Rickie Smith cannot help it. Every time he wins a race he gets emotional. But for the eight-time world champion who has won both sportsman and professional titles, Pro Stock and Pro Modified, winning any event pales in comparison to winning the NHRA U.S. Nationals.

Monday afternoon in Indianapolis, the storied driver captured his second title at drag racing’s most prestigious race. Smith beat Pete Farber in the final round.

Rickie Smith cannot help it. Every time he wins a race he gets emotional. But for the eight-time world champion who has won both sportsman and professional titles, Pro Stock and Pro Modified, winning any event pales in comparison to winning the NHRA U.S. Nationals.

Monday afternoon in Indianapolis, the storied driver captured his second title at drag racing’s most prestigious race. Smith beat Pete Farber in the final round.

This is Smith’s second win of the 2014 season and sixth since the NHRA adopted Pro Modified as an official series.

“Winning Indy is pretty awesome,” said Smith. “Winning Indy is always great but the older you get the more it means to you and you just realize how many things God blesses you with. He’s rode with me a long time. I believe in in Him and He knows that. There’s no way I could have won all of these championships by being blessed. No way I would have ever won without having been blessed.”

Smith raced his first U.S Nationals back in 1975 with a Mustang in Modified eliminator and admits he was a little overwhelmed with the initial experience. He was used to a smaller scale of drag racing close to his King, NC home.

“I don’t know if it still is as intimidating as it used to be because when I first came here I was way out of my league,” said Smith. “At least now I feel like I am part of the show. I knew from the first Indy I entered, winning this race is like winning the Daytona 500 of drag racing. This is the one you want to win.”

Smith faced a murderer’s row of competition beginning with Sunday’s first round and carrying over into Monday. He concentrated on those he faced but took notice of Billy Glidden whose up and down weekend took him to the semi-finals from the No. 16 spot. Fate appeared to be on Glidden’s side but Smith was certainly charting good fate of his own.

“Billy ran well this weekend, and they are getting closer and closer with their combination,” Smith said. “I had no easy draws out there. It started from our first round race with Danny Rowe, then Jeff Naiser, Troy Coughlin and Pete Farber, who has already won a race this year. We ran the baddest cars we could all weekend long. I’m amazed we kept it all together. I kept laying the coal to it and leave as hard as I could. I did not want to give any race away.

“For as hot as this race track got, it hung right in there. The racetrack stayed very good all day long.”

Smith now leads Mike Janis by 90 points with three races remaining on the ten-race series.  

“If I win the championship this season, this will be the last shot I got to win Indy,” admitted Smith. “I’m giving it all I can to win the championship this season. If my old heart will keep ticking, I’m gonna give it all I have got for the next few races.

“I said it last year,” Smith added. “I’m absolutely tired. I’m stressed out, and I need to get out of this deal and let the young kids have it. I want to go out as a champion, and if I don’t, I’m going out as a winner. I want to go out as a champion again. I probably should have gotten out last season but I had a gut feeling that told me to keep going. There's nothing telling me to go again, so I need to win this championship.”

What was Smith’s clue he isn’t the same star-struck competitor who raced his first Indy almost forty years?

“My stamina,” Smith said with a smile.

The act of cutting and pasting articles from this publication to a message board is a clear copyright violation as is pulling photos to post on social media sites. All articles and photography published in CompetitionPlus.com are protected by United States of America and International copyright laws unless mentioned otherwise. The content on this website is intended for the private use of the reader and may not be published or reposted in any form without the prior written consent of CompetitionPlus.com.