The Legendary Roscoe Smith

 One of the things I miss about traveling to NASCAR races is an occasional visit with Kyle Petty. There are some folks out there who don’t care for Kyle, which is hard to figure if you really get to know him.

 He understands racing and racers as good as anyone I’ve ever met. And he was a pretty good racer in his day.

 A few years ago, we were talking about drivers we admire. Of course his dad and David Pearson came up, as did other famous names.

 I offered that I always looked up to some of the drivers from home. I mentioned Roscoe Smith. Foolishly, and as it turned out, I thought Kyle might not know of him.

 He quickly responded: “Black-and-white car with a checkerboard top. Number 44.”

 It turned out Kyle was well versed in the reputation and accomplishments of Roscoe Smith.

 Another time I was talking with NASCAR’s vice-chairman Mike Helton about his days attending races at Senoia and even driving in a few races there back when he was president of Atlanta Motor Speedway.

 I’ve used his comments about Roscoe in stories before, so some of you may recognize them. Still, they bear repeating.

“Roscoe is a great friend of mine and did so much to help me in my years at Atlanta when I was pretending to be a race driver,” Helton said. “He had so much mechanical ability, and his skills as a teacher were very impressive.

 “Still today I think of things Roscoe taught me along the way.”

 I’ve also learned a lot from Roscoe over the years. Some of the lessons were about racing and some about mechanical things. For years he’s rebuilt carburetors and other parts for my old trucks and tractors, and he also knows how to fix modern cars with their complex components, which are far beyond my capabilities.

 Like many a race driver back in the day, Roscoe not only fixes my stuff, he teaches me so I can work on it myself in the future.

 Carburetors and other car parts aside, one of the best parts of hanging out in Roscoe’s backyard shop is hearing stories of his days behind the wheel.

 He had quite the career, as a driver and car builder. He’s in the National Dirt Racing Hall of Fame, the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame and the Spalding County Sports Hall of Fame.

 But there’s much more to the Roscoe Smith story than the race wins and championships. His dedication to the sport and to the friends he’s made along the way separate him from most others.

 I was honored last Saturday afternoon to take a ride around Senoia Raceway with Roscoe in his golf cart. We haven’t seen each other much lately due to COVID, so it was nice to catch up.

 As a decades-long admirer and friend of Roscoe Smith, I’m grateful to the Pollard family and to the Southern All Stars for presenting the Roscoe Smith Classic this weekend at Senoia Raceway.

 The 44-lap race pays $4,044 to the winner. The fact that it honors him is worth more than any amount of money.

 I hope you’ll join me and lots of others by being a part of the festivities on Saturday night at Senoia.





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