Smith is senior writer for nascar.com, a property of Turner Broadcasting. While at RU, he worked hard and dreamed big. He says when his buddies were out having a good time in college, he was putting in 50 plus hours a week. Former RU Sports Information Director Mike Ashley ushered him into an internship while Smith was a student and since that time, like a race car with no brakes, he’s been unstoppable.

“I did the internship for a couple of years and it gave me a real look at what I could do. I wanted to have more,” he recalls. During his senior year at RU, he went to work for The Roanoke Times, covering everything from equestrian events to tennis. “You name it. I was doing it. It was a great experience because there was so much breadth. I really learned how to write while I was there,” Smith says. He’s had several big and highly successful breaks in his life. One was meeting his wife Lainie, also an RU graduate, and another was a landmark phone call that forever changed his life’s direction.

Smith says,” I was sitting at my desk one day in Lynchburg and this lady calls me up and says she wants me to do a story on her son. I first thought she was probably talking about a local driver. It was Paul Brooks’ mother. He had just been named vice president of NASCAR. Now he’s senior vice president.” Smith said he called Brooks and they hit it off immediately. Not long afterwards, Brooks called him and said, “If you’re willing to move to Charlotte, I have a job for you.” For the first two years, Smith spent his time doing press releases, but his willingness to do the mundane reaped more rewards than he’d ever imagined. He says, “The cards have been stacked in my favor.” Doors have opened all over his career path. Not only is he a well-respected writer and columnist, he’s also a TV personality. He’s one of four panelists appearing on “Pit Bull,” a weekly show that has become a “must see” for racing fans. He even filmed his first commercial recently, a national spot for nascar.com and Nextel.

One of Smith’s favorite drivers is Jimmie Johnson. “He and I are really good friends, but I’m really not supposed to have a favorite driver,” he confides. “Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth and Elliott Sadler are all buddies of mine, too. “They’re drivers, but they’re co-workers as well,” he says. One of his more pleasant memories was a trip he took with Johnson to the Country Music Television Flame-Worthy Awards. “It was awesome. I’m a huge country fan, and Jimmie introduced me to several singers. It’s unreal how many personalities I’ve met.”

Smith has experienced grief as well as happiness in his job. He was trackside the day Dale Earnhardt Sr. was killed. “It was such a terrible day. As I was exiting the track that night, the song ‘I Hope You Dance’ came on,” he said. “I still can’t listen to that song.”

On a recent trip through northern New Jersey, Smith had an experience that truly put his life and success into perspective. As he was driving down the road in the middle of the night, he noticed several “dreary-looking” refineries and factories. “Right then I said a silent prayer and gave thanks for my life and the things that have happened,” he said. “Sometimes I feel like I have to pinch myself to see if it’s real.” Bonnie Erickson