The first time Rickie Smith did something significant as a professional drag racer at Rockingham Dragway, he was afraid that he had gotten in trouble. In May 1980, Smith made a quick run during the IHRA Pro Am Nationals and at the end of the track was summoned back to the starting line by a race official.

Little did Smith know he had made drag racing history by becoming the first Pro Stock driver into the seven-second zone and the summons was nothing more than a matter of recognizing his achievement?

Friday, during the ADRL Dragstock event, the seven-time world champion made a quick run and was summoned to the starting line again. This time, Smith knew he had done something significant.

Smith covered the eighth-mile in 4.039 seconds at 185.10 to defeat Kevin Rivenbark and capture his first Pro Modified Battle for the Belts title.

The first time Rickie Smith did something significant as a professional drag racer at Rockingham Dragway, he was afraid that he had gotten in trouble. In May 1980, Smith made a quick run during the IHRA Pro Am Nationals and at the end of the track was summoned back to the starting line by a race official.

Little did Smith know he had made drag racing history by becoming the first Pro Stock driver into the seven-second zone and the summons was nothing more than a matter of recognizing his achievement?

Friday, during the ADRL Dragstock event, the seven-time world champion made a quick run and was summoned to the starting line again. This time, Smith knew he had done something significant.

Smith covered the eighth-mile in 4.039 seconds at 185.10 to defeat Kevin Rivenbark and capture his first Pro Modified Battle for the Belts title.

“I really wanted to get a Battle for the Belts crown,” said Smith. “I’m close to retiring and I don’t know what else I can do in my career. I’ve won everything I could win and I’m so tickled. God has blessed me and my family so much that it ain’t even funny. My whole family is blessed. I just praise the Lord and there’s no way with all of the stuff I’ve done in life and the roads I have been down that I could have done this by myself. The Lord rode with me today.”

Smith has numerous trophies, but on Friday night he added a new and very special piece of hardware to his awards case.

“Back in the IHRA Winston days, we got big belt buckles,” said Smith. “But they were never anything this big. This is like a rasslin’ belt buckle. This is impressive; to win that big belt … I never figured I’d get another chance to win one of these. I’m just glad we could pull it off.”

Smith entered Friday’s competition fourth in ADRL points and leading the NHRA.

“This is our year and I hope we can hang in there,” said Smith. “I don’t want to use all of our luck up quite yet.”

Smith’s victory came courtesy of a strong performance and he reached the finals by scoring low elapsed time of all three rounds. He used a 3.887 to beat Jimmy Keen and then a 3.847 to beat a red-lighting Raymond Matos.

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