DENVER, Colo. (Sept. 19, 2012) — Regan Smith is looking to celebrate his birthday with a rebound weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, site of Sunday’s Sylvania 300 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.
Smith, who turns 29 on Sunday, would be the first to stand up and say the past two weekends — at Richmond International Raceway and Chicagoland Speedway — were sub-par results even though the Furniture Row Racing driver posted strong qualifying efforts of third and seventh, respectively.
Smith finished 24th in Richmond and 34th in Chicagoland. Handling was the culprit in Richmond and a mechanical problem forced him to retire from the race early at Chicagoland.
“We need to instill some fire into our team after mediocre outings the past two weeks,” said Smith. “When you qualify in the top-10 you expect to bring home better finishes than what we had in Richmond and Chicago. Things just didn’t go our way, but we know that New Hampshire can be a turnaround weekend for our Furniture Row/Farm American Chevrolet.”
Smith notched his best result on New Hampshire’s 1.058-mile oval in last year’s fall race, posting a 10th-place finish.
“I always like going to New Hampshire,” noted Smith. “This is a type of race track where most of us cut our teeth on. We had a pretty good run at New Hampshire last year with a top-10 finish.”
With nine races remaining in the 2012 season and much of the focus on the Chase, Smith feels it’s an important time of the year to make a move.
“If you can compete alongside of the Chase contenders that gives everyone a big lift,” stated Smith. “We can do that, but we need to have a clean race in New Hampshire.”
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Smith’s Career Cup Record at New Hampshire
St Fn 2007 13 32 16 36
2008 25 27 29 23
2009 (July) 43 27
2010 18 33 20 19
2011 11 33 17 10
2012 17 26
Smith’s 2012 Results Date Event St Fn Laps Status Prize Money Points Rank 2/27 Daytona 500 6 24 200/202 Running 357,034 21 23 3/4 Phoenix 3 20 311/312 Running 93,483 24/45 19 3/11 Las Vegas 28 15 267/267 Running 129,413 29/74 20 3/18 Bristol 6 24 496/500 Running 111,343 20/94 20 3/25 Fontana 22 20 128/129 Running 114,163 24/118 19 4/1 Martinsville 17 16 513/515 Running 106,343 28/146 18 4/14 Texas 26 23 332/334 Running 130,238 21/167 21 4/22 Kansas 29 24 263/267 Running 103,443 20/187 22 4/28 Richmond 15 27 398/400 Running 95,968 17/204 25 5/6 Talladega 31 40 15/194 Engine 87,275 4/208 27 5/12 Darlington 9 14 368/368 Running 117,488 30/238 26 5/27 Charlotte 10 17 398/400 Running 128,488 27/265 23 6/3 Dover 26 27 306/400 Running 103,702 17/282 25 6/10 Pocono 7 16 160/160 Running 101,393 28/310 24 6/17 Michigan 12 28 197/200 Running 87,160 16/326 25 6/24 Sonoma 31 32 109/112 Running 84,960 12/338 25 6/30 Kentucky 26 33 209/267 Accident 81,010 11/349 26 7/7 Daytona 25 34 133/160 Accident 96,555 10/359 26 7/15 N Hampshire 17 26 298/301 Running 100,818 18/377 26 729 Indianapolis 14 18 160/160 Running 180,483 26/403 24 8/5 Pocono 11 9 98/98 Running 110,043 35/438 24 8/12 Watkins Glen 13 9 90/90 Running 107,568 35/473 23 8/19 Michigan 18 29 154/201 Running 96,507 15/488 23 8/25 Bristol 14 16 500/500 Running 125,813 28/516 23 9/2 Atlanta 27 14 327/327 Running 126,638 30/546 23 9/8 Richmond 3 24 398/400 Running 101,293 20/566 23 916 Chicagoland 7 34 197/267 Engine 91,730 10/576 23 Avg. Start: 16.78 Avg. Finish: 22.70 Money: $3,170,352
No. 78 Over-the-Wall Crew Front-tire changer Shane Pipala, Frankfort Square, IL Front-tire carrier Jon Bernal, Holland, Mich. Rear-tire changer Coleman Dollarhide, Hickory, N.C. Rear-tire carrier Dwayne Moore, Griffin, Ga. Jackman Gabe Martin, Lake Wylie, S.C. Gasman Justin White, Lynnville, Tenn. 2nd Gasman Ryan Bergenty, Plainville, Conn. 7th Man/Windshield Todd Carmichael, Redding, Calif. _____________________________________________
No. 78 Road Crew Crew Chief Todd Berrier, Kernersville, N.C. Competition Director Mark McArdle, La Crosse, Wis. Car Chief Robert Huffman, Hickory, N.C. Engineers Cole Pearn, London, Ontario Matt Faulkner, Memphis, Tenn. Technical Director Phil Jimenez, Germantown, Tenn. Spotters Rick Carelli, Arvada, Colo. Clayton Hughes, Thomasville, N.C. Engine Specialist Scott Meesters, Hanford, Calif. Engine Builder Earnhardt-Childress Racing Shock Specialist Nick Kerlin, Old Fort, Ohio Tire Specialist Chad Krauch, Loveland, Colo. Technical Support Michael McCullough, Imperial, Calif. Mechanics Ryan Bergenty, Plainville, Conn. Todd Carmichael, Redding, Calif. Joe Kerrigan, Canon City, Colo.
Transportation Henry Benfield (also gas runner), Statesville, N.C. Jim Gilbert, Belleville, IL Dave Hicks, Montcalm, WVa. Chuck Lemay, DeKalb, IL John Slingerland, Sacramento, Calif. Dennis Valverde, Albuquerque, N.M.
