Sportsman Star Smith Forms G&S Racing With Hometown Fans for ’14

Story by Tim Terry/TimsCorner.ca, Photo by McCarthy Photographic

When you are accustomed to winning major races and championships in the Late Model Sportsman ranks in Atlantic Canada, you are bound to take top billing once in a while when it comes to making headlines.

For Colby Smith, his biggest news making event of the very young 2014 season has come off the track.

The Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia driver has teamed up with hometown race fans Jerry Goreham, Joel Goreham and Kyle Smith to form G&S Racing. The start-up team will run a part time schedule in 2014, with eight major Sportsman division races on the slate for the upcoming season.

Colby Smith, the 2010 Scotia Speedworld Sportsman and 2012 NAPA Sportsman Series (Riverside Speedway) titlist notes that this is a different partnership than he has been a part of in his nearly decade long racing career. “It is exciting for me because these guys are not just a sponsor or business cutting a cheque to go racing on,” said Smith on the formation of G&S Racing. “This team will be geared toward taking care of a lot of the necessary day-to-day operations that are critical in fielding a competitive race car. On the same side of the coin, this will leave us more time to focus on the preparation and performance of the car every week in the shop and at the track.”

Smith and his team will focus on big shows for the 2014 season; some Smith has become famous for winning in the past few seasons.

“With this being our first season, we will be running a limited schedule, which, at the end of the day, will be determined by performance. If we run good and we start racking up trophies, chances are we’ll run more than the eight races scheduled. If we come home torn up, it might have us looking at scaling back.”

Smith will run the four NAPA Sportsman Series races at Riverside Speedway in James River, Nova Scotia in hopes of collecting his second championship in that prestigious series. He will also return to Scotia Speedworld on Friday, August 8th in hopes of taking home his third Dartmouth Dodge 100 to go with his 2010 and 2012 trophies.

The team will also venture to New Brunswick thrice in 2014, twice to Petty Raceway for the Caleb Dunn Memorial 125 and the River Glade International, both in August. The month of New Brunswick racing will close on Saturday, August 30th with the Speedweekend Sportsman 150 at Speedway 660, an event in which he won the big trophy and the $5,000 Irving Blending and Packaging 150 cheque last season.

Three of these races, the IWK 250 weekend Sportsman feature at Riverside Speedway on Friday, July 18th, the Caleb Dunn Memorial 125 on Saturday, August 2nd at Petty Raceway and the Dartmouth Dodge 100 at Scotia Speedworld on Friday, August 8th, will comprise the second edition of the Maritime Sportsman Challenge. Smith was the point champion of the inaugural event, which brought the three major Sportsman races at the tracks together to form a series out of the stand alone events.

The Sportsman entry will feature the iconic #77 number Smith drove to championships, Dartmouth Dodge 100s and one Shriners Classic victory at Scotia Speedworld with a look expected to be unveiled soon. Sponsorship announcements are expected within the coming weeks, which will include some of Smith’s longtime marketing partners returning with the new team. The car will be maintained at the Scott Fraser Racing shop in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia.

In addition to the eight races in the Sportsman division, the team also notes that a partial Pro Stock ride in conjunction with King Racing is not out of the question. “We are working on funding for four Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour races this season,” said Smith on his Super Late Model plans. “At this point, the car would be a second out of their stable, with their colors and #31 on the car along with some of our G&S Racing partners.”

Smith, who has run a handful of races on the Tour, including his Pro Stock Tour debut in 2012 at Speedway 660 for the Rollie MacDonald owned #13 King Freight race team, knows it is not easy to compete competitively on the series. “We’re excited to partner up with Rollie and Andrew (Hicken) from King Racing. Their gear is top notch and they have the knowledge to make it go fast. It will help us overcome a lot of the “growing pains” that come along with making that transition (from Sportsman to Pro Stock) and trying to compete on the series.”

Smith is targeting the two 250 lap features (IWK 250 presented by Steve Lewis Auto Body on July 19th at Riverside and the 15th Annual Atlantic CAT 250 on August 9th at Scotia Speedworld) along with two early season 150-lap features at Riverside Speedway on June 14th and Scotia Speedworld on June 21st as the four Pro Stock dates for the partnership.

Fans can follow the team and all the latest news from G&S Racing on their new Facebook page.

2014 G&S RACING SPORTSMAN SCHEDULE

*Schedule subject to change without notice

Saturday, June 14th @ Riverside Speedway (50 Laps, NAPA Sportsman Series Opener)

Friday, July 18th @ Riverside Speedway (100 Laps, NAPA Sportsman Series, Maritime Sportsman Challenge Race #1)

Saturday, August 2nd @ Petty Raceway (125 Laps, Caleb Dunn Memorial 125, Maritime Sportsman Challenge Race #2)

Friday, August 8th @ Scotia Speedworld (100 Laps, Dartmouth Dodge 100, Maritime Sportsman Challenge Race #3)

Saturday, August 16th @ Riverside Speedway (NAPA Sportsman Series)

Friday, August 22nd @ Petty Raceway (100 Laps, River Glade International)

Saturday, August 30th @ Speedway 660 (150 Laps, Speedweekend)

Saturday, September 6th @ Riverside Speedway (75 Laps, NAPA Sportsman Series Finale)

Photos by McCarthy Photographic