When Will Smith earned his NHRA crossover license in a Fuel Funny Car earlier this year, he didn’t know when the right moment would come to use it. Now, that moment has arrived at the season-ending IHRA Finals at Galot Motorsports Park in North Carolina.
Smith, who scored his first IHRA Ironman trophy in Top Alcohol Dragster for the Samsel family team, will drive the Mark Herzhauser–owned Funny Car tuned by veteran Jimbo Ermalovich. The race marks Smith’s competitive debut in the class and only his fourth total run behind the wheel of a nitro-burning Funny Car.
“I’m a die-hard drag racer, man,” Smith said. “I eat, sleep, and breathe it. I love nitro racing, love Funny Cars, love dragsters, love it all. My goal from day one has been to be as versatile as possible for any opportunities that may come about. I want to make a living at drag racing, and that’s hard to do these days.”
Smith licensed with longtime Funny Car veteran Paul Smith — no relation — at Gainesville Raceway. His first full pull produced a 4.17-second pass at 310 mph.
“I did my licensing with Paul Smith, and a lot of people suggested him,” he said. “I’ve known Bodie and those guys for a while — they’re great people. Paul’s got a good car, and that thing will go down a dirt road. He’s a great teacher, a great guy, and we had some fun. I learned a lot and had a great time.”
The experience was unconventional even by nitro standards. “I never even sat in a Funny Car until the morning of, and never had the body down on it until we went to the staging lanes,” Smith said. “But man, I fell right at home.”
That first weekend cemented his appreciation for the power and chaos of a nitro machine. “When that cannon came in and the clutch locked up out the back, man, that thing just took off again and set you back,” he recalled. “Your vision’s as black as it could be with clutch dust, and it don’t get any cooler than that. I hope I can find a way to experience it more. So that’s the ultimate goal.”
Now, Smith will finally put that license to use at the IHRA finale. “Someone asked me if I was going to make a test run before the race,” Smith said. “I told them, ‘No, Q1 will be my first official competition run in a Funny Car.’ So coming off of three license runs in Gainesville earlier this year, this will be the next time I stand on the gas in a Funny Car.”
That means his first qualifying attempt will also be his fourth career run in the class. “Yeah, the first run was just a half-track shutoff for the licensing format, then two full runs,” he said. “So this will be my fourth time strapped into a Funny Car. It’ll be Q1.”
Smith said he’s used to being thrown into challenging situations without much seat time. “Apparently it’s normal for me,” he said with a laugh. “When you’re lacking funding, you don’t have the luxury to go test. You have to take the opportunities as they come and make the best of them.”
For Smith, versatility has always been part of the plan. “I always wanted to be a very versatile driver and prove I could jump in this or that and do well with it,” he said. “I’d love to be able to test more, but unfortunately, we can’t do that. People say, ‘Man, you’re crazy,’ and I tell them, ‘You kind of have to be a little crazy to strap into a Fuel Funny Car.’ I feel like I fit the bill on that pretty good.”
Smith isn’t nervous about entering competition with so few laps, as he’s kept the focus simple.
“I really don’t have any, honestly,” he said of anxiety. “I know the task at hand, and I just have to make sure I execute properly. Every team has its own way of doing things. For me, it’s just about learning their way and executing how they want me to.”
He admitted the initial experience of sitting in a Funny Car for the first time was intimidating. “I had never sat in a Funny Car until the night before I made my first run,” he said. “When you get in and you’re looking through the back of the blower, you obviously can’t see over the injector, and you’re thinking, ‘Man, what am I doing? Why am I doing this?’ Then when that thing fires up, you’re like, ‘Man, this is why. Funny Cars are cool. Burning nitro is where it’s at.’”
By the time the body came down and he hit the throttle, Smith said everything clicked. “When the body come down on it, man, I felt right at home,” he said. “I feel very comfortable in the Funny Car. I feel very comfortable in these A/Fuel dragsters as well. The experience I’ve had up to this point in not only Top Fuel but A/Fuel Dragsters and even driving Pro Mods back in my home state, Alabama, I think I went about it the right way and had the right experience leading up to it.”
Competition, he acknowledged, adds another layer.
“There’s a big difference between making a licensing run and pulling up alongside somebody in the other lane, but the fundamentals don’t change.
“I’m pretty good with flipping the switch,” he said. “At the end of the day, when you’re in competition, the task is very simple — get the car from A to B in the best, most straightest, most exact way possible that your crew chief wants you to. It really doesn’t matter what’s happening in the other lane.”
“And over the years I’ve had a lot of good teachers teach me that and I’ve got a ton of racing experience that has helped me get a better grasp on that,” Smith said. “So I don’t look at it any different. Nothing changes in the cockpit and nothing changes on what you do on track from when you know you’re making a license on a test pass or a competition run.”
“But certainly when you get in competition, you know that’s when you start turning the whiff up and trying to make sure you get the car as quick as you can get it,” he added. “So that aspect, it does change. But as far as the fundamentals and the basics is just strap in, execute as you know you have to, and try not to look stupid.”
The Galot event will be contested at an eighth-mile distance, another wrinkle for a driver whose fuel experience has been 1,000 feet or a quarter mile.
“I think it should help play in our favor as far as the performance aspect goes,” Smith said. “I’ve never run a Fuel car every eighth mile. It’s always been thousand foot or quarter mile.”
“But I’m pretty good — they’re really good — about knowing where I’m at on the racetrack,” he said. “You just got to get keyed in on, hey, it’s eighth-mile racing and know where you’re at on the racetrack and not drive the car along or nothing like that. So I really don’t see it being that challenging. You just got to be focused and know exactly what you got to do.”
For Smith, every chance behind the wheel fits a larger mission to build a sustainable career in the sport. “I want to make a living at drag racing,” he said. “That’s been the goal since day one.”
If his first full pull at 310 mph is any indication, Smith’s path toward that dream is already moving fast. “It don’t get any cooler than that,” he said. “Now it’s time to go do it for real.”
