Second-generation racer Jake Smith from St. Joseph, Minnesota raced to a career-best 21 feature wins during the 2022 season en route to the WISSOTA Midwest Modified National Championship for his efforts. Smith was able to outrun runner-up David Simpson by 75 points in the final national points tally.
Jake, who won the 2019 WISSOTA Hornet National title the year after his sister Brittany won the WISSOTA Hornet National Championship in 2018, comes from a family of racers as his dad Bob had a very successful Modified and Midwest Modified career and Jake is following very closely in his dad’s footsteps.
Smith, who entered a whopping 78 events during the season raced to his 21 wins at 8 different tracks during the course of the 2022 season, including wins at Chateau Raceway, Granite City Motor Park, Ogilvie Raceway, Gondik Law Speedway, KRA Speedway, Madison Speedway, Fiesta City Speedway and Halvor Lines Speedway. He was able to record 66 top-ten finishes in the 78 events he entered and finished inside the top five in more than 50 of the events he competed in.
Smith kicked off his season early by competing in some winter events in New Mexico, Nevada, Kansas and Missouri to knock the ‘off-season rust’ off and he was sharp when the WISSOTA points season started and his off-season work translated well into a very solid season, which led to the national title.
Of Jake’s 21-win season, which by the way was more than his dad ever won in a single season during his successful career, he picked out a few memorable ones that he will cherish the most, including winning the Minnesota Modified Nationals at the Ogilvie Raceway in May; along with winning the Rebel Midwest Mod RV Tour stop at the Granite City Motor Park. He also remembered picking up his first-ever Midwest Modified wins both at Ogilvie and the Gondik Law Speedway in Superior, Wi as memorable as both tracks have a talent-laded field of racers night in and night out and it’s really difficult to win at both places, especially when you don’t race there weekly.
One other memorable moment from this past season that Jake recalled was on a Friday when he visited his mom at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester during the day and then went on to win the feature at the Chateau Raceway in nearby Lansing, MN that night. That was a special day.
Sponsors on Jake’s #21 include United Surface Preparation, Chubbs Performance, Collins Brothers Towing of St. Cloud, GRP Motorsports, St. Cloud Auto Wrecking, Stai Farms, JigE Signs and Graphics, JSmith Trucking, MB Customs Race Cars, CMD Shocks, RLS Trucking and Powers Racing Promotions LLC.
Jake is supported by his mom Carrie, dad Bob, sister Brittany and his crew man Carter.
When asked about the success he’s had so early in his career, Jake said ’to win two WISSOTA National Championship in just the six years that I’ve raced is pretty crazy. We definitely put our heart and soul into our program and give it everything we have night in and night out and it’s really cool to be able to have the success we’ve had this early in my career.’
Jake is going to use the momentum he built during the 2022 season and transfer that into a Modified program for the 2023 season and chase the WISSOTA Modified Rookie of the Year title when the snow melts next Spring.
Congrats!
The WISSOTA Promoters Association exists to benefit its member tracks to enhance safe, profitable and successful dirt track racing, through unified, cost-effective rules, policies and procedures, enacted within a democratic environment.
The WISSOTA Promoters Association was founded in 1981 by eight track promoters in Wisconsin and Minnesota, with intent to offer uniform rules for the promoters and drivers involved in the Late Model division. Soon, the group decided to do the same for the growing Modified division.
In 1984 a voluntary steering committee was formed to oversee the business aspects that developed and to guide the future of WISSOTA’s racing divisions. That steering committee evolved into a board of directors, and the non-profit racing organization became incorporated in 1986.
Promoters who join the organization become, in essence, part owners of the racing organization and are expected to contribute to its overall success. Each November, the WISSOTA annual meeting is held; the member promoters gather annually in this forum to discuss the future of the organization. Member promoters are given the opportunity to vote on all organizational policies and procedures as well as rules for competition in the various racing divisions. WISSOTA’s member promoters and racing associations have spent approximately 30 years of hard work at the annual meetings crafting unique rules for each of the divisions, which are known as WISSOTA Late Models, WISSOTA Modifieds, WISSOTA Super Stocks, WISSOTA Street Stocks, WISSOTA Mod Fours, WISSOTA Pure Stocks and WISSOTA Hornets.
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(Photo provided by Smith Racing and CRP Photos)
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