Regan Smith had rough ride in short time due to plan changes

For now, the 23-year-old is in limbo in NASCAR’s top series.

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) — Three weeks ago, Regan Smith was sitting on top of the world: He had finally landed a regular Nextel Cup ride with Ginn Racing and could barely contain his glee.

Then, four days before he was slated to debut in the No. 14 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the full-time replacement for Sterling Marlin, team owner Bobby Ginn merged his organization with Dale Earnhardt Inc. Smith ended up driving in a Craftsman Truck Series race that weekend and began wondering anew about his future.

“That was pretty disappointing,” Smith said before Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen International.

Bad timing

“I’m not going to say it was a low point because you’ve got to look at it as I made it to that point where they were ready to say, ’OK, ready to go full-time.’ The timing just played out bad for me. It wasn’t a low point, but it was really difficult.”

“Literally, it’s just about hour by hour. It’s a very emotional roller coaster — up one minute and down the next,” said Smith’s dad, Ron. “You never know what’s around the next turn.”

Smith has shared a ride this season with Mark Martin in the 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet. The Centurion Boats at The Glen was Smith’s sixth Cup start in 2007 and first for DEI. In a homecoming of sorts — Smith was born and raised in Cato, N.Y., about 75 miles northeast of the historic road course — he started 10th (the grid was set by owner points because qualifying was rained out) and finished a disappointing 37th after being involved in an early crash.

The poor finish dropped the team one spot in Nextel Cup owner points. Not the sort of result Smith was hoping for while DEI officials and Ginn are assessing which personnel will make the cut as they continue to merge the companies.

Outlook

“I’ve just got to do what I can to make the most out of each weekend that I get, be the smartest about things, and go from there,” said Smith, whose best finish was 25th at Bristol in March in his first Cup start.

Being in limbo in NASCAR’s top series isn’t a lot of fun, especially for a young driver. Yet the 23-year-old Smith has impressed with his maturity, even as he might worry about all the competition he’s up — from former open-wheel guys like Patrick Carpentier to motocross star Ricky Carmichael to veterans like Jeremy Mayfield, who is looking for a top ride.

“It makes it difficult,” said Smith, who fell in love with the sport as soon as he drove his first quarter midget at age 41⁄2. “But I’m in a transition because of how the merger went down. I’m not in transition because I wasn’t doing what I had to do on the racetrack. It’s the way things shuffled out. The companies got merged and we had to cut back.”

Parents lost team

That Smith hasn’t bemoaned his predicament is a testament to his parents, who moved the family to Charlotte, N.C., the hub of NASCAR, when he was 12 in hopes Regan could forge a career in racing. They owned the Hooters ProCup car he drove and gave him firsthand knowledge of how tough a sport auto racing is when they folded it and a Busch Series team they owned.

“We sold everything,” said Smith’s mom, Lee. “We said, ’You’re on your own.’ We knew that going in. We’re very familiar with the ups and downs, so we’ve always tried to prepare him for it, to think things out and let it roll if it happens. There’s been some quiet moments between the three of us, I’m not going to lie. But I’m very proud of how he’s kept himself together and thinks before he opens his mouth. That’s very crucial. He’s very mature.”

“When it comes to advice, we give him what we can and try to help him out as much as we can,” Ron Smith said. “But this little incident right here I think has made him mature probably five years advanced from what he would have been normally because this has really opened his eyes, really made him figure out how to handle the whole situation.”

Karting king

Although Smith attracted attention during his karting days — as a teenager, he won the World Karting Association Grand National championship in 1996, the WKA Manufacturer Cup in 1997, and captured the Canadian Grand National karting championship the next year — he picked up some bad habits that have proven tough to break.

But with star Mark Martin in his corner and giving him invaluable advice, Smith would seem to have a bright future.

“This is really what he needs, somebody who will mentor him,” Ron Smith said. “Mark has been able to do what I tried to do — that these are long races. You’ve got to pace yourself. He’s coming from karting. Those guys’ attitude is you’ve got to get it done on the first lap. It was hard to break him of that habit.”

That Martin calls often just to check in has to help assuage any nerves.

“Any time that you don’t know what you’re doing from week to week, you’re kind of a little bit concerned,” Regan Smith said. “But any time you’ve got Mark Martin in your corner saying, ’Hey, this kid’s ready. He can do it. Give him the equipment and let him go,’ it’s big.”