Smax Smith holds court beside the fading red trailer that’s dwarfed in the NHRA Top Fuel pits like a charming country barn wedged between two New York skyscrapers.

His snarl of long blond hair and his hummingbird-grade energy belie his 61 years, 42 of which he has spent in drag racing. That’s when he hasn’t been hosting a wildly popular BBC program that bills itself as “the biggest motoring telly show in history” – or inspecting cars for Canada’s Ontario province and sometimes cleaning windows . . . yes . . . for an honest day’s living.

(“I fix cars six days a week. I still clean windows. I’ve done that for 40 years,” Smith said proudly. “I teach these guys to get up and make some money. You want a lazy day and don’t work, you don’t get anything, so window cleaning is good. My dad taught me that, so I teach these kids the same.”)

The British native who lives in Ayr, Ont., is perhaps the NHRA’s least-known Top Fuel driver but arguably the most colorful. Even with appearances this season at Charlotte, Atlanta, Topeka, Epping, and Englishtown, Smith has cruised under the radar for many NHRA fans. They just haven’t discovered that he can launch from zero to hilarious as quickly as Funny Car champion / jester John Force.

But 28-year-old son Aidan Smith, a relatively raw Alcohol Funny Car driver and second-oldest of Smax Smith’s five children, knows well his father’s charisma and endearing pluck. He has joined his dad and the merry “Ant Hill Mob” band of wrench-wielders who have teamed with Michigan master mechanics Bob and Gary Leverich to spin some nitro adventures. And he rather enjoys having a dad as entertaining, as passionate, as John Force.

“That’s what he was called in England. Everyone said he was the John Force of England,” Aidan Smith said with a satisfied laugh.

With that, Smax Smith springs into a stand-up shtick, his sweeping arm gestures adding to the comedy: “If you listen to John Force, he says ‘I’ve been on fire from here to Australia.’ And I say I’ve been on fire in at least 10 countries! The funniest fire I’ve ever had is we’re qualifying in 2003, we launch off, and the thing is on fire. I don’t know. I blew a seal underneath the blower. I run a 5.20 to qualify and as I pull off, the thing is burning so bad that it pops a tire as I’m pulling off the track.”

Evidently he and tires have some toxic relationship, for his hauler blew a tire on the way to Epping and he fell behind in qualifying preparations as his truck sat beneath a tree at New England Dragway for a day when it should have been set up in the pits.

“The only time I ever bought brand-new tires, I punctured [one] the first time I used them,” Smith said. “So we always bought everyone else’s used tires. Just one of those things that never works out. That’s probably what it is: can’t be trusted with brand-new stuff.” He just laughed and shrugged.

Smith draws a stready stream of well-wishers at every race.

“We’re so connected with the fans. We have so many people rooting for us,” he said, as gratified by that as a 3.7-second elapsed time.

When Smith raced opposite Lucas Oil Dragster driver Richie Crampton in qualifying Friday night at Epping, public-address announcer Alan Reinhart spoke about the disparity in the two teams.

“He was saying, ‘Crampton is heavily sponsored, running for the championship. Then there’s Smax Smith. He has no parts trailer, no anything.’ But some famous racer said, ‘I’ll race anyway. You can only bring one set of anything you’ve got to the starting line,’ which is true. He said ours is just as good as anybody else’s, which it is. There isn’t that much difference. And I had an .017 light, which is not bad for a 61-year-old,” Smith said, laughing. He laughs after almost everything he says.

“We have such a story. This is my 42nd year driving. I’ve never missed one season in 42 years. That’s huge,” Smith said. “I didn’t even start counting until 30 years; never gave it any thought. When someone asked how long I’d been doing this and I figured it out and thought, ‘Oh, 30 years.’ Then I started counting.”

Smith moved back to Canada in 2004, but he said, “I flew back to England to drive my buddy’s Top Fuel car for a couple of seasons - until we blew all his stuff up! Then we had an altered over here but no ride. That was 2007 or 2008. We had no ride, so I got this altered to put a blown Chevy together. I built the car so I could go out, just so I could say I never missed a season, so I started getting a bit obsessed with it and making sure we don’t miss.”

Fans will see Smax Smith competing at races in which the Top Fuel field is skinny and guarantees him a starting spot in eliminations He can’t afford to have a DNQ, although he said he finds that approach distasteful.

“We have to watch the car counts, because we don’t have a lot of money. If there’s a ton of cars going, we can’t afford to go and not qualify,” Smith said. “It’s a real sad way to race at the moment, but that’s not what we’re about.

He said, “I had a television documentary going here, and it was about me and my family and my pursuit of my American dream trying to get to the NHRA. The car we had was [set up for competition in the] IHRA, but the tubing wouldn’t pass NHRA. We needed $20,000 to get a chassis to come over to NHRA, and we didn’t have that money. So we had a television show, which we could have sold one or two episodes, but that was it and we needed it to continue. Unfortunately, we didn’t sell it, but we tried everything to sell it. We have Antron Brown’s 2010 chassis, so we asked for permission if we could run that because we don’t have money to pay for a new one.”

So what Smith and the Leverich Racing team are about is having fun, working hard, and giving each run the best they can give.

Smith cites Gary Leverich’s devotion to this dream.

“Gary and his dad own this car. He never sleeps. He has two little girls, a tiny house, and has three jobs to make all this happen. He takes the car home and services it on his own. They don’t even have a shop. The trailer is the shop. They rent a spot at a storage facility to work on the car. It’s just that hard,” Smith said. “We’re trying really hard to qualify and get some parts so we can do more runs and then get more serious about what we’re doing.”

He said, “The amazing thing about Top Fuel is the whole sport, all the Top Fuel cars, all the nitro Funny Cars, are really all within four-tenths of each other. We’re a 4.00 car; soon we’ll be a 3.90 car eventually.  I mean, the world record is in the 3.60 range. Isn’t that great for the fans? We’re just that tight. When I get beat by Kalitta or Millican, it’s by a car length or car and a half. We’re not getting spanked. So that’s what it’s about: to be able to get down the track and people see that we lose by a car or car and a half, it’s down to the money,” he said.

“One of these days somebody is going to like us and realize how hard that we work just as hard as anyone. There’s no difference. Everyone is dedicated. Everyone loves their own team, which is fabulous. I felt humbled coming here. So many people come over and help. When we broke in Atlanta, we had the last 30 minutes and with the car almost done, Jeff Diehl’s crew was over helping, Chris Karamesines’ crew was there, so was Scott Palmer’s crew and Pat Dakin’s crew. I was like, ‘Wow, it’s such a family out here.’ It’s just amazing that everyone really wants us to do well. [Karamesines’] wife comes over and brings us sandwiches. They’re a darling crew. T.J. on his crew was thrashing and helping us trying to get us going in Atlanta. They’re all just wonderful people.”

Especially considering his grandchildren love to watch him race, Smith said, “That’s why I love Chris Karamesines. I’d give up my whole life to drag race just like Chris.”

Smith qualified 14th at Topeka in a field of 15. He did his burnout, but then when he backed it up, the engine misbehaved and the crew pushed him from the starting line.

At Epping, he took the 13th and final berth but was a no-show for Round 1 when rain postponed eliminations until that Monday. Smith couldn’t afford the extra day from work Monday, considering he was taking that next Friday off to travel to Englishtown as the four-races-in-four-weeks East Coast Swing schedule continued.

He fared better at Englishtown, for he actually got to race in eliminations, from the No. 16 slot. The bad news is he drew Steve Torrence as his opening-round opponent for the third consecutive event, and this time Torrence was No. 1 qualifier – and eventual winner. Despite a .121 reaction time (to Torrence’s .083), Smith didn’t make it easy for Torrence for at least the first half of the run. Smith cut off his engine early and posted a 4.981-second E.T. at 148.80 mph (while Torrence won with a 3.876, 310.65). So he showed he can compete.

“We do whatever it takes,” Smith said. “Sometimes it’s good. When we get the highs or a good run, that’s when it makes it all worthwhile.”

After all, he is the 2003 FIA [European] Top Fuel champion. He has had his share of successes, even if they haven’t registered with NHRA’s American fans.

“I’ve done a few television shows. I’ve had camera crews follow me around. I’ve hosted Top Gear, the biggest show in the world. Most people don’t know because most of the stuff I’ve done is European,” Smith said. “Like, I was the first person to break 300 mph in Europe. That’s a big deal.

“Another highlight of my life,” he said, “was when we won the FIA Top Fuel championship in 2003. I was the first rookie in history in Europe to win a championship in Top Fuel. The Hall of Fame and all the champions all get to go to the south of France to get their awards. So I was on stage with Michael Schumacher and other big names such as [Juan Pablo] Montoya. And they were all clapping for me, and I was the fastest guy in the room. They showed highlights of my season and all these big names were clapping and my whole family and my best friend were there. It just couldn’t get any higher than that.”

For those who wonder, Smith – whose given name is Paul Smith – said he isn’t quite certain himself how he ended up being “Smax” Smith.

“Ever since I was in school everyone called me Smax. I don’t know if it’s because I love Sugar Smacks cereal or that I used to smack people – I’m not quite sure,” he said, laughing again. “The name just stuck. My real name is Paul Smith. I’ve never been called Paul. My mom and dad, who sadly are no longer with us, called me Paul. Apart from that, I’ve been called Smax by everybody. When I came to NHRA, they put ‘Paul Smith’ and I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me? We have a huge following in Europe – they won’t know who that is. So they changed it for me to Smax, and now we’re all happy.”

He’ll be over the moon if he wins a round.                                                            

So Smax Smith might not be the Last Top Fuel Racer Standing, but he might be the Last Comic Standing.

Either way, he’s a winner.