Mark Smith (American racing driver)

For the English touring car driver, see Mark Smith (British racing driver).

Mark Smith
Nationality	United States
Born	April 10, 1967 (1967-04-10) (age 44) Portland, Oregon
Retired	1994
CART Championship Car
Years active	1993-1994
Teams	Arciero Racing Walker Racing
Starts	26
Previous series
1988 -1989 1989 1990 -1992	Formula Super Vee Formula Pacific Indy Lights
Championship titles
1989	Formula Super Vee
Awards
1989 1990	Formula Pacific Rookie Award[1] Indy Lights Rookie of the Year

Formula Super Vee: Smith leading Groff at the 1988 Grand Prix of Cleveland

Indy Lights: Smith qualifying at Phoenix International Raceway 1991

CART: Smith driving for Arciero at the 1993 Long Beach Grand Prix

Mark Smith (born April 10, 1967) is an American former race car driver born in Portland, Oregon. Smith entered karting competition at the age of 14 and won 6 championships in multiple IKF divisions.^[2] In 1985 he moved up to Formula Ford scoring 4 race wins in two seasons and then advanced to Formula Super Vee.^[2]

After winning the 1989 United States Formula Super Vee Championship^[3] with 5 wins and 4 poles,^[4] Mark raced in Indy Lights from 1990 to 1992, finishing 3rd in series points his rookie year,^[5] and 2nd in 1991^[6] capturing 3 wins and 5 poles along the way[1].

In 1993 Mark moved up to the CART Indy Car Series racing primarily on road and street circuits for Arciero Racing. Smith qualified twice for the 1993 Indianapolis 500 but was bumped from the field.^[7] His second bumping at the hands of Didier Theys happened just 6 minutes before the end of qualifications that year; an outcome that added to the Speedway myth about The Curse of the Smiths.^[8]

The following year Smith remained cursed. Mark qualified for the 1994 Indianapolis 500 but was bumped from the field by Bobby Rahal. With 14 minutes remaining Smith made a bold attempt to qualify an ill-handling T93 Lola back-up car. His warm up lap of 221.8 mph was fast enough to make the race but on the following lap he brushed the exit of turn 1 and crashed heavily into turn two.^[9]

Smith's best Indy Car finish was a 5th place at the 1994 Michigan 500.

Racing record

Formula Super Vee

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Rank	Points
1988	Dave White Motorsports	PHX Ret	LBH 5	DAL 6	IRP 6	MIL 6	DET Ret	NIA 7	CLE 5	MEA 1	MDO 10	ROA 2	NAZ 5	STP Ret	6th	108[10]
1989	Ralt of America	PHX 4	DAL 3	IRP 1*	MIL 1*	CLE 3	DEM 1	ATL 1*	MDO 1*	ROA 4	NAZ Ret	STP 3			1st	169[11]

Formula Pacific

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Rank	Points
1989	Graeme Lawrence Autosport	BAY 4	BAY 3	PUK 3	PUK 3	MAN 3	MAN 2	WIG Ret	WIG 2	TIM 4	TIM 2	4th	39[12]

CART Indy Lights

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Rank	Points
1990	Ralt of America	PHX 2	LBH 2	MIL 9	DET 11	POR 6	CLE 4	MEA 10	TOR 6	DEN 9	VAN 2	MDO 9	ROA 3	NAZ 5	LS 5	3rd	128
1991	Evergreen	LBH 4	PHX 2*	MIL 7	DET 6	POR 3	CLE 1*	MEA 5	TOR 5	DEN 4	MDO 2	NAZ 8	LS 1*			2nd	155
1992	Evergreen	PHX 7	LBH 11	DET 3	POR Ret	MIL 5	LOU 11	TOR 9	CLE Ret	VAN 1	MDO 7	NAZ 5	LS Ret			7th	74

CART

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Rank	Points
1993	Arciero	SRF 18	PHX 9	LBH 10	IND DNQ	MIL	DET Ret	POR Ret	CLE Ret	TOR Ret	MIC	NHA	ROA Ret	VAN Ret	MDO Ret	NAZ 12	LS 17	22nd	8
1994	Walker	SRF Ret	PHX DNS	LBH Ret	IND DNQ	MIL 24	DET 14	POR 16	CLE Ret	TOR Ret	MIC 5	MDO 20	NHA 12	VAN 8	ROA Ret	NAZ 12	LS 14	19th	17

References

1. ^ *Dealey, Arley (March 9, 1989). "Peter Jackson Formula Pacific Championship Rounds 9 & 10". On Track Auto Racing Magazine (USA): 43. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Portland's Indy Car Future (June 22, 1990). Portland International Raceway Official Program (USA): 85, retrieved December 10, 2011
3. ^ *Philips, David (December 14, 1989). "Marching Ahead". On Track Auto Racing Magazine (USA): 21. 
4. ^ *Phillips, David (December 14, 1989). "Mark of the Future". On Track Auto Racing Magazine (USA): 22-26. 
5. ^ *Shaw, Jeremy (December 13, 1990). "Tracy's Racing Series". On Track Auto Racing Magazine (USA): 38-40, 42-43. 
6. ^ *Shaw, Jeremy (December 13, 1991). "Rolling with the Punches". On Track Auto Racing Magazine; Volume 10, No. 24 (USA): 36-40. 
7. ^ *Indy Hell Week. On Track Magazine, June 18th, 1993. Retrieved on November 14, 2011.
8. ^ Mittman, Dick. 'Curse Of The Smiths' Remains Part Of Indianapolis 500 Lore, Indy500.com, November 4, 2004
9. ^ *Tuttle, Tim (June 17th, 1994). Time Trials: Chasing Shadows. Retrieved on November 14, 2011.
10. ^ *Phillips, David (December 12, 1988). "All the Answers (1988 Super Vee Season Review)". On Track Auto Racing Magazine (USA): 34-39. 
11. ^ *Phillips, David (January, 1990). "True To Form (1989 Super Vee Season Review)". On Track Auto Racing Magazine (USA): 42-45. 
12. ^ *Dealey, Arley (February 9, 1989-March 9, 1989). "Peter Jackson Formula Pacific Championship". On Track Auto Racing Magazine (USA): 35(2/9/89), 37(2/9/89), 18(2/23/89), 20(2/23/89), 42(3/9/89). 

External links

• Mark Smith's statistics at ChampCarStats.com
• Mark Smith's Indy Lights' statistics at ChampCarStats.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Ken Murillo	Formula Super Vee Series Champion 1989	Succeeded by Stuart Crow

Persondata
Name	Smith, Mark
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	April 10, 1967
Place of birth	Portland, Oregon
Date of death
Place of death