Thursday, September 24, 2009

Moses Smith Continues Climb
at All American Speedway


For the second year in a row, the Camping World West Series championship has come down to the final race of the year. The Toyota Copart 150 presented by Golden State Steel and Stair, which is the second CWWS race in Roseville this season, features some of the best stock car drivers in the west.

This prestigious group of rough-and-tumble short track racers includes three drivers who race for local team owner Bill McAnally of BMR Racing. They are Eric Holmes, driver of the No. 20 NAPA AutoParts Toyota (last year's CWWS champion), No. 12 NAPA AutoCare Toyota driver Paulie Harraka (2008 NASCR Whelen All American Late Model Series champion at AAS), and Moses Smith, driver of the No. 16 HASA Pool Products Toyota.

Smith, who is in his third year racing full-time in the CWWS, has made great strides over the past three seasons improving his performance. In 2006, after having raced a limited schedule, he finished 28th in points. In 2007 he moved up to 12th, and in 2008 he ranked sixth. This year Smith has had three top-five finishes and seven top-10 finishes.

The San Diego native who now makes his home in Tempe, AZ, started his racing career in go-karts and branched out from there. He worked as a racing instructor at Jim Hall Racing School, Bob Bondurant School of High Performance and Skip Barber Racing School. He was a test driver for Star Mountain Racing and a crew chief for a Star Mazda Pro team and a USAC Midget Team.

In 2000 Smith got his big break in a Standard Formula Mazda car. He has also raced in SCCA, Toyota Atlantic and the Infiniti Pro Series. He became a Star Mazda team owner in 2004, and an official Standard Formula Mazda dealer in 2006. In 2007 he made his Grand-Am debut in the KONI Challenge, and in 2007 he became a Grand National West Series driver on a full-time basis.

HASA Pool Products has sponsored Smith for seven years.

"HASA is a West Coast based company and they wanted to bring their racing effort closer to home," Smith said. "Our racing was starting more and more to move to the Midwest and East Coast when I was in open wheel racing, so we looked at avenues out west and the CWWS looked like a good fit."

HASA and Smith liked the fact that the CWWS had TV coverage, a lot of fans and the high level of competition in the Series.

"I tested for Bill McAnally Racing and Bill liked what he saw and we liked what we saw, so we put a deal together between BMR, MSR, and HASA,” Smith said. "I think I am one of the luckiest guys in the series when it comes to sponsorship. HASA is great. I get to do meet and greets at pool shows, at distributors, and company parties and picnics. My performance outside the car is just as important as my duties inside the car. When I am on the track I have to race clean, put on a good shown and finish up front."

Smith has experience in Truck and Super Late Model racing, but since joining CWWS, he has focused on racing stock cars. He credits fellow CWWS driver Mike David for being a big help to him in the Series.

"Mike David has helped me a lot and I have a good team and a good crew chief. This year I have more experience and I'm much more comfortable with the car," Smith said. "I am excited to be coming back to Roseville.”

Smith loves the CWWS fans and was voted Most Popular Driver by the fans in 2008. This year fans have until Sept. 26 to vote for their Most Popular Driver in CWWS by going to: http://www.nascar.com/news/features/mpd.poll.camping.world.west/index.html.

Smith said he wants to continue to gain more experience and his hopes and dreams are to move up the NASCAR ladder. He owns Moses Smith Racing, a Mazda dealership, race prep shop and online store specializing in Standard FM Parts and hardware.

Star Race Cars and MSR announced last week that Moses Smith Racing, LLC, headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, will take over all support for the approximately 300 Standard FM rotary-powered race cars currently in use across North America, as well as the MRS sports racer, a full-bodied version of the Standard FM.

This Saturday, All American Speedway will not only be the venue for the final race of the Camping World West Series (the Toyota Copart 150 presented by Golden State Steel and Stair and hosted by Bill McAnally), but the program will also include the USAC Western Sprint Cars in the Riebes Auto Parts 100 and the USAC Midgets.

As an added bonus, there will be a 20-lap race celebrating the City of Roseville's 100th birthday that features local TV and radio personalities racing for charity. All the celebrity drivers have been practicing for the last couple of weeks to get ready for the race, trying to match up to the pros.

Not every city in the country can boast of having a local track that showcases local racers in four major divisions, as does All American Speedway.

Moses Smith is in good company.

For more information on the CWWS race at All American Speedway in Roseville go to:
www.allamericanspeedway.com or www.localracing.nascar.com.

For tickets go to: www.billmcanallyracing.com.

For local and national motor sports coverage go to: www.motorsportsmania.biz.


by Jeannie Broussal


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