTCC @ Croft today which members of the team are attending (minus me, work again), Hot Rod World Final and various Brisca F1 meetings Then there is the perfect time for everyone to squeeze holidays in. With the Truck all ready done for the next round @ Thruxton it also means that Steven (Crew Chief) can also get more work done on his F2 and maybe even grace some tracks with his presence! Well thats about it for now but i am sure between now and Thruxton there will be more news to report on and let you all know about!

Upcoming Rockingham

2010-05-26T10:28:00.003+01:00

Well this weekend see's the return to Rockingham but with 2 differences, Firstly the meeting is Saturday only and secondly, we are running 2x20 lap race's and 1x35 lap race which should make for some great racing. Our last outing made for some fantastic close racing and the a1performanceproducts.com truck was running strong so hopefully we are very close to that first win on the Oval, We have won at Rockingham in the past but not since we made the move onto the full oval. Phil White once again will no doubt prove to be strong round the Rock with the Ford engine proving very capable there. Once again the website will be updated with the results and standings as and when they happen on Saturday, So if you cannot make it to the Rock why not check back at Smith Motorsport for all of the results and goings on during the day.

Sunday Morning Musings

2010-05-02T10:18:00.002+01:00

Well still many weeks to go until the next round of the LINE-X pickup truck championship at Rockingham. I wonder what that weekend will bring? Phil White had his fair share of problems with the Ford engine @ Brands Hatch but at Rockingham the engine is very strong but as the results and timings showed, The Vauxhall engines can hold there own against the ford and it is all really down to who gets the best slingshot from the final draft to the line. Either way, with such a long break between Brands & Rockingham, I for one cannot wait for the action to resume!

Brands Hatch Race Report

2010-04-20T09:09:00.004+01:00

Well what a weekend that was! Last weekend was rounds 3 & 4 of the LINE-X Pickup Truck Racing Championship at Brands Hatch which provided all with a good weekend of racing. Qualifying started early afternoon on the Saturday which saw Simon Carr topping both time sheets and ourselves 3rd & 4Th respectively, unfortunately for ourselves we had a problem which seemed to be a fueling issue which meant getting drive out of clearways seemed to be an issue. Sunday Morning saw the first race, and for ourselves we thought we were on top of the fueling issue but that did not appear to be the case, It was a frantic start with Damien Carr and Nic Grindrod racing towards the Druids Hairpin jostling for position for the better line which ultimately Damien took, behind the leaders there was lots of changes too, Simon Carr in the #15 LINE-X Truck was moving up a couple of places as was the 2009 Champion, Pete Stevens, By Lap 8 Nic Grindrod was starting to have issues with his truck which meant he was starting to lose gears and subsequently track position to Pete Stevens and Michael Smith. By lap 14 Nic's problems worsened and he started to experience engine problems which pushed him even further down the pecking order. With Damien building up a 6 second lead it was left to Michael and Pete to battle for 2ND and 3rd which resulted in a 2ND for Pete & 3rd for Michael, I personally cant help but feel the result may of been different had we not been nursing a fuel issue but that is racing you take the rough with the smooth. Nothing can be taken away from Damien who had an excellent race. Sunday Afternoon was Race 2 which we knew we were going to be starting with the same issues as we could not rectify them prior to the race so for ourselves it was more about damage limitation with no realistic opportunity for a podium unless we managed an early lead then some ultra defensive driving which did not happen. The race started with Lee Rogers from pole and Dave Briggs in second racing to Druids and Lee keeping the lead out, Not everyone managed the Druids Hairpin so gracefully as Simon Carr and Martin Heath ended up in the gravel trap which brought out the safety car. Racing got back underway on lap 6 with Lee still in the lead from Dave Briggs and Paul Saunders in the #90 Truck in third. Lap 10 saw Dave Briggs take the lead from Lee Rogers and a little later saw Steve Dance take 3rd from Paul Saunders. Not content with 4Th, Steve Dance was now eyeing up Lee Rogers 2Nd which he ultimately took on Lap 17 and left Lee holding onto 3Rd dearly for his first podium. Simon Carr was experiencing his own problems from his earlier off which meant he was driving just to get enough laps to get in the points. Now i don't know if it was the sun but some drivers seemed more intent with being off the track than being on it, the next being Dave Longhurst which forced his retirement. The race ended with Dave Briggs holding on to his lead with a hard charging Steve Dance finishing 2Nd from Lee Rogers in 3rd. For ourselves we ended 8Th which as i mentioned earlier was damage limitation especially as after the race when checking the truck after Michael reported handling issues after an incident with Dave Longhurst we found a shock absorber to be snapped in half so i imagine that may of caused a handling issue or two. So all in all a good weekend had by all. Now a long break for everyone before we head back to Rockingham for rounds 5 & 6.

Mark's Friday Ramblings

2010-04-09T16:31:00.003+01:00

Well this is it! It's Friday and the Season starts this weekend. Feels like the winter has been twice aslong waiting for the season to come around, We have been loaded up since Wednesday night so started to do the last little bits on the circuit Truck. Not long returned from the garage where there is an air of calm before the off, well from everyone apart from me who has nothing but rage at having to work this weekend! The big questions are, Who is going to be straight on form this season, What are the new Ford engines that some teams are running going to be like? We have some old faces returning, Richard Novell who missed the 2009 season returns this year as does Dave Longhurst who raced Pickups about a decade ago but has since had many success's in Hot Rods, How quick will Dave re find his feet in the Formula? All in all i think we are in for another great season. Well i hope everyone has a great weekend, i will not be there but as i will constantly be in touch with the team the website will be updated as quick as it always is so if you also cannot make it then check back here for all of the results.

New Season

2010-03-16T07:55:00.004Z

Well the new season is upon us and we are just putting the finishing touches to everything to be ready for Rockingham in April, We have just received the engines back from the engine builder and these will be fitted by the weekend. If this season is a close as the last we will be in for another good year! See you all at Rockingham.

2009 Awards Dinner

2009-11-18T10:00:00.003Z

Well last Saturday was the 2009 Awards Dinner and a final chance for the teams to get together this year and receive any awards they had won. I will be doing a full article on this on the main news page and should also have the photos up by tonight but i just wanted to do a quick entry here to say a personal Well Done and Congratulations to Barry Fishburn our spotter who won the Spotter of the year award. If anybody who goes to Rockingham has not heard him yet then you must try and get access to a scanner and have a listen as it can be quite entertaining at times. I am going to attatch a small recording of Barry in action to this entry. Well Done Barry!

2009 Season Over & Done

2009-11-01T20:43:00.004Z

Best blow away the dust and cobwebs, did not realise i had not posted here since September. Well the 2009 season is now finished and the final standings are available on the race dates page of the site. I have to say that after the first race at Brands Hatch today myself i was quietly concerned that any further issues like that of race 1 then we would lose our 3rd Place in the Championship to Stevie (Dance), But i had not even considered what happened in the second race could of happened, For Whatever the reason, Phil (White) did not finish the second race whilst we managed a 3rd, Suddenly things had turned around we found ourselves finishing the championship in 2nd Place behind Pete Stevens, And Phil being relegated to 4th with Stevie Dance moving up to 3rd. Well i would not of predicted that!!! SO after a long and hard season which has been fraught with Highs and Lows, Like other's we have had our share of bad luck but as a team we are more than happy with our final championship position, And Michael has enough to be pleased about, 1 Fastest Lap, 2 Fastest Qualifying Sessions, 3 Wins, 1 Second & 2 Thirds! All in all i feel that is a pretty good season and is testament to all of the hard work that everybody involved at Smith Motorsport puts into making this happen. Finally i would like to say Congratulations to Pete Stevens 2009 Oval and overall Championship winner, Steve Dance who has been very quick all season and finished 3rd, And Commiserations to Phil White who missed out on 3rd in the championship at the very last hurdle. Last but not least, Congratulations and well done to all involved with Smith Motorsport!!!!

Oval Championship

2009-09-07T18:29:00.007+01:00

Well that's the Oval Championship decided and what an excellent day of racing it provided. The day started off with qualifying and everything seemed to be routine until the first session was red flagged due to Steve Pearce in the #29 truck losing the rear end and ending up in the wall on the exit to turn 4, Qualifying resumed when the truck and debris was removed from the circuit and continued without further incident. We were happy with our qualifying and did not feel the need to change anything for the race. Race 1 got underway with Carl Boardley & John Mickel on the front row leading the pack through turn 1, By the end of the first lap Antony Hawkins had moved into the lead followed closely by Nic Grindrod, Pete Stevens and the rest of the pack. By the end of the second Lap Nic Grindrod had moved into the lead but before this lap was over Phil White had moved from 3rd to 1st which he held onto for a couple of laps before Michael Smith moved into the lead for a lap, The hard charging Phil White retook the lead from Michael and held onto it for about 8 laps and once again passed by Michael Smith, Once again this lasted one lap before Phil resumed the lead. Michael And Phil once again swapped positions only for them to swap back again! On lap 25 Pete Stevens in his #4 truck decided he wanted to be in on the action and took the lead from Phil, This was only to be short lived for 2 laps as Phil White took his lead back until lap 33 when Pete Stevens who was 5 points ahead in the Oval Championship passed Phil again determined not to let him gain any ground in the championship. Unfortunately for Pete, Phil was determined to keep hold of his lead and passed him again and took the chequered flag in what was one of, If not the best Oval race of the season so far. with the first 8 cars crossing the line within 3 seconds of each other.

Race 2 started with Phil and Pete tied in the Oval Championship standings with this race deciding the champion it did not disappoint. Nic Grindrod led the proceedings for the first 2 Laps as Phil began to climb up the positions and Pete slowly slipping down them, by the end of lap 3 Phil had taken the lead which he held onto until lap 12 when he was passed by Nic Grindrod and Pete Stevens who carved his way back through the pack,this lasted 2 laps before Phil retook the lead and Pete was pushed back down to 7th. At this point on lap 15 the top 10 cars were all within 1.5 seconds of each other and providing so spectacular close racing with plenty of position changes. On Lap 16 Gavin Seager managed to pass Phil and proceeded to pull away from the chasing pack. By Lap 20 Phil was down to third but Pete was still back down in 7th, fast forward to lap 32 and Phil was second with Pete still down in 7th it would seem Phil was going to take the oval championship But, This being Rockingham nothing can be predicted and within 1 lap Pete had jumped up to 3rd and Phil moved down to 6th, at the start of the final lap Pete was 3rd and Phil still was in 6th, Both drivers were charging hard and Phil had managed to catch Pete by the entry to turn 3 and both drivers charged on towards 4 but Pete managed to hold off the challenge from Phil and take the Rockingham Oval championship in a race that Surpassed the first race in terms of position changes and great close racing, This truly was the race of the year! In the Pit lane Nic Grindrod climbed from his truck with a smile so wide it would normally be reserved for a victory, He was truly impressed with the level of racing and this showed on his face, Well Done Pete and commiserations to Phil.

Final Rockingham

2009-08-27T22:13:00.006+01:00

Well just over 1 week to go until the final Rockingham of the season and for the Oval championship to be decided. Phil White & Pete Stevens have 1125 & 1130 points respectively and then there is Simon Carr with 1060 and Antony Hawkins with 1035, I imagine as always all of the drivers will be battling hard especially with one of the titles up for grabs. No fresh news from our garage, we are all ready for Rockingham, Truck is setup and scaled off the only thing we have to do is load up. Well i imagine this will be the last post before Rockingham so see you all there!

Oulton Race Update

2009-06-22T20:47:00.003+01:00

The day started out very wet and it looked like we were going to be in for wet races, Qualifying was just after 10AM so we set about changing tires to suit the conditions, spanner checking the truck and giving it a final clean. Michael went onto the circuit for qualifying which was wet to say the least and proceeded to set some lap times, first lap was off the pace but as Michael set more laps he was getting quicker, he completed a total of 7 laps and ended up starting the first race in 11th and the second race on Pole. By the time we were ready to go out for race 1 the circuit had dried out but as they all assembled in pit lane it started to drizzle again and it seemed the possibility of rain was upon us again, The weather soon passed and the trucks rolled out onto the grid. No race is easy but this seemed more difficult by having Phil White, Pete Stevens, Nic Grindrod and more ahead of us. Race seemed to start well and the truck felt good but an incident on lap 2 which resulted in Michael going off track dropped him to 17th, The next 14 laps Michael battled really hard to try and work his way back up the grid and finished the race in 7th position, Nic Grindrod took the win in a very good race. The Team worked on repairing the damage picked up in race 1 so that we would be ready for another strong race late in the afternoon. We Started race 2 on pole with Paul Saunders alongside, Steve Dance on the row behind and Gavin on the 3rd row this was once again going to be a difficult race, Pace truck pulled off and the race was on for the first corner, Paul Saunders followed us in very closely but Michael managed to hold off his charge, This was to be the story for the rest of the race, From the start to the finish Paul Saunders pushed so hard challenging constantly for the lead in what was to be an excellent and cleanly fought race, As the chequered flag dropped Michael crossed the line followed closely by Paul Saunders and Mark Jones who had also had an excellent day of racing.

Rockingham over & on to Oulton

2009-06-05T19:56:00.005+01:00

Well what can i say? Things seemed to start so well at the Rock, fastest in qualifying, the truck so i am told felt great, not too bad in the first race taking into account that the first 9 crossed the line within 1.4 seconds, then the second race came and we were very strong then on lap 5 (i think) we got a nudge off Pete Stevens and it all seemed downhill from there, This week we have scaled the truck off from the Rock, stripped it down and identfied a problem that hindered us at the weekend, SO now that we have put that one to bed we moved onto the Circuit truck ready for Oulton, We started to work on the set up and have a couple of things left to finish off such as scaling the truck ready for the meeting. Well thats all for now. Thanks for Reading

Ready for Silverstone

2009-05-07T19:00:00.005+01:00

Well Silverstone is looming on the horizon, little over a week away now and the Truck is all set up and sorted. We are looking forward to this meeting as i am sure other teams also are being that it is a circuit we have not raced at before. Hopefully we can have a strong showing at the meeting but i am sure there will be familiar faces at or near the top, Certainly one to watch out for will be Steve Dance, It would appear no amount of ballast can slow him down so this has taken me to put my imagination into overdrive on how to slow him down, maybe replace the ballast with an anchor of the same weight dragging behind his Truck, If anybody has any better suggestion feel free to leave a comment below, If nothing else it will give me a laugh, So please all comments below. See you all at Silverstone.

Late Post

2009-04-16T16:25:00.003+01:00

Well i guess this post is slightly overdue! The last post was of the new engine and since then it has been fitted and won a race! So im guessing i need to be posting here more often, Cannot really keep posting about building a second truck which is built so i guess this blog now becomes about the Smith Motorsport team itself. So i will endeavour to make more regular posts about the team and what's happening here. Well i guess i can start that now, Rockingham coming up this weekend and we should be finished off and ready tonight, Put the truck on the scales, Make sure the wagon is all packed up with everything we need ready to load up for when we leave. I think this could be an interesting weekend with Ourselves, Steve Dance, Simon Carr and Gavin Seager all carrying success ballast from Brands Hatch, It will certainly be interesting to see what effect it has on performance. Well thats about it for now but i will endeavour to make a post over the weekend.

ENGINE!!!!!!

2009-03-23T18:43:00.005Z

New Week & New Post, We picked up the new engine from B&J Race Engines on Saturday afternoon and fitted it on sunday. The Engine went straight in and fired up straight away with no issues at all, Not that we expected any from a new engine but i have known stranger things to happen! So i have put a couple of pictures here from when we got it back on Saturday. Well my next post which will be in a couple of days will be the truck with all the graphics on and ready to go so check back soon. Thanks for reading.

Finally, A New Entry!

2009-03-16T09:53:00.002Z

Well no pictures this week, Thought i best post something up as it has once again been a very long while since i posted here. Well as far as i am aware the panels are all to be fitted over the coming days, We sprayed them over the weekend and i have to say they are looking nice, And as soon as they are fitted and have all the graphics on then i will be putting the pictures up here so watch this space for the new pictures. Thanks for reading.

Another Week, Another Entry!

2009-02-18T22:49:00.008Z

Another week another blog entry, Well the truck is now on wheels, fire extinguisher is fitted and the dash switch panel has been fitted. We are awaiting the seat which is coming from the States along with the new helmet which is currently being painted by Beam Designs who are a leading helmet painter in the states and paint the vast majority of helmets for Nascar drivers. We are awaiting oil lines then the truck is ready for the engine and drive train. All of the body panels are in the body shop and should be back with us soon, We have decided that the new chassis will be the Rockingham Truck and the old chassis will be the Circuit Truck. As per usual i have included a few pictures, Thanks for stopping by.

A Little More Done!

2009-02-07T16:26:00.011Z

Sorry about the time between the last post and now, Not quite been every week but hopefully we're back on track, So we have had a little progress along the lines of Starting to put in the oil lines, We have fitted the dashboard and all the wiring behind it, We have gotten further with the steering and the coil is on. We also have 1 engine currently with B&J Race Engines and another ready to go to B&J. 7 weeks to the start of the season and it still feels forever away, At present we have 2 trucks in pieces, 1 engine not back and 1 still to go, it's amazing to think that in 7 weeks both trucks will be finished, both engines will be fully finished and fitted and that we will be at Brands Hatch. Well that's about it for this post, If there is any specific thing you would like me to take a pic of or anything you would like to know more about then feel free to email me (Mark) from the contact page on the website, Thanks for reading.

A Little Progress

2009-01-18T20:11:00.006Z

Well we have had a little progress on the build, We spent some time in the garage and we have got the the front corners built up to the extent of Wishbones, Suspension and brakes. To the rear we have the axle in, Suspension and brakes. We also have the fuel pump on, The oil tank in, and made a start on the wiring harness. I will include some pictures here so you can see our progress. Check back soon for more updates.

New Parts!!

2009-01-16T08:23:00.009Z

Finally, new parts for the 2nd truck arrived yesterday so it was like christmas day in the garage last night, Tearing everything open, checking them all, then putting them away to put on the truck as and when we reach each stage in the build, So i took some pics of the bits and pieces before they go on the Truck, then we will have pics when they are fitted.

The Start

2009-01-15T07:39:00.005Z

Well i realised it would be a good idea to post a picture before we started on this project so all going well it should appear here, I decided on this pic as it shows what it is now and what it is going to become, So all pictures from now on should show progress on the chassis in some way, shape or form. Stop by again soon for more updates.

Pickup Build

2009-01-09T07:23:00.002Z

Well there is going to be no building happening on the new truck this weekend, It is that time of the year again (Autosport Show) So it is going to be a weekend away from the garage and off to Birmingham, We will be bringing you an update with pics on the build next week, Stop by again to check for updates.

New Blog

2009-01-06T15:51:00.001Z

We aim to provide updates on this new build as often as possible including the pictures, Please Check back regularly to see the progress.