Rhonda Hartman-Smith is returning to her Top Fuel roots this weekend at the IHRA World Finals held at Rockingham Dragway in Rockingham, NC. Marking her first appearance behind the wheel of a Top Fuel Dragster in IHRA since the 2006 season, Hartman-Smith will be piloting one of three Top Fuel entries by team owner, Mitch King with support from Bexar Waste and La King’s Confectionary.

Rhonda Hartman-Smith is returning to her Top Fuel roots this weekend at the IHRA World Finals held at Rockingham Dragway in Rockingham, NC. Marking her first appearance behind the wheel of a Top Fuel Dragster in IHRA since the 2006 season, Hartman-Smith will be piloting one of three Top Fuel entries by team owner, Mitch King with support from Bexar Waste and La King’s Confectionary.

“This is a great opportunity to be a part of Mitch King’s team and behind the wheel of his 2009 Murf McKinney Dragster,” said Hartman-Smith. “I’m excited to get back into the seat and run at Rockingham, where I have many fond memories. I’ve known Mitch for a long time and it will be great to be surrounded by such an amazing team.”

Hartman-Smith made her debut in IHRA in 1994. Her wins in Steel, AL and Tulsa, OK earned her the title of the youngest and first female driver to win an IHRA National event and the IHRA Rookie of the year award.  Hartman-Smith went on to gain her third National event win again in 1995 in Darlington, SC and finished the season in second place in championship points.  

Hartman-Smith, half of the popular husband-wife team that competed on the NHRA circuit and finished in the Top 10 Championship Points from 2001-2004 took time off for motherhood, but didn’t stay away for long. Returning to selected NHRA and IHRA events in 2006, she has also kept her driving instincts sharp by driving her father’s, Virgil Hartman, Nostalgia Funny Cars in exhibition runs throughout ensuing years.

Ready for a 2010 return to the NHRA circuit, Hartman-Smith is in talks with several different companies for sponsorship.

“I have had so many fans ask me when I am going to return to the driver’s seat,” said Hartman-Smith. “I just want them to know that we are working on it, and when I step back in that driver’s seat it will be with a vengeance.”

Del Cox, Jr., current leader of the IHRA championship point race with 854 points, will be driving King’s second entry, while King will pilot the third entry himself. King currently sits in fourth place in the standings with 491 points. Paul Smith, Hartman-Smith’s father-in-law, serves as Crew Chief for King’s IHRA team, which claimed the 2008 IHRA Championship with Spencer Massey at the wheel. Hartman-Smith’s husband, John Smith, will assist his father with the three teams this weekend.

 

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