Wayne Smith Sets Sights on Florida Sportsman Start Saturday at 4-17

Typically, southern snowbirds usually take the winter to relax and unwind in the sunshine. For Wayne Smith, he is taking an opportunity this weekend to hit the gas in one of Florida’s early season extended distance races.

Smith will compete in the Frostbite 200 at 4-17 Southern Speedway in Punta Gorda, Florida this Saturday, January 30th. The six-time Maritime Late Model Touring Champion and a former World Series of Asphalt competitor will be making his first start at the 3/8-mile oval driving the No. Z2 car.

The race will pay $10,000 to win and features over 40 entries with big names the likes of Bubba Pollard, Stephen Nasse, Steve Dorer, Michael Goddard, Anthony Cataldi and Daniel Webster among those on the entry list.

The opportunity arose to drive in the race after Smith and Kevin Ingram put the car together over the past couple months.

“I want to thank Kevin for giving me this opportunity,” said Smith leading into Saturday’s race. “We had the car up to Auburndale Speedway a few weeks ago, tested it and thought it was real good. We took it to 4-17 on Tuesday and practiced all day. The car was fairly good Tuesday, went back on Wednesday and changed a couple things, put a new set of tires on and our times are competitive with all of the cars that have been on track.”

Dulux Paints Bayers Lake and Bill Ingram each bought a set of tires for the team for the 200-lap race on Saturday at 4-17 Southern Speedway.

Smith has spent the past several winter seasons in Florida, lending a hand to Late Model teams including Chris Fontaine and Travis Wilson. While he has slowed down his own racing career in recent years in his transition to race track owner and promoter, Smith made three Street Stock starts in 2020. Those three starts resulted in runner-up finishes in the Poogie Hache Street Stock 52 at Sydney Speedway, the Ricky Bobby 150 at Speedway 660 and a win during Gunslinger Weekend at Speedway 660.

While in the South, Smith remains busy as the Maritime racing season nears closer. Plans for Petty International Raceway’s 2021 calendar are well underway after their tentative schedule was released earlier this month. More announcements are expected to come soon.

Qualifying begins for the Frostbite 200 at 5:30pm Eastern with racing beginning at 7pm Eastern. For more information on 4-17 Southern Speedway or the Frostbite 200, visit www.417southernspeedway.com or visit them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/417SSE.