| Smith Running Away With TBARA Rookie Crown | Younster Continues To Grow In Confidence
By Jack Smith
 With six races left and a 250 point lead, Michael Smith is a lock to win the 2006 Tampa Bay Area Racing Association Rookie title.
This 16 year old racer is an eleventh grader at the Nature Coast Technical High School in Brooksville. He graduated from Go-karts at Dirt Devil Speedway after 4 years, jumped into the limited sprints of the USA Sprints in 2005 and this year he climbed behind the wheel of the high-powered asphalt series cars for the first time.
"It gives me a rush that you are racing against some of the best drivers, and it helps me become a better driver racing against them", Michael said. He enjoys speed and gets plenty of that going around New Smyrna Speedway at speeds of 130-140 mph. At these speeds things are sometimes a blur, he says "it is not easy to keep up with what position you are in."
Smith, driving a family owned and sponsored car, will probably return next year to the TBARA sprint car series, unless some opportunity comes along with USAC. For Michael it's fairly simple, "I just want to go faster', he said.
Smith credits Matt Mercer as being helpful in teaching him the ropes at getting the car around the short tracks. He really admires and likes racing against the likes of veteran sprint car aces Gary Gimmler, Bo Hartley, Dude Teat and Troy DeCaire, and lists Orlando Speedworld as his favorite track.
New Smyrna is a tough track, according to Michael Smith. "Going through turns 3 and 4 is kind of bumpy, and when you running down the back straightaway you get some nasty winds off the wall", he explains. He said this is because of the tunnel effect where the billboards end, "they will suck you down the track".
The toughest part of his rookie year has been knowing what to do on restarts or if he gets spun out what to do. The use of one way radios has been helpful, especially on getting lapped cars out of the way.
And Michael is not one of the cars being lapped. He not only has the Rookie title nailed down, with six races left this year, he is is sitting in fourth spot overall. He is only 3 points behind Keith Butler and nine points behind Troy DeCaire. Bo Hartley is well ahead of the pack at this point of the season.
He says if he returns in 2007 he will"try my hardest" to win the Championship. As for this year, he said "I have surpassed my expectations, and as the year progresses they get high and higher."
Race fans can catch up with Michael Smith and the rest of the TBARA stars at a weekend double header in late September. The fastest race cars in Florida will be at Orlando Speedworld on the 29th and at DeSoto Super Speedway on the 30th. Both tracks are high banked 3/8 mile and both are very, very fast.
TBARA....you gotta feel it.
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