Rickie Smith has a long, highlight-filled history at Rockingham Dragway, beginning in 1980 with making the first-ever, seven-second, mountain-motored Pro Stock pass.

When Attitude’s Competition Plus asked the current ADRL Pro Nitrous points leader about how he’s changed over the years, Smith answered, “I don’t know; I don’t know. You get older and sometimes you get frustrated maybe a heap quicker. Back then we were young, stupid, probably pretty cocky, just one of them deals, but reality comes into play and you get older and you realize what’s going on out here and how hard it really is to win.”

As a three-time winner with the ADRL in 2010, including back-to-back victories on consecutive nights in July at Houston, Smith is certainly qualified to speak. He’s qualified third for this weekend’s Dragstock VII at “The Rock.”

Rickie Smith has a long, highlight-filled history at Rockingham Dragway, beginning in 1980 with making the first-ever, seven-second, mountain-motored Pro Stock pass.

When Attitude’s Competition Plus asked the current ADRL Pro Nitrous points leader about how he’s changed over the years, Smith answered, “I don’t know; I don’t know. You get older and sometimes you get frustrated maybe a heap quicker. Back then we were young, stupid, probably pretty cocky, just one of them deals, but reality comes into play and you get older and you realize what’s going on out here and how hard it really is to win.”

As a three-time winner with the ADRL in 2010, including back-to-back victories on consecutive nights in July at Houston, Smith is certainly qualified to speak. He’s qualified third for this weekend’s Dragstock VII at “The Rock.”

 “We’re trying harder and we’re running good; we’ve had a good year no matter what happens,” he said. “Sometimes you’re running good and then you make a bad run and you don’t know why. That’s what frustrates me. I like to know why I made a bad run; that’s what I’ve always been pretty good at.”

After accumulating a tremendous amount of hard-fought-for knowledge through more than three decades of professional drag racing Smith said he’s learned to appreciate the process.  

“You learn as you get older, that’s just the way God meant things to be. But you’re not supposed to know at 20 years old what you know at 50 years old. It’s all about growing up and learning.”

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