Shelby Twp., MI (April 25th, 2018) – Journeyman driver Bad Smith has been part o the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menard’s since 1988. In that time he’s seen a lot of green flags. Unfortunately, he hadn’t had a whole lot of attention afforded him until the 2015 General “200” at Talladega Speedway. In that race, his Hylton Motorsports Ford was in the lead draft and had actually turned the fastest lap of the race. But with only a handful of laps to go, another drive at the front of the pack lost control, spun up the track and into Smith’s path, leaving him nowhere to go. Brad collected the car, then the wall, and as the crowd became silent, Smith’s #48 was now headed for the inside wall. For the fans, it seemed like an eternity as Smith’s car, now undriveable, was headed for the inside wall. What were you thinking? Was it “life flashing before your eyes” time?

“Actually I was thinking that my Plymouth Cuda was in a friend’s garage and no one was gonna know it’s there. Because yah, I thought, ‘this is it, I’m gone’!” After Brad hit, he knew it was bad, especially in the foot box area, but not as bad as he thought it was gonna be. When the car came to a stop, the safety workers came rushing to the car and asked if he could get out and he said he could. “But as soon as I put my hand up on the roof rail to pull myself out, I realized I was gonna need help.” He had severe injuries to both legs and still walked to the ambulance. How did that happen? “I think it was from my football days where they teach you not to let everyone see you’re hurt!”

It is almost typical of the 49-year-old’s fortunes at the northern Alabama track. His very first attemot at an ARCA race was at Talladega in 1988 but he did not qualify. In 1995, he lost an engine and crashed in the oil and climbed out amid flames but was not injured. And in 2003, he was burned badly on his qualifying run and had to miss the race. “It was one of those deals where you’re busy, trying to do ten things at once, different people are talking to you, and we forgot to tighten the fuel line. When I went out it was only hand tight.” While Brad was in a local hospital, the team loaded up and attempted to leave the track, they tried driving out of the tunnel and got the trailer stuck. On the bright side, Paul Menard, driving for Andy Petree, missed the race and used Brad’s number to get into the race and then went out and won it! So technically Smith is the car owner of record as a winner at the fastest track on the circuit. In 11 races, he’s only finished four with a best of 15th in 2006.

Though Brad finished eighth in points last year, they limped to the finish as the team hauler wrecked during late summer, then wiped out a car at Springfield. Now it seems like they are limping into 2018 with a wreck not of Brad’s doing at Daytona, they only ran a couple laps at Nashville when the rearend failed, and didn’t even start at Salem when they lost an engine in practice and didn’t have a spare to change for the event.

“It has to get better. No matter what, I feel great about this year! We’re due for a good season!” And Talladega would be the perfect place to turn things around, what with Brad’s history there!”

Fans can tune in to watch Brad and his fellow competitors on Fox Sports 1 at 5:00 P.M. CDT and also catch the replay on the same network at 7:30 A.M. Saturday morning.

You can visit Brad Smith at his website, created by CoprayaWeb.com/Website Builders at bradsmithmotorsports.com .
Also, receive up to the minute Brad Smith updates on just about any social media platform at @DriverBradSmith.
He also uses the hashtags #DriverBradSmith #BradAt300 #HyltonMotorsports2018 #4DecadesOfARCARacing #ARCARacing #BradFansBESTFans

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About Brad Smith: Brad is closing in on his milestone 300th career ARCA start and has been a consistent top-20 driver throughout his career. In 2016 he finished 6th in ARCA Driver Points and also won the inaugural ARCA General Tire “Spirit Award”. He also was the winner of the ARCA “Sportsman of the Year” award in 2006. He is currently 8th in Driver Points for the 2017 season.

About James Hylton Motorsports: A full-time ARCA team fielded by legendary NASCAR driver James Hylton, Sr., Hylton Motorsports is the longest-running consistent stock car racing team in the United States. Formed in the early-60’s, Hylton Motorsports continues to field competitive cars even after James Hylton recently retired from driving. James was the 1966 NASCAR Rookie-of-the-Year and three-time runner-up in NASCAR Driver Championship points. Hylton Motorsports is running full-time in ARCA for a 25th season.

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About Big Brothers Big Sisters: For more than a century, Big Brothers Big Sisters has been helping change kids’ perspectives and giving them the opportunity to reach their potential. And we have more than a century of volunteers, donors, and advocates just like you to thank.
It all started in 1904, when a young New York City court clerk named Ernest Coulter was seeing more and more boys come through his courtroom. He recognized that caring adults could help many of these kids stay out of trouble, and he set out to find volunteers. That marked the beginning of the Big Brothers movement.
At around the same time, the members of a group called Ladies of Charity were befriending girls who had come through the New York Children’s Court. That group would later become Catholic Big Sisters.
Both groups continued to work independently until 1977, when Big Brothers Association and Big Sisters International joined forces and became Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.
More than 100 years later, Big Brothers Big Sisters remains true to our founders’ vision of bringing caring role models into the lives of children. And, today, Big Brothers Big Sisters currently operates in all 50 states—and in 12 countries around the world.

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