With his parents Bill and Connie already solid members of the local auto racing community, Bart Smith attended his first race in his mother’s arms mere months after his birth on May 6th of 1964. And with an aunt and uncle (Valerie and Brian Willson) also heavily involved, Bart had plenty of influence to help cultivate his own interest in racing. Growing up he was always interested in it which included day dreaming and drawing racecar pictures. Helping (or sometimes getting in the way of) his Dad in the garage started him off from which he moved up to being a crew member during Bill Sr.’s later driving years and from there to his older brother Bill Jr.’s time in the Pro Stock Series.
Although he found crewing a lot of fun, Bart wanted to experience what it was like behind the wheel and in 1989 started in a Claimer. His very first race got him hooked and also convinced him that he needed to go faster so he purchased a Stockcar and was quickly running against some of the best drivers in that class and that season he won his first main event on Cassidy Speedway’s dirt track.
Taking another step up the ladder following year, Bart teamed up with his friends Brian Baker and Mike Hardy and the trio bought an IMCA Modified which was a huge learning curve for them all. They also secured what would become a longtime sponsorship with Thrifty Foods which was then headed by Ernie Skinner and at the end of that season travelled to Redding California’s Shasta Speedway to compete in an open race where Bart placed fourth.
The years 1991 to 1994 were filled with Modified racing which included feature wins and placings in the top three in Championship points with 1994 being a turning year for Bart as a driver when his older brother gave him the opportunity to drive part-time in his CANAM Late Model car against some of the best drivers around including Roy Haslam, Don Smith and Murray Dyck among others. The boys proved themselves as a team and won the Thrifty Foods 125 at Saratoga Speedway, backing that up with a second place finish in the Canada 200 in a rented car from Spanaway Washington after their own car’s engine expired during hot laps. Bart also took home Rookie of the Year honours for the CANAM Late Model class.
Future years saw Bart living his dream, racing whenever and whatever which included Modifieds, Late Models, Sprint Cars and even Big Rigs. His Modified accomplishments included a two time win of the Salmon Classic against a thirty car field plus setting track records at both Western and Saratoga with Late Model wins of the 2005 Thrifty Foods 150, the 2006 Agassiz Speedway 150, twice winner (2005 and 2008) of the Peach Cup 150 in Penticton on Gordie Mannis Weekend and a 2005 Shasta Speedway feature win plus a 2006 Late Model Championship. There was also a 2012 Super Late Pole award and a second place at South Sound Speedway.
Racing through the years and having great relationships with car and engine builders and crew members was the highlight of racing for Bart. As his driving started to slow down, he enjoyed becoming an owner and crew member and began a new venture into Vintage Sprintcars and the history of racing where he learned much from racing veterans which he enjoyed as much as his time behind the wheel.
In 2017, Bart’s son Cayden began his racing career like his Dad, in the Stockcar division at Western with 2018 being Cayden’s first full year of competition which included his winning of a feature plus a second place in that season’s championship and being voted Rookie of the Year.
Bart along with others started the IMOD open wheel Modified racing series in 2019 which ran at both Western and Saratoga. The COVID pandemic then shut down racing but in 2021 with the pandemic easing up they resumed racing and won the 2021 IMOD Championship with 2022 seeing Cayden and crew again winning the IMOD Championship along with the closing of Western Speedway.
