BY DREW GRANTHUM/Staff Writer

For many high school students in Chilton County, an interest in sports is nothing out of the ordinary.

Standing out on the gridiron, the court or the diamond is a dream that many hours are spent working toward.

Kyle Smith is no different, except that instead of dodging tacklers, dribbling up court or swinging for the fences, the Clanton native chooses to bang sheet metal on the dirt tracks around Alabama and outmuscle opponents sometimes twice his age.

Smith is a dirt track racer, and a remarkable one at that. The Chilton County High School senior is coming off his third track championship in three years, and back-to-back titles in the Hogg class at Shelby County Speedway in Columbiana.

For Smith, the success has come at an early age. The 18-year-old has amassed over 30 wins in his career, which started in 2010. Smith was racing cars on dirt ovals before he could legally drive them on public roads.

“I started when I was 13,” he said with a chuckle. “My daddy used to race. I played a little baseball, (but) I knew that first lap that (racing) was it.”

After watching his father race on dirt growing up, Smith said the allure of youth baseball paled in comparison to the thrill of sliding a car sideways into a turn.

He entered his first car, a 1996 Saturn, with help from friends and family in 2010. Smith said for his first race, he “had to borrow” some tires from his grandmother’s street car to enable him to have spares.

After running a half season in 2010, Smith competed for a full season, capturing the four-cylinder class trophy at now-closed Central Alabama Motor Speedway in Clanton in 2011.

After capturing that class trophy, Smith set his sights on a bigger prize, the pure street category, made up of full-bodied stock cars with bigger engines.

To compete, Smith said he needed a more powerful car. He got it when his first racing hero passed a 1977 Chevrolet Camaro with a 350 engine to him.

“It was my dad’s car,” Smith said. “It was sitting up (unused), and he finally gave it to me.”
The car, painted black and yellow with a No. 13 on the door, and Smith have become a fearsome duo at Shelby County Speedway. His 24 wins over two seasons in the car have given him the back-to-back points championships.

Still, not everyone is thrilled with his success. Smith said it was common to run into a few drivers that frowned on running second to someone much younger than them.

“There’s still people that don’t (like it),” he said. “That’s my motivation.”
Smith said the car was prepared for racing by a team made up of himself, his father and mother and little brother, along with a few fans that help out from time to time.

While Smith said he was content to move on to the next level as well as move to asphalt racing, he acknowledged that racing was a tough sport to climb to the top. He went to Talladega Superspeedway in October and passed out business cards.

“It’s hard to get anywhere without a sponsor,” he said. “I’m just trying to get my name out there.”

While those in racing tend to be superstitious — eating peanuts near the garage, driving green cars and of course, the No. 13 are all considered taboo — Smith said he felt the number he chose fits his style.

“Everyone always has a number,” he said, laughing. “I just want to be different. Anything I can do to be different.”