Racer Profile:

Von Smith

By Mickey Schultz
Photos by Bryan Ellis and Jeff Burk

In the final four events of the 2003 season, Von Smith was the hottest driver on the NHRA AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge, an NHRA exhibition class. As the AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge opens its season at the NHRA Mac Tools Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, the 40-year-old Smith begins his quest for the 2004 championship.

Bryan Ellis photo

Smith, who assumed the driving duties of the Tommy Lipar Racing-owned supercharged, methanol injected, 2003 Ford Mustang GT at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in September of last year, went to the final round in all four events he raced, winning the final two -- the NHRA O'Reilly Auto Parts Fall Nationals in Dallas and the NHRA AC Delco Las Vegas Nationals.

The Oak Ridge, Tenn., driver's performance in those four races earned him an eighth place finish in the final 2003 DRO/NMM Pro Mod Cup point standings. This despite the fact that he didn't earn any points at the Dallas event. Smith entered the event as an alternate and AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge rules stipulate that a driver who competes from an alternate position does not earn championship points.

Nevertheless, Smith accumulated enough points and showed enough potential in 2003 to make him a front-runner for the 2004 DRO/NMM Pro Mod Cup.

Smith cut his teeth on Top Alcohol Funny Cars (TAFC) on both the IHRA and NHRA circuits. In 1995, with veteran engine builder and crew chief Howard Moon by his side, Smith began his assault on the IHRA TAFC class. Smith gained a top ten finish that first year but was already looking to 1996.

In 1996, he served notice that he had found a place in Top Alcohol Funny Car, advancing to nine semifinals, five final rounds, winning two of the 10 national events contested that season. His consistent performance won him the first of three IHRA TAFC championships. He dropped to second in points in 1997 before claiming back-to-back championships in 1998 and '99.

One can mark 1998 and 1999 as two years of domination in TAFC on the IHRA circuit for Smith. In '98, he set several elapsed time national records and ended the year with a new standard in total wins with five. 1999 turned out even better as he rewrote the IHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car record book. Of 11 IHRA events contested in '99, Smith competed in nine final rounds winning seven. For his outstanding performance, Smith was named the 1999 IHRA Driver of the Year.

He started the new millennium once again finishing runner-up to the top spot. In the five year span from 1996-2000, Smith won three TAFC IHRA championships and finished runner-up twice. In 2001, he moved to TAFC on the NHRA circuit.

Here, in one of the toughest classes on the NHRA circuits, he also made his mark. In 2001, he finished No. 5 nationally and second in Division 2, which comprises Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee and Puerto Rico. In 2002, he moved up a notch nationally, to fourth, and won the Division 2 championship.