Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Dirt Late Model Racing’s King of All Media

Clint Smith: Dirt Late Model racing’s King of All Media?

In a manner of speaking, that’s what the veteran World of Outlaws Late Model Series standout is becoming.

He has a sharp, up-to-date Web site (www.clintsmith.com). He’s on top of the social media scene, keeping fans informed of his exploits on both Facebook (facebook.com/clintsmithracing) and Twitter (twitter.com/clintsmith44).

Clint Smith (r) in the WEKS radio studio.
And last month Smith expanded his reach to the airwaves, joining a local radio show, the Southern Race Report on WEKS-92.5 ‘The Bear’ in Griffin, Ga., as a co-host.

Now if the driver known as ‘Cat Daddy’ can land a job as a pit reporter for DirtonDirt.com, a color commentator for SPEED and a columnist for a magazine, he’ll have all his media bases covered – and just might get that WoO LMS press card he’s been asking tour director Tim Christman about.

At the moment, Smith’s most high-profile media role is as a budding radio personality. He made his in-studio radio debut Feb. 8, accepting an opportunity to share the microphone with Southern Race Report co-hosts ‘Uncle Rich,’ Brad Myers and longtime Atlanta Journal-Constitution motorsports writer Rick Minter. He’s been a regular on the show ever since, offering his insider’s view of the dirt-track scene every Wednesday from 7-8 p.m.

“They called me to come be on the show one time,” Smith said of his path to the radio gig. “Then me coming on got to be habit forming, so they just said, ‘The hell with it, you’re just gonna be a co-host of it.’ It’s not a paid deal, but it’s fun.”

The always opinionated Smith, who celebrates his 47th birthday on March 20, isn’t merely an expert analyst for the show. He’s right in the mix, lining up guests from the dirt-track arena and questioning them when they call in or visit the studio.

“I got all the dirt guys’ phone numbers so I usually handle getting up with them to come on the show,” said Smith, whose home in Senoia, Ga., is just a couple miles from the radio station’s studio. “The other guys on the show do the (NASCAR) Cup stuff, and I bring some dirt stuff to the show. Now that we’re getting more into the season we’ll probably get the biggest (dirt) winner in the south each week, and we’ll probably cover a World of Outlaws guy each week because that’s what I do.”

Cat Daddy on the air.
Smith has already had several of his WoO LMS brethren on the show, including Shane Clanton, Tim Fuller and Tim McCreadie. Other dirt Late Model guests have included locals Bubba Pollard and Brian Reese.

How does Smith rate his interviewing style? He thinks he handles the role well.

“I’ve been asked so many questions over the years, I know you have to phrase the question so it’s gonna get more than a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer,” said Smith. “It’s gotta be direct, but still enough to make the guy talk. Just keep it to a certain topic and make sure it will take a little bit to answer.

“Of course, you get Clanton on there and he’s gonna ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer things anyway.”

So is ‘Cat’ saying that his Georgia buddy Clanton doesn’t rank at the top of his list of interview subjects?

“Yeah, Clanton was too much ‘yes’ and ‘no,’” Smith said with a laugh. “My best interview was probably me and Tim Fuller; we called in on our phones from down in Florida (on Feb. 15 at Bubba Raceway Park), which was pretty cool. T-Mac was good too, and I’d say one of the best was one of my first, Brian Reese. I went to lunch with him first and I told him how to answer questions on the radio and he did a heck of a job.”

Fans outside the radio station’s coverage area south of Atlanta can listen live to Smith and his Southern Race Report cohorts every Wednesday from 7-8 p.m. by logging on to www.925fmthebear.com. Smith also posts audio of past shows on his Facebook page.

Clint Smith at speed (www.rewingphotos.com)
To keep abreast of the show’s dirt-track guests, fans should be sure to follow Smith on Twitter. Each week he Tweets a reminder to tune in to the show – one of many updates he sends out on his very active Twitter feed. It’s unlikely you’ll find a dirt Late Model driver who pumps out as much info over Twitter as Smith, who had 933 followers as of the morning of March 20 and hopes to reach the 1,000 mark before the next WoO LMS event, the Illini 100 on March 30-31 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway.

“I Tweet every word myself,” Smith proudly stated. “I’ve been thinking I might even take a picture (from inside the car) under the caution and Tweet it out.”

Just remember, Cat Daddy -- no texting and driving.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

The World of Outlaws’ Number One Fan…From Ireland

Sean O’Donnell has no illusions about the first impression he presents when he’s at a dirt track. Wearing green shorts, green sneakers, a green cap, a sleeveless t-shirt and strands of green party beads around his neck, he knows he doesn’t look like the typical World of Outlaws Late Model Series fan.

Irish WoO LMS fan Sean O'Donnell.
“People always ask me, ‘Why are you dressed like this?’” O’Donnell said last month while getting ready for an evening of WoO LMS action during the UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla. “I tell them, ‘This is the way I dress every day.’”

O’Donnell, of course, is a proud Irishman, so his penchant for sporting the color green is no surprise. It’s his habit of flashing his unique style at WoO LMS events that turns so many heads.

While O’Donnell, 62, is a native of West Belfast in Northern Ireland – not exactly a hotbed of dirt-track stock car racing – he’s become an unabashed fan of the WoO LMS. Currently a resident of Winter Garden, Fla., he attends World of Outlaws shows throughout the Southeast. This year he’s already taken in races at Volusia, Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla., and Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga., and in recent years he’s seen the tour compete at such ovals as The Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, N.C., Swainsboro (Georgia) Raceway, Needmore Speedway in Norman Park, Ga., and Columbus (Miss.) Speedway.

The seeds of dirt-track racing were planted in O’Donnell when he was a youngster and spent time living outside Albany, N.Y. He remembers watching Big-Block Modified races at the nearby Lebanon Valley Speedway and other area tracks.

After an extended period away from the dirt-track scene, O’Donnell reconnected with the sport in 2005. Living in Florida at the time, he saw that the DIRTcar Big-Block Modifieds would be racing at Volusia during the DIRTcar Nationals and decided to check out a night of competition. He enjoyed the Modified action, but he fell in love with the full-fender division that shared the card.

“I saw them World of Outlaws Late Model boys out there and I was impressed,” said O’Donnell. “They really do some racing. I’ve been following them ever since.”

The 2005 DIRTcar Nationals happened to be the dirt Late Model coming-out party for Tim McCreadie, who that year at Volusia won his first-ever WoO LMS A-Main as well as two other DIRTcar UMP-sanctioned features. O’Donnell adopted the former DIRTcar Big-Block Modified regular from Watertown, N.Y., as his favorite driver.

“He’s one of the best guys that does the Outlaws right,” O’Donnell said of McCreadie. “He’s a good guy and I can remember watching his father ‘Barefoot’ Bob run a Big-Block back up in New York.”

O’Donnell proclaims his backing of McCreadie to the public as part of the distinctive parking-lot display he sets up behind his Toyota at each WoO LMS event he attends. He hangs a T-Mac shirt on a chair, puts a McCreadie hat on one of the three stuffed animals (Jerry, Connor and Seamus) he positions on another and shows off a Sweeteners Plus No. 39 license plate. O’Donnell also flies an Irish flag from his car, arranges a variety of Irish-themed items in the open hatch of his car, plays Irish music out of his vehicle's speakers and sits in a fold-out chair between two large coolers. His pre-race tail-gate party includes drinking pints of Guinness beer (“Guinness is not a drink,” he likes to say, “it’s a meal”), sipping some Paddy Old Irish Whiskey and chowing down on various delicacies (shrimp and cold cuts were on his menu the afternoon of Volusia’s WoO LMS finale).

While O’Donnell travels to the races alone (his wife and two kids – a 21-year-old son who attends the University of Florida and an 18-year-old daughter – aren’t into the sport), he’s never at a loss for conversation. He has a cheery, “Hi, Lads!” for all passersby and breezily makes new friends. He’s also easy to spot, either in the parking lot (he arrives hours before race time) or meandering through the pit area with his homemade shillelagh, a traditional Irish walking stick (he makes them in his spare time and has given one to McCreadie as a gift).

“We have fun,” said O’Donnell, who typically returns to Ireland for several months each year to work as a lobbyist. “I enjoy all the people at the racetrack. If anybody wants to stop by and talk racing or politics about Ireland, we’ll sit there and talk – and maybe have a pint too.”