Tuesday Toolbox with ....
Rodney Smith!
(Apologies for not getting this up on actual Tuesday or Wednesday. First the author got sick on Tuesday, and then his computer did the same on Wednesday. Now everyone and everything seems to be feeling better. Here's Tuesday Toolbox)
Is Rodney Smith back? After heading into semi-retirement last year, the 43-year-old five-time GNCC Champion planned on racing a few events this year in the XC2 Lites class just for fun and to test the bike for Suzuki. Now he’s entered all of the rounds so far and leads the points after winning his second event at Loretta Lynn’s. Is he retired or not? Let’s see.
First of all, you got another win. This is working out well for you.
Yeah it’s pretty fun. It was a rough one, though, those guys rode good.
Is that surprising?
Well, being that it was warm and hot. Okay, I need to go back to the last race. Two laps into that one, I crashed and broke my face.
What?
Yeah! I fractured four bones in my skull, to the side and below my eye socket.
 Smith on way to another win at Loretta's Scearce photo |
That’s what Barry (Hawk) did a few years ago. He was out for awhile. Wow.
Yeah I actually broke two bones in my skull, and broke my eyesocket, and a bone in my nose. All from a roll-off canister. It pushed my cheekbone in two millimeters. But they said as long as it didn’t bother my teeth that I shouldn’t worry about it, and that there wasn’t anything they should do for it. So, that happened early in that race, and then I battled back and got into the lead, but I got stuck. So at Loretta’s, I was hoping it would be hot and humid, and I could ride a good strong race in and not fade, and people would get tired and I could get a top three. So I was pretty surprised at Thad, and also Williamson. I had to ride hard all day because they were going good. Plus, I had to play catchup all day, because I don’t have a big tank, and I had to stop for gas three times. I worked hard to catch up, then I stalled around the check point and lost everything I made up, then I caught up again and had to stop again for gas. I caught back up before the third stop, and then we raced together for the last two laps. It was fun.
Well I have to ask. If you’re only racing for fun, why would you race with broken bones in your face?
You know, it doesn’t bother me at all, and it’s not really that risky. I was really bothered about the way things went at that last race with getting stuck, so I wanted to do it again. And again, I thought I wouldn’t have to ride that hard at Loretta’s, but it turned out those guys gave me a good run for my money.
Are these guys stronger now then they were at the beginning of the season?
Well, if you look at the times, there was a big gap back to fifth or something, so I realized I could have backed it way down to be safe and still gotten top five. That was all I planned to do, if I get a top five, that’s fun for me.
What’s it like riding with those young guys?
Well, it’s fun. Williamson is young, but he comes out of the pro ranks and has a good national number, and a podium in the pro class. But he is young. I was surprised. He showed last year he was strong when it was muddy and technical, so I didn’t expect him to go so fast in the dry, open conditions, but he impressed me. And Thad rode strong, and he rode a smart race. On the last lap, Williamson crashed, and Thad tool the lead, and I was pushing him pretty hard. He just pulled over and waved me by. I thought he was just done, we passed Barry, and I looked over and said “He’s still coming!” So I kept on pushing and pushing, and he followed me all the way to the grass track. He rode well. I was talking to him on the podium. In North Carolina, I thought I was out front by myself, and all of a sudden I look over and I’m like, “Whoa who is this?” I thought I was all alone. So when he caught me and passed me at that race, I was fresh, and I was able to pull away. This time he rode and smart race and rode with me all the way to the finish.
You’ve been solid all year. You’re number 9 in points on a 250F. Do you now wonder “what if” you rode an RM250 on the front row again?
Lori (wife) just asked me that. You know, I’m having fun though, and once the pressure comes, it’s totally different. If I’m leading this championship down to the last five rounds and I feel some pressure, I might just sit it out and say “I don’t need it.”
So are you going for this championship or not?
I am having fun with it. I won’t say that I’m not going to ride them all, but that wasn’t my intention, and I don’t have a big tank, and I run tubes in my tires. I’m still not taking it that seriously.
What does Suzuki say?
That I’m not hired to be racing (Laughs)!
So no, “Hey you’re in the points lead, here are some parts!”
No, they haven’t. I’m sure if I asked for a big tank I could get one, but I haven’t asked. They like what I’m doing, but I wasn’t hired to race for them. A friend of mine at home put the dry break on my tank at the last minute. Otherwise I would have had a gas cap.
 Rodney and Thad battling through the final corners at Loretta's. Hooper photo |
Any heat from other riders or teams?
I’ve been wondering about that. I know Freddy’s team is all Lites riders, and that’s where their budget comes from, and he doesn’t have big salary riders. But I’m not one either. I am not making any bonuses, and I make no extra money from racing this year. So you could think I’m taking money out of their pockets, but then you look at Williamson, Cole Calkins, those guys are ex pro riders. I’ve heard it’s an up and coming class, but honestly, what class did the Lites, or 125 class take the place of in motocross? It didn’t take the place of anything. It was just added as another pro class to what was already there. Before, the up and coming guys still came out of the 250 A class, and the A classes are still there, it’s not like we took a class away or anything.
It can add some credibility if you’re there, at least. Watkins did win the Big Buck race and you were there.
Right. If you don’t beat anyone, does that mean anything? He did win that race. I’m sure there are pros and cons both ways.
So what’s your deal with the other Suzuki guys? They all moved to North Carolina. Do you still work with them?
They still call me almost every day. Josh and Glenn will probably come back out to my house when we have a month break, then they’ll go home for a bit over the summer, and come back to my house at the end of the summer break to get ready for the last four races.
Is your riding or training schedule much different than it used to be?
Not really. My wife is a personal trainer, so we always do active stuff. I’ve said that over and over, I’ve never trained because I had to. The only difference now is I don’t ride as much. I may ride one day a week when I used to ride three or four.
How’s the bike?
You know, it’s turned out to be a great bike. Especially once I figured out how to start it right on the line. We rode the first four races on one and didn’t touch anything, then we threw that suspension on a new bike and started with that one for round four. We didn’t change anything in those first four races, not even a spark plug. We changed the oil and cleaned the filter.
Any chance still that you’ll show up with the 300cc kit on it and race the XC1 class?
We’ll see. I said I would do JR’s race (John Penton GNCC) because I’ve always liked the place, but I’ve only won there once. So I like the challenge there. Then Kentucky I like, and Snowshoe, I would like to do that because it’s new. Then I’ll see what I feel like doing over the summer break.
Suzuki is not calling you and saying “Win this title and we give you $100,000?”
No not at all. They like it, though. The other thing is, if I do it all year and win the championship, I will quit. I won’t do it next year, and maybe this way I can convince Suzuki to think about hiring a kid who is in that class right now. I get to ride with these guys and I see a lot.
That’s how you got Glenn on the team a few years ago, right?
Exactly. I’m looking at a couple of kids right now.
