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Cowboy Craig Smith-Experience and Philosophy

By Al Drake 

Three weeks before the start of the 2000 sprint car season in the west coast, I spent an afternoon at Cowboy Craig Smith's shop in the southern end of the Bay Area. The Montana born driver now resides in San Martin south of San Jose. He’s an electrician by trade. With the new season looming, there was much work to be done. The car was just back from the painter and the bare iridescent blue J&J chassis sat with nothing more than the front and rear ends installed.  

We took a quick tour of the shop looking at the cars and expansive work area. This place was more than big enough to hold a couple of teams! Pretty nice digs for the 1997 Johnny Key Memorial winner. We sat down in an office loaded with trophies, pictures, cars, video tapes and scrapbooks to talk about where it started how its going and where it's headed..... 

SJSN:You grew up in Montana and were in Cub Scouts. That was actually your first racing experience? Tell us about your car and making it with your Dad….

“I was born and raised around racing, my dad was racing when I was born. I helped out putting the car together when I got older. But our first pine wood derby car was a sprint car. It was orange and black with a flame job on it.” 

SJSN: Your Dad was a racecar driver in Montana. Tell us about his career….

“He had a pretty incredible career actually. He had over 300 wins and won championships at every track in Montana including the Montana State Open Wheel Championship. He was what would be best described as the ‘Howard Kaeding of Montana’. He dominated a lot and was the guy to beat. “ 

SJSN: Was that on pavement of dirt?

“He only ran a few pavement races but did pretty well. Most of it was on dirt.” 

SJSN: How did your father influence your decision to get into racing? Did he approve or disapprove?

“He kind of disapproved actually. He tried to discourage me from racing. I in fact bought my first car from him but how it got started was I crewed on his car and there towards the end was crew chief. He made a promise that when I turned 17 he bought me a firesuit for my birthday and was gonna let me hotlap his car a couple times and run some heat races. The next season there was a guy that had an old offset roadster pavement car that ran around Billings and he had another guy driving it. It was kind of a pile of junk, and he showed up one night but the driver never did. He came over and asked my dad (to run it). My dad said, “well my kid has a firesuit, he’ll drive it”. I didn’t really want to drive it! My dad pulled me aside and said, “Hey! If you can learn to drive that piece of shit, you can learn to drive anything”. So that was the start. I ran it a couple of times and it was a pile of junk. It was very uncompetitive and made for pavement.  

SJSN: Did you ever run it on pavement?

“No. I just ran it on the dirt. So it was kind of weird. I ran it those couple of times then didn’t run the next year. Then 1982 was the first real year I ran a sprint car. But as far as my dads influence, He tried to discourage me because the life of a racer is tough you know. Your always scratching and scraping and trying to afford it and when you win, it’s the only time you’re really happy. Lets say you race 50 races a year, and you win 5, which is a good year (by most standards), being happy only 10 percent of the time is a tough life really. But when it all came down to it, and he saw I was gonna do it, he helped me out.”   

SJSN: How long have you been racing and what types of cars have you driven?

“1982 was my rookie year. I came out here (the Bay Area) in the fall of 1987.  I won the Montana state championship in 1986. In 1987 I went to work in Vegas, and I was driving from Las Vegas to Montana on the weekends to race. It was quite a drive. 12 hours each way.”  

SJSN: Why did you leave Montana and come out to California?

“There was no work in Montana at the time. So I was traveling around and then they went on strike in Las Vegas and I went back to Montana for a race and I won. Then came back to the strike. So I came out here. I had won the Championship in Montana and figured I had pretty much achieved everything I could up there, so I figured I’d come out her and give it a try. Then brought the car here over the winter and ran Baylands a couple of times to get my feet wet. “

 SJSN: How did you wind up at San Jose Speedway?

“By convenience mostly. I raced at Petaluma and the first time I raced at San Jose came about because I kept my car in San Mateo with a guy named Al Leese. It was the yellow 88 car. I had my 360 and he had a 377 motor so I could run San Jose.  My first night there was in the 360. Brent Kaeding was there that night running Jamie Hoods car so he could get qualified for the Key.  He wound up winning that night, but I was leading until I hit the wall and flipped.  That was the first time I met Brent, but I was fast there the first time out and really liked the place. “ 

SJSN: What was your biggest win?

“I’d have to say the Johnny Key in 1997 was the highlight of my career to this point. You know the Championship in Montana meant something, but the history behind the Johnny Key…and I just loved San Jose Speedway really. You look at the names that have won that race and I think it’s really cool to look down that list in the program and see my name in that company. There are some big names: George Snider, Clyde Palmer, Al Pombo, Marshall Sargent, Everett Edlund, Johnny Brazil. Those are some pretty great race car drivers and to be able to look down and see your name…..”

 SJSN: What was your biggest "just miss"?

”A WoO race. I’m torn really. There were two. (The first one was ) The 1992 Gold Cup at Chico.  Qualifying night I was 4^th quick and won the dash. I led the feature, Jeff Swindell got by me, I wound up running second. The other one was the Lloyd Beard Classic in 1996, I was leading and blew the rear end. “ 

SJSN: Who is YOUR favorite driver?

“Al Unser Jr is my favorite indycar driver.  Kyle Petty is my favorite Winston Cup driver. His individuality… and he comes from a great racing family. In sprint cars, locally, I’d have to say Ronnie Day. He’s exciting to watch, he’s a really good racecar driver and a good guy.  My favorite up and coming driver is Tim Kaeding, he’s fun to watch, he’s exciting. The kid’s a driver. He reminds me of me when I was younger". 

SJSN: Do you think sprint car guys still have a chance to make the Indy level?

“Yeah, I personally think so. You look at any number of guys that have gone on to bigger things that were never worth a shit at an outlaw race. Id say Outlaw guys are probably better racers, they get locked in and can’t move on. I don’t know what’s with the glass ceiling that keeps World Of Outlaw drivers from getting to Indy. Or even Winston Cup. Jeff Gordon never did (well) WoO, but he dominated in selected places. If he couldn’t win at one track, he’d move on. “ 

SJSN: With the local scene here in San Jose changing drastically, what's next for you? NARC? 360's in the central valley?

“I’ve come to a point now that I have the 410, since I bought Dale Gowen out, that I’ll be running more NARC races than I have in the past. You know I’ve never gone NARC racing much in the past because I couldn’t afford it. I never had a 410. I couldn’t afford to do it. So that was why I ran 360s. I could afford to run them on my own. I drove for other guys a few times, but things just never worked out. I never could find that ride that clicked.  

I’ll run more NARC stuff this year. I’d like to run the full NARC schedule at some point if I can get the budget. But we’re gonna run where ever we feel like at this point". 

SJSN: So it would be safe to say you’re looking for some financial backing?

“Absolutely. Always have been and you know, I don’t know what it is, why it is that people think you get into your own deal and you don’t need help or whatever, it’s hard to find a good sponsor in this kind of racing. You can go out and spread around proposals, but the reality of weekend racing is that you have to find somebody that loves racing and wants to be involved and is willing to throw some money at it. Its not like you have a lot to offer advertising wise.  

I think I’ve had a pretty decent career for the amount of money I’ve had to put in it. For what I consider compared to other guys, (he does not consider himself to be one of the top spenders) guys like John Lott wouldn’t say I run a low buck operation, but as far as competitive cars, I think I do. My budget is waaaaaay lower than most of the guys that are winning consistently and that I race with up front". 

Cowboy says that on top of the initial investment you could have expected to spend upwards of fifty thousand a year to run up front at San Jose with some guys near the 100 grand mark. He doesn’t look at the numbers too often “because they are depressing (he laughs) and I know that I have put everything into it I can.”

 SJSN: What do you see yourself doing after retiring from driving? (Not starting any retirement rumors, just asking) Promoting? Team Owner? Officiating? Or just wrenching on cars?

“Yeah, I’ve always liked the thought of doing some promoting. I don’t know if I would be able to do it on a full time basis. If I could find the funding I’d own a team and find some young star to develop. Whether it’s my son or some up and coming kid, I think that would be a neat challenge. I’ll always be involved in racing somehow; it’s such a part of my life. Racing is not my whole life anymore. When I was young, I lived and breathed racing. But the hard thing about it is that when racing is your whole life and you have a bad night, then your life sucks!”  

He isn’t interested in officiating, thinks it’s a thankless job, but respects the guys that do it. He has a lot of friends in racing and being impartial would be too tough.  

In 1998, Craig won the Kings vs. San Jose Championship over 1999 California Rebel Cup Champ Monte Faccinto.  

SJSN: his year on the Rebel Cup, he’s not going after any points initially.  I asked him about trying to dethrone Monte Faccinto…

“ If we decide to put the 360 in and go beat Monte….Monte is as far as wheel to wheel battles go, one of my favorites to race against. I’ve had some great runs with him. I have a lot of respect for Monte.  I get a great amount of satisfaction when I beat him. You know you did something when you beat Faccinto.  

But I’m using the outlaw show (at Hanford) to tune the 410. We haven’t had any laps with it and I want to get a head start on the season.  I’m going down there being and being realistic; the Outlaw show is a tough gig. I’m using it as more of a test session than anything." 

As I was getting the full tour of the new homestead, we talked about the weight rule in sprintcars and the complete lack of cooperation nationally between the various organizations. With the WoO continuing to allow cubic dollar weight reduction, NARC at 1175, All-Stars at 1200 and Knoxville at 1250 pound limits, we're looking at a spread of 75 pounds between weight rules.  Craig told me he thinks its just plain lame that the organizations can’t sit down and agree on a national limit. Cowboy personally thinks it should be 1400 pounds. The reason behind that is creating a level playing field, reduce cost and that will bring more cars to the track rather than less.

 "If you look at NARC there are maybe five teams that can play the unlimited weight game, in WoO there ten to fifteen on the regular tour. In NARC there are another five teams that spend more than they should to keep up and the rest just run because they are into the sport. You just can’t be competitive on a limited budget. Its killing the sport and its gonna hurt the WoO at some point too. The local guys aren’t gonna show up just to get smoked."

We pick up the next part of the story four months into the season. Cowboy has been running both the Northern Auto Racing Club (410’s) and the California Rebel Cup (360’s). This last weekend Smith put the 410 in the car and took the PWI #39 to Chowchilla’s new track for the NARC race and then Saturday to the coastal speed plant known as Santa Maria Speedway.

“At Santa Maria we sorta struggled. We were doing ok and someone spun in front of me, I checked up and got plowed full tilt! It smashed the nerf bars into the headers pinching a couple of the tubes, bent the steering arm and gashed the wing. I held on for 13^th. We were fast at Chowchilla, I had a top five going! I started 8^th and got up to 6^th. On one of the yellows, Gardner came flying back on the track as I was coming off of two and he hit my right front, spun me all the way down the backstretch. So I had to go to the back. I started working my way back up then Robinson tangled with another guy and I was gonna get caught up in it, it was right in front of me, but I was getting the car slowed down when I got hit full tilt in the ass. It shoved me right into the mess. Knocked the wing off and tore up the right front. We got everything fixed on the red flag and went to the back AGAIN.  We got back up to 11^th, we were fast, without the problems, we could have had a top 5.  

And ya know, we went to NARC thinking there would be a better class of drivers up there, and I’m getting tired of guys racing off their nose-wing. Three different occasions! I mean I saw that deal happening at Chowchilla ahead of me and I was gonna get into it softly, but this guy hit me full tilt, I mean he never lifted. He wasn’t looking. Then at Santa Maria twice, I slowed for a spinner and got blasted in the ass…some of these guys need to start driving more than twenty feet ahead of the car.  It cost me a lot of money this weekend.”

SJSN: In this early part of the season, you’ve had a couple of fast-times and some seconds, but no wins, what gives?

“We were fast time at Hanford the second time out and then when the CRC ran Santa Maria, we were fast time again. From what they told me I’m the track record holder there, that was the first time the 360 cars ever ran there.”

SJSN: I don’t remember reading anything about that…

“Well I’ll tell ya how shitty my luck has been press coverage-wise. I ordered the tape and it had every qualifying attempt except mine! The new track record!”

SJSN: So can we expect more CRC top 5’s in the second half? Get that win(or two)? What’s the game plan?

“Well we struggled the first half, we had new stuff and were trying different things, but I think we’re on to something now. Been consistently fast every time we’ve hit the track in the last five or six races, 410’s and 360’s, so I’m ready now, we’re defiantly going to win some 360 races. The 410 deal is pretty competitive, but I think we’re capable of winning.”

SJSN:What do you find yourself chasing most on the car setup these days?

“Mainly we were trying the standard stuff that worked well on the old car and just had the car too loose most of the time.  Not one thing in particular. It reacts differently than the old car did. And historically, it takes me a couple of races to get my feet under me.  Getting the forward drive on a slick track tends to be a tough one sometimes. But it’s not bad. The thing is just getting in the groove, getting my mojo going. We’ve been run into a few times, which sets us back, but at the beginning of the year at Hanford, it was no patience.  

The race was on the bottom and one lane. I like the top and I’d go up there and it wasn’t working and I’d run off the track. Running around the bottom and finishing fifth is not my idea of racing. I want to try and make things happen and sometimes I move around too much when I should just stay on the bottom for instance.”

SJSN: You gotta be careful running the top side at Hanford, you wound up on your lid a month or so ago…

“Yeah, but that was from big holes.  There again that was no patience. On that particular night, I should have stayed on the bottom. I went up there looking to make something happen if I could get through the holes right. 

The tracks are starting to come in now though with more than one lane and we’ll start making it happen. Specially when it gets slick. Faccinto and I are gonna be slide job city.”

SJSN: Your engine deal sort of changed over the winter with Nick Rescino and Dave Haver partnering up at Bayshore Engines. Has that effected the motor program?

 “Actually it’s a good thing. I’ve always had great faith in Dave Haver, but now its even better. It’s nothing but better for us. From shear turn around time, to the big shop and quality control, I’m pretty excited about it.  Dave is a pretty sharp guy, and Nick has a good trust in him. The engines have been solid this year, look at what Eric Rossi has done.”

 SJSN: Do you think sprintcars should have radios? Are they a help or a hindrance?

“No. I hate em. They have radios in the Rebels and it pisses me off. I think its an advantage over the low dollar guys and takes away from the racing.  A lot of times when a guy makes a really bitchin pass on the top side, the other guys spotters see ya coming and get on there and yell ‘go to the top, go to the top’ and it takes the racing away. It causes blocking, more so than normal.”

 SJSN: What else pisses you off?

“Under yellow when drivers you’ve been racing with try to weasel a spot ahead of you when you know he knows damn well he needs to drop back.” (he jokes) “Makes me want to run em off the track!”

No lack of desire there! 

Then we got onto driving tactics and slide jobs. Terry McCarl, one of Smiths friends was recently disqualified at Hussets for contact in the process of making a slide job….

“I like slide jobs, I think it makes great racing, but if you’re getting slid, you need to be on the brakes and if you don’t get on the brakes, you deserve to crash. I don’t think Terry did anything wrong in his case.  If you think you’re going to play chicken with a guy sliding up the race track, you’re wrong. You or both of you gonna wind up on your head. You can see it coming and if a guy wants another shot, taking the hit is not the way to do it. I’ll be checking up! Too many guys don’t know how to do it right. And it can be exciting racing if you use your head.

 If you’re getting slid it’s a shitty feeling, cuz you’re getting the door slammed on ya, and you have to hit the breaks or you’re gonna run into em, so you turn and try to get under em coming off the turn or slide them back on the next turn. You gotta be smart and use your head, the race will go on, but if you try to be a hero, it will go on without you.

 That’s one thing I’ve learned over the years. Be patient and use you head. You know when I was young I wanted to win everything, I wanted to win heats, I wanted to win hotlaps! Heat race wins in CRC racing don’t mean that much anymore. In NARC its important, but if you got the transfer spot take it, 4^th is just as good.”

SJSN: Are you planning on doing any of the WoO stuff when the west coast swing starts up?

“You know that’s a really tough deal. I feel like I’m givning up enough just in the NARC series. I was talking to Brad Furr at the Outlaw show and these guys with their super light weight motors and ultra light weight cars…just out of curiosity, I came home and weighed my car and I was two hundred pounds heavier than Brad Furr’s car.  And 200 pounds is a lot to give up.  I just don’t have the resources to compete against that. I have to be realistic. I cant afford to do that stuff.”

 It brought us back to the weight rule. Cowboy is passionate about a level playing field when it is a tough draw to get quality cars and only a handful guys can afford it. He commented on how NARC is finally going to have a weight rule, but that its so light, they might as well not have one.  It wrecks it for all the rest of the teams that are there. They don’t seem to get the picture at the top, that the bottom half of the field is falling away. When you are struggling to get 20 cars, things are not right. It will save money in his opinion, make the competition better and promote more entries.

“I’m struggling a bit right now with San Jose Speedway gone. I’d love to go run all these tracks and NARC, losing San Jose really hurt my program. But I just flat can’t afford it. I was a San Jose regular out of necessity. It was my favorite race track, don’t get me wrong, but that’s where I could afford to race and the sponsors could come watch. When we lost San Jose, I lost sponsors.

SJSN: It’s expensive and a time consuming having to travel to the Central Valley to see a sprint car race even from a spectator stand point. The nearest tracks are 2 hours away if there is no traffic. That makes it an overnight trip if you have kids. My personal experience is that bringing the kids home at two or three in the morning pays you back in spades the next day.

“Yeah I’d agree, you could drive home after the race, but the kids would be junk. But here it is June and Chowchilla was the first race this year my wife and kids have been to. But you know I’m having more fun running my own program. It is a struggle financially, but if I could get some sponsors or team up with another team I think I bring something to the table, I’m a pretty good driver.” 

SJSN: Have you thought much about running the Civil War Series?

“You know that’s the traveling thing again and then at Marysville and Placerville things tend to get torn up. I think I could go win up there, but there are guys running that series I don’t normally run with and don’t know how they drive, and the few times I have gone up, I wind up coming home with a bunch of stuff torn up. And more often than not, I was the victim. Just minding my own business and took a ride. I just don’t care for those tracks. I used to hate Chico until I won there!”

 On the topic of little kids at the races Cowboy reacts as a father of little ones and a driver that is very aware of image and presence to budding young race fans…

“I think little kids are the coolest. Its are future fans, our furture drivers, our future crew guys. That’s the future of our sport. I’ll spend all the time in the world. They want to come up and get an autograph or a picture, I’ll hang out. You know after we won the Johnny Key, my guys were whooping and partying and I wanted to join them but there were so many kids, and that’s cool. They were excited and I wanted to take care of them. It went on for ever and I wanted to celebrate with my guys. Bbut when I was a kid, I was at a race in Rapid City, South Dakota and this guy drove a Budwieser car, it was all chrome, it was really sweet, but he was the bad ass and after the race I went down to get an autograph. My dad raced so I wasn’t totally star struck, but I went down there and he treated me like crap. I was crushed. It has always stuck with me, I’ve always maintained I would never treat a kid wrong. It’s like Terry McCarl says, you gotta give the kids credit for having the guts to come up. A lot of kids are shy and if they’ll come up, I’ll take the time. I think its cool how excited they get about it.”

THE LEGAL STUFF: I don't reperesent the Fairgrounds, The City of San Jose, The County of Santa Clara, West Coast Speedways, or any of the race teams. I am just a fan with a web page, promoting a sport I wish I had the money to do for a living...AND all info on this page is gathered by me through public info and interviews, photographs are used by permission of M & M Photos, Sala & Co. Photos and Tear-Off Heaven Fotos.

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