VOL. 53 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 20, 2016 P117
kind of gets old. So it's good
to get that monkey of the
'would have, should have,' off
my back."
Smith also feels that most
riders would have packed it in a long time ago,
carrying the burden of the bridesmaid syndrome
and the weight of years of bad luck.
"I've had more bad luck than any racer I know
of," he said. "That's why I joked at the banquet
that I wouldn't be surprised if someone in a Jared
Mees shirt was going to drop down and take my
[number-one] plate. Most people would have quit
after some of the tough luck I've had."
But Smith's not most people. He stayed the
course, put his head down and never gave up on
his dream of being a GNC champion. It's what
champions do. Now that he's got that monkey off
his back, he feels he can build on it.
"It's kind of hard to even explain," he says.
"Not that the racing is going to be any easier,
or that you're not going to try as hard, but in the
past we've always had one race where either
I've screwed up or [had] a mechanical and that's
always the one you look back on. Now that we've
Smith will tell you that he
didn't win the title alone.
He needed the help of his
Crosley-Radio Howerton
Motorsports Team.
"I'M GOING
TO WIN THIS
CHAMPIONSHIP OR
I'M GOING TO BE
GETTING HAULED
OUT OF HERE IN
AN AMBULANCE."
It was a burden that got heavier and heavier for
the guy who grew up in flat track's title town, Flint,
Michigan, the home of 16 GNC titles and more if
you add the surrounding area.
GOOD-BYE, MONKEY
"It has been a giant burden even though I'm pretty
content with my career and my life," he says. "The
last couple years of losing hasn't been fun or cool
by any means, but I've been able to just shake it
off and go on and do what I do and enjoy life. But
when people remind you, when fans and friends
and family remind you of it—that you should have
won it, and why didn't you win it, or whatever, it
