- Regan Smith
Infobox_NASCAR_driver
Name = Regan Smith
Birthdate = birth date and age|1983|9|23
Birthplace =Cato, New York | Cup_Car_Team = #01 -Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
First_Cup_Race = 2007Food City 500 (Bristol)
Previous_Year = 2007
Prev_Cup_Pos = 50th
Previous_Year = 2007
Prev_Busch_Pos = 31st
Best_Busch_Pos = 20th - 2006 (Busch Series) | Busch_Top_Tens = 6
Busch_Poles = 1
First_Busch_Race = 2002Sam's Town 250 Benefiting St. Jude (Memphis)
Last_Busch_Race = 2007Winn Dixie 250 presented by PepsiCo (Daytona)
First_Truck_Race = 2002John Boy & Billy's Hardee's 250 (South Boston)
Last_Truck_Race = 2008Cool City Customs 200 ( [Michigan International Speedway|Michigan] )
Truck_Top_Tens = 4
Awards = 2006 BGNRacing.com Most Popular Driver
Updated_On =October 11 ,2008 Regan Smith (born
September 23 ,1983 , inCato, New York ) is aNASCAR driver. He is currently the driver of the #01 Principal Financial GroupChevrolet in theNASCAR Sprint Cup Series forDale Earnhardt Incorporated .Beginnings
Smith began his racing career at the age of four, when he began racing
go-kart s. Over the next several years, he won numerous regional and state championships. In 1995, he and his family moved toMooresville, North Carolina to allow Smith to advance his career. He joined theWorld Karting Association and continued to win, joining the factory-supported team owned byEnzo Chiovitti in 1998. That same year, he began competing in theAllison Legacy Series .In 2001, he began driving in the
USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series , winning four consecutive poles.2002-2004
Smith began his NASCAR career racing in the
Craftsman Truck Series in 2002. He made his debut at the age of 18 driving the #63Ford F-150 forMB Motorsports atSouth Boston Speedway . He qualified 28th and finished 29th at South Boston and finished 30th at Phoenix after starting 12th in that race. He also made his Busch Series debut atMemphis Motorsports Park forEd Whitaker , starting 16th but finishing 39th after a wreck.Smith moved to the Busch Series in 2003 for a full-time ride with
Bost Motorsports . Despite a lack of major sponsorship, Smith had three top-twenty finishes. However, the underfunded team opted for other drivers halfway through the year, forcing Smith out of work. He drove one race forInnovative Motorsports atPikes Peak International Raceway , finishing 40th after early mechanical failures forced him to exit the race on the second lap. He also drove forMac Hill Motorsports in theFord 300 , finishing 28th.Smith continued to drive for Mac Hill in various Busch races in 2004, his best finish coming at
Nashville Superspeedway , where he finished 24th. Following his release from the team, he was hired to drive the #50Enzyte Chevrolet Monte Carlo forMichael Holigan for three races and appeared in a few episodes ofThe Reality of Speed on SpikeTV, his best finish 26th atChicagoland Speedway , before that team suspended operations. After a fifteenth place finish at Pikes Peak forPhoenix Racing , he posted his best NASCAR finish to date atHomestead-Miami Speedway in the Truck Series, 9th in the #06John Boy & Billy Chevy forMRD Motorsports .2005-Present
Smith began the 2005 season with
Xpress Motorsports 's #19 team, but lost the ride after sponsorship failed to materialize. He was soon hired as the driver of the #65Glynn Motorsports Dodge Ram . In four races in the truck, he had a 20th at Texas and a pair of 22nds at Mansfield and Dover. He was then elevated to Glynn's Busch Series team. Originally unsponsored, the team soon garned sponsorship from Who's Your Daddy? andSamson Stone . Despite a streak of six races where he did not qualify worse than twelfth, including three third-place runs, he was released from the team. He ended the year in the Truck Series MRD for the closing races of the season, finishing 29th, 33rd and 32nd in three late season starts for that team.At the end of the 2005 season, Smith signed on with
Team Rensi Motorsports to run a full Busch season for 2006. The season overall wasn't much of a success with his best finish of 10th coming at Charlotte Speedway. Smith ended the season with 1 top 10 as well as a number of other strong finishes and was 20th in overall points. Towards the end of the season, Smith tested for Ginn Racing at Kentucky and signed a deal with them to run the full Busch season and 16 cup races sharing a ride with Mark Martin for 2007.Regan Smith made his
Nextel Cup debut at theFood City 500 atBristol Motor Speedway , finishing 25th inNASCAR 's firstCar of Tomorrow race [cite web | url = http://www.carsandracingstuff.com/library/articles/0201.php | title = Smith Bounces Back From Early Mistake in Cup Debut | work = The Crittenden Automotive Library | accessdate = 2007-05-09] . Regan made 6 starts in the #01 sharing ride with Mark Martin. Regan attempted to make the Daytona 500 but did not make the race. He was removed from the #01 on July 17, 2007 and moved to the #14 after the release ofSterling Marlin . But on July 25, 2007Ginn Racing mergered withDale Earnhardt, Inc. eliminating the #14. Smith was moved to the Craftsman Truck series to drive the #47 forMorgan-Dollar Motorsports for starting atO'Reilly Raceway Park . Smith's career best finish is 14th atMartinsville Speedway , in the2008 spring race. Smith drives the #01 Chevy in the Sprint Cup series for DEI in 2008. At the Talladega fall race, Regan Smith made a last ditch effort towards the win and passed Tony Stewart at the finish line. However, he was controversially judged to be in violation of the out of bounds rules, passing Stewart below the yellow line, erasing the win and relegating Smith to 18th position, the last car on the lead lap.NASCAR Nextel Cup results
() (Races in bold indicate pole position)
"*"Season in progress.References
External links
* [http://www.regansmith.com Official website]
* [http://www.auburnpub.com/articles/2005/12/17/news/sports/sports01.txt Smith earns his break]
* [http://www.racing-reference.info/driver?id=smithre01 Career statistics at Racing-Reference.com]
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