It would be easy to dismiss Garrett Smith’s victory in the 42nd annual General Tire Dirt Track World Championship presented by Optima Batteries at Portsmouth Raceway Park as a fluke, a stroke of good fortune for a young driver who took advantage of his pole position on a track that quickly took rubber and became one-laned.

Starting from the pole, Smith did indeed have the easiest path to victory among the 25 starters. Smith’s mission in the 100-lap, $100,000-to-win event founded and still MORE

Mishaps are part of life. As cliche as it sounds, I believe that it’s how you respond to them that defines the moment. Notice I said that it defines the moment, not that it defines the person. For instance, the way you react to having a flat tire when you are 16 years old is likely much different to the way you react to having a flat tire when you are 52.

For me personally, I’d like to think that, during that 36-year span, my maturity level has grown exponentially, as well as my overall MORE

Good neighbors are hard to find.

Whether it’s a racetrack or a house, having good neighbors — folks who don’t mind occasional noise and a little junk sitting around — is one of the keys to residential bliss. I don’t mean good neighbors like an insurance company (they get paid to be a good neighbor).

When I was looking for a place to move my family 19 years ago, one of the most important things on my list of requirements was having a shop or garage for my race car.

We were living in a very MORE