Casey Smith and the entire #9 Gary Buchanan Custom Homes/Rapid Disposal team spent Labor Day weekend working from behind.  Casey struggled with his race car at both tracks ending up with a 14th place finish at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida on Friday night and an 8th place finish in Mobile, Alabama on Saturday night. 

Casey struggled with the handling on his race car during practice and qualified 21st, his worst starting position in the 2006 Blizzard Series.

“The car was terrible in qualifying,” Casey said.  “We made adjustments after qualifying, but I had absolutely no traction.”

However, lots of hard work by the team before the race, and great pit strategy during the event, kept Casey in the top-five of the 2006 Blizzard Series point standings with his 14th place finish in a very competitive field of drivers.

“It was a great team effort,” said the 21-year-old Smith.  “The team stuck together.  When we unloaded and I made the first practice run I knew we were in trouble.  The car was terrible, loose, loose, loose.  When you get down here on Friday and only have a few practice runs before you qualify, how you unload is a good indication of how you are going to run.  We are leaving here in the top-five of the points chase, and without any damage, so I am satisfied with that.”

The team left Pensacola, Florida headed to Mobile Alabama for the running of the Miller Lite 125 lap event on Saturday night.  Again, the team struggled with the handling of the #9 Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

Smith started deep in the field, in the 18th position, his worst starting position at the track, and ended the night holding onto an 8th place finish.

The team is off until October 7th when Casey will compete in the USRA “Octoberfast” at San Antonio Speedway in Texas.  In the meantime, Casey will stay busy working on the car to get it back to where it was – running in the top of the field and winning races. 

“Whatever happened to the performance of this car has to be in the rear-end,” Casey explained.  “We broke an axle in San Antonio, and from there it went from the best car I have ever driven, to the worst.  We will get it figured out before San Antonio.”

Casey is also looking forward to the prestigious Snowball Derby in December, he is rebuilding his primary car that was wrecked earlier this year in a Blizzard Series race.  Casey will have the assistance of two highly regarded people in the industry that he has worked closely with in the past, a car builder and an experienced crew chief.

Look for Casey Smith to be back in the winner’s circle very soon!  

For more information about Casey Smith and his race team, please visit www.caseysmithracing.com.