Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com, through the assistance of a key group of Pro Modified historians and enthusiasts, have compiled a list of the Top 20 all-time drivers based on their contribution to the class, historic achievements, statistics and fan appeal.

Starting on Friday, January 8, 2010, the electronic magazine began revealing those names on the list, and will announce two drivers per week, until the No. 1 driver is unveiled on Saturday, Mar. 20, during the ADRL Dragpalooza in Houston, Texas.

Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com narrowed the list from hundreds of drivers down to 20. Today, we reveal No. 14 on the list.

King, NC

NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
•    Won first-ever NHRA Pro Mod exhibition
•    36-time Quick Eight winner
•    Has won events in all three major Pro Mod sanctions


Life is all about being challenged, just ask Rickie Smith.

When the IHRA created a new sportsman division called Super Modified, Smith not only won two of its three championships – he was so dominant that the class was discontinued prior to its fourth season.

Graduating to the IHRA’s mountain motor Pro Stock division, he placed in the top ten in the point standings his first year and within four seasons won his first of five professional world championships. He captured 32 wins in 54 Pro Stock finals effectively making him the winningest driver in the mountain motor division.

In the mid-1990s, with the challenge gone from mountain motor Pro Stock racing, Smith sought a new arena. His doorslammer roots made Pro Modified a natural progression and he took to the nitrous-injected style of competition like a fish to water.

Smith believes he’s now in the most demanding class he’s ever raced. And just like the previous classes he’s raced, Smith has faced the competition head on.

“It’s a challenge,” Smith said. “This is the hardest kind of race car I’ve ever tried to get up and down the race track.”

Smith honed his craft racing on the eighth-mile tracks in his formative years of Pro Mod style competition before moving to the national scene in 1997, where he finished third in the championship points. In IHRA competition, Smith is credited with one victory in three Pro Modified final rounds.

When the NHRA brought in the Pro Mods on an exhibition basis, the doorslammer racing wizard, even though he was tuning an NHRA Pro Stocker at the same race, drove his Dodge Viper at the 2001 NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.

But for Smith, whose exploits are largely tied to the IHRA, his finest hour came in 2004 when he drove his way to the NHRA U.S. Nationals crown in Indianapolis.

Smith also has one win in ADRL Pro Nitrous competition, in four final round appearances.

As for those Quick Eights in the Carolinas, Smith stopped counting when the total got upwards of 36.

Smith was recognized as the No. 1 all-time mountain motor Pro Stock driver when Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com recognized 30 years in that style of racing back in 2007. This time, his next conquest, netted him a 14th overall.

His accolades, while deserving, still come as a shock to Smith, who admitted he got into drag racing with the hopes of just attaining competitiveness.

“You get into this drag racing and you go into it hoping to win, but never really expect to pull off some of the great things you do,” Smith admitted. “I never got into this sport expecting to win championships much less be nominated to all-time driver lists. When I got into this sport back in the 1970s, I watched the guys around home here run strong and win the races. All I wanted to do was run alongside them.”

For the complete list visit: ATTITUDE'S COMPETITIONPLUS.COM'S ALL-TIME TOP 20 HOMEPAGE

 

 

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