Getting to the big show seemed a breeze for NASCAR driver Regan Smith. Breaking through to center stage proved decidedly more difficult.
Smith, who drives the Denver-based No. 78 Chevy in stock car’s top series, broke through in 2008 to win rookie-of-the-year honors. Since then, he ran an abbreviated schedule in 2009 and last season met with crashes, a broken wrist and engine trouble.
But Smith and his Furniture Row Racing team are trending upward. They enter the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 20 with high expectations.
“We were getting frustrated,” Smith said Tuesday at the team’s home garage in Park Hill. “It was the little stuff. We were always knocking on the door.”
Smith turned a corner at midseason last year. After crashing out at Daytona on July 3 — in a wild 20-car accident with 12 laps to go — Smith finished 20th at Chicago the next week. Down the stretch, he qualified in the top 10 three times and notched three top-15 finishes in the final seven races. He finished 28th in the Sprint Cup standings, a career best.
“Every team comes into a new season feeling excited,” Smith said. “But we should be. We’re in position to back that up more than ever before. It’s our job to keep that upward swing all year.”
A new pit crew from Stewart-Haas Racing and a tweaked engine should improve the car on race day, Smith said. He has been invited to the preseason Shootout race at Daytona Speedway on Feb. 12, a 75-lap sprint among top drivers that gives invitees a chance to test out the superspeedway. Daytona 500 qualifying begins Feb. 17.
“Results are what this business is about,” said Mark McArdle, the team’s director of competition. “We have to look at our qualification times and results. And even closer. We’ll be looking at lap-by-lap performance. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to race at the front of the pack come race day at Daytona.”
Familiarity will also be a first for the Furniture Row team. They enter the season with the same management as last year, and crew chief Pete Rondeau, who was promoted midseason last year, returns.
“He always asks me from the track, ‘Who am I racing?’ ” Rondeau said. “And I say, ‘The car in front of you!’
“That’s what drives us. We want to win. If he can see the front, he’s going for it.”
