An Interview with 151 Dan Smith

Age: 28
Home Town: Stoke on Trent
Occupation: Plant driver
Family: Wife Rachel and 15month old daughter Freya
Racing career: Started racing bangers aged 15

Congratulations on qualifying for the championship for the first time, are you pleased to have qualified?
Yes, I’m well chuffed. I’d qualified for the 2Litre World Final at Hednesford last year but I couldn’t do it because of other commitments which was disappointing as it’s not too often I get a chance to race in big races like this one so when this came up I was really pleased.

You weren’t the first choice for the seeded entry from Buxton as Jake Crawley was first in line but you appeared to snap up the place when it was offered to you?
Well that’s a funny story because I actually offered it to someone else first. Lee Turner finished behind me in the (2013) points and he’s a good friend who travels around a lot more than me and races unlimiteds more than I do so when I was contacted about the race I actually phoned Lee and offered to step aside if he wanted to do it. It was weird because once I’d done that I kind of regretted it because then I started to want to do it myself so when he rang me back and said he couldn’t do it I was actually really pleased and confirmed my place straight away before I had anymore silly changes of heart!

This will also be your first visit to Mildenhall to race, are you looking forward to that as well?
Yes I am because I’ve been to watch at Mildenhall a few times and always wanted to have a go racing there because it’s a track I think I will enjoy so this is a great excuse to finally get that done and tick the track off my list. Even though I’m registered with Buxton I really enjoy my shale racing. I’ve done quite a bit at Stoke lately but I have also been to Belle Vue and Coventry a bit and I really enjoy racing on the shale so I’m looking forward to trying my luck at Mildenhall now. The thing I like so much about shale is the surface makes the racing a lot more equal than on tarmac. On tarmac you have to be quick and if you’re not you’re either running round at the back or you are in the fence but on shale, speed isn’t the be all and end all, it’s more about the driver and the luck on the day rather than how good your car is or how much you have spent.

With that in mind do you fancy your chances in this race?
(laughs) No, not really! I consider myself dead lucky to have qualified really. Romeo (800 Tom Hannah) won the points at Buxton but thankfully for me he’d already qualified and I think there were others ahead of me in the points who would have taken the place I have if they hadn’t already qualified so I think I’m quite lucky to have this chance because everything has fallen my way. I’m looking forward to it though because I don’t often get the chance to race in races like this and the race really is a best of the best type grid so it’s pretty exciting just being in the race. But then again, being on shale you don’t know what to expect and anything can happen so who knows, I’ll do my best. I think you have to try and treat it like any other race and try and forget it’s a big championship. I imagine the nerves will be playing up come the night but if I can keep my nose clean and finish maybe I’ll do alright. 

Having never raced at Mildenhall, did you have much knowledge of the event prior to being informed you’d qualified this year?
I had a bit. I’d obviously heard of the race because it is one of the bigger championships at the moment but I didn’t know too much about how you qualify and stuff like that, only that the race seemed to always have good drivers in it. I’ve watched one on video which much have been the 2012 event and that looked excellent, a really good banger race so I hope this year is similar. 

Have you decided what car you will be racing in the championship?
I’ve started building a Volvo 240 estate for the race which I think will be the best car for me. I’m expecting it to be a rough race so I think you need a good, solid car under you if you are to have a chance of finishing and I would be really pleased if I could finish. Again I’ve seen videos from Mildenhall before and the Volvo seems like a good car there, I imagine because it’s a bit stronger and because of the size of the track and the shale it’s not all about having a fast car. I remember seeing Boxer Jack (331 Jason Jackson) race a Volvo there and I think that is the only time I’ve seen him race one so if it’s good enough for him. 

You’ve mentioned the 2012 event, which was the first time the meeting was ran to an unlimited meeting at Mildenhall, does the unlimited format give a greater appeal for yourself?
Yes, it does. Don’t get me wrong I don’t mind racing 2litre bangers and Mondeos, I race them quite often at my more local tracks but I do prefer unlimited racing and I think a lot of people do, unlimited racing is more fun and there is definitely a higher level of skill needed to do well in one but racing Mondeos is certainly cheaper, I couldn’t afford to race unlimiteds every week so having the 2litre meetings allows me to race more often on my budget. 

You were recently the subject of some discussion where people where highly critical of your performance for the Northern Army in the Tanks (unlimited) division at the Civil War when you were in fact experiencing problems with your car. Did the comments bother you at all?
Not really. I had a very bad day at the War, after about a lap I got spun and got whacked in the front wheel and it busted my steering. I tried to keep going because it’s a team race and you want to help your team mates but the car wouldn’t do what I wanted and in the end I admit it made me look a bit silly and I probably would have been better to have just retired. But I wasn’t asked to do the meeting until the Friday before when some drivers pulled out. I was building the car for the all Volvo meeting at Belle Vue and it was already stripped so I said I could finish it and race if needed and that’s what we did so the whole thing was a bit of a mad panic and sadly I didn’t much in the way of results with it. As for the comments, that’s just part of racing now that you get people make remarks without getting the full story. It’s a shame there are some like that but I did speak to few people on the day who came and asked what was wrong and you don’t mind explaining it to them, at least they take the time to come and speak with you and have a chat.

Has all the bad luck put you off doing the meeting in the future?
Not at all. I’ve already spoke to Romeo who helped put the team together and who asked me this year and obviously building a car at such short notice has impressed someone because he said they’d put my name down again next year if I’d like to do it again and I would like to do it again if possible and hopefully have more time to make sure the car is better and hopefully have a better day. It’s still one of the biggest meetings of the season and it’s a big deal to be asked to race for your team, it was just a shame things didn’t work out this year. 

Have you made any more plans for the rest of 2014?
I hope to be as busy as I can be with my racing. Having only recently got married and with a baby I think I’m probably about as busy as I can be without completely neglecting my family and it’s important to me than I keep a food balance my racing and my family but I’d like to try and do some different places if I can. Obviously there is Mildenhall for the first time and I’d like to try and get to Wimbledon as well. 

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
The rest of the team in the Jerky Boys, they are a great bunch of lads to race with and everyone helps everyone out and they are a big help for me and also to my wife for her support. 

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