Archive for April 2012

KANNAPOLIS, NC – Georgia INEX driver Garrett Smithley and his Mr.E Performance team traveled to the historic Hickory Motor Speedway to race on the night of the annual Easter Bunny 150. However, the mood was anything but festive as Smithley soon found himself in a dogfight in the middle of a blistering Legends race that saw him bring home another top-5 finish.

Smithley and his team were forced to overcome a major parts failure before qualifying a respectable 5th out of 18 cars. As the green flag flew, it became clear that the race leaders were setting a blistering pace. "I had my hands full today. Not only is Hickory a unique track with turns 1 and 2 being slightly different from 3 and 4, we also had to contend with lap after lap of Late Model rubber that had been laid down on the track," exclaimed Smithley. "It became pretty clear early on that the front runners were setting a blistering pace. So I was fighting hard to keep up with them. At the same time, I was running in a pack of cars that saw numerous passes back and forth."

Alluding to the battle around him, Smithley lost one position to Pro driver CJ Hulsey but held off Pros Cody Humphries and teammate Dennis Kiser to maintain his 5th place spot. At the checkered flag, Smithley retained his 5th overall position and secured a 2nd place finish in semi-pro.

"Anytime you can come to a historic track like Hickory, it's special. But to go out there and get another top-5 finish and a 2nd place in my class with all the obstacles that we had to overcome is a true testimony to how good this Mr.E Performance team is."

Garrett would like to thank the Mr.E Performance crew for all of their hard work. Smithley would also like to thanks Advanced Auto Parts of Hickory, James Edwards, Dwayne Mash, and all of his supporters.

KANNAPOLIS, NC – Georgia INEX driver Garrett Smithley and his Mr.E Performance team ventured into the Palmetto State to race Anderson Speedway last Sunday and came home with an impressive 2nd place Semi-Pro finish after dramatically charging through the field on a track he had never raced and on a weekend he had planned to race elsewhere.

“Tell you what, I cannot thank my team, Mr.E Performance, for getting my car ready on such short notice,” exclaimed Smithley making reference to a last minute decision to race Anderson Speedway. Starting 10th in a combined field of Pros, Semi-Pros, Masters, and Young Lions, Smithley charged through the field to find himself in 2nd place with nine laps remaining. “With nine to go, I tried to make a run on race leader Andrew Brown but we made some contact that knocked the toe out of my car. From there, I focused on securing the 2nd place Semi-Pro finish.”

“I’m really proud of the effort we made at Anderson. We didn’t know we were coming here until Saturday night. We had to make a motor change and I only got about 10 laps of practice in before qualifying and the feature. But I had a wicked fast car,” noted the Georgia native. “If Andrew Brown and I hadn’t made contact late in the race, I’m certain that I had the car to win. But my hat is off to him for driving a great race.” Garrett would like to thank MR. E Performance and crew for making the trip possible and all of the hard work leading up to the successful weekend.

Smithley will return to action this coming Saturday in the Carolina Competition Series (CCS) INEX Legends race at Hickory Motor Speedway following completion of the Pro All Start Series (PASS) Super Late Model race.