The No. 26 Ford Taurus team of Brad Smith Motorsports put together a true team effort at Sunday’s Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 at Salem Speedway, eking out a 20th place finish despite a bump from behind early in the race and then losing the brakes later on.

The team started 28th, prepared to start clawing their way to the front. They made it as far as 22nd when the field, under the 5th caution, checked up on the backstretch. Smith was hit from behind by the 34 car of Darrell Basham. The damage to Brad’s ride was primarily cosmetic, and he was able to continue. Under the 8th yellow flag, Brad reported that the car was getting pretty loose. Crew chief Jeff Smith called him in to change right side tires.

After the change, Brad was prepared to restart in 20th position, four laps down, when he reported to Jeff that he had no brakes.
“And you can’t drive this track with no brakes,” Brad pointed out on the radio.

After bringing the car into the pits, it was determined that the wheel that was put on the right front had knocked the brake pads loose. The team was well organized and worked together quickly, repairing the damage and getting Brad back out on the track only 40 laps down.

Under the 11th caution, once he was back on the track, Smith reported that the brakes were fine and thanked the team, saying “it looks like we’re still going to get a top-20 finish!”

He maintained that position through the end of the race, finishing 40 laps behind the leader.

Next up for Brad and his team is the Channel 5-205 at Kentucky Speedway on May 8..