Dirt
The Will to Race
PDRA’s Will Smith earns NHRA
Top Alcohol Dragster license
By Nate Van Wagnen
A/Fuel dragster down the quarter mile.
“I’ve been a racer my whole life. I started racing
Jr. Dragsters when I was nine years old. When I
rolled under the arch coming through the stag-
ing lanes for the first time, I was thinking about
what I had to do and the proper execution for
everything. I could not believe how relaxed I was.
I’ve been in situations where I wasn’t necessarily
nervous, but I had to get up on the wheel and race,
but this was a different deal. I was calm, cool and
collected. In my mind, I made run after run after
run. By the time the car fired up, it felt natural.
I’ve never driven a clutch car, never driven a car
with a hand brake, never had to pull the ‘chutes
– all that was new, but it felt smooth.”
Hirata, who’s tuned sportsman standout Mia
Tedesco to multiple NHRA national- and region-
al-event victories and back-to-back North Cen-
tral Region championships, agreed that Smith’s
licensing process was smooth, speaking with the
voice of a proud mentor.
“I’m going to give him an A,” Hirata said. “The
first run, that’s where we find the things that hap-
pened that weren’t supposed to happen. Those
things were corrected and the next two runs were
fairly flawless. Will is very methodical. I think
he studies his craft, what he’s going to do, and
he’s very prepared. We had no problem putting
him in the car.”
When he’s not making phone calls and work-
ing with the PDRA’s marketing partners, Smith
works on his own marketing program so he can
find enough funding to field an A/Fuel dragster
in NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster competition next
season. He’s had a taste of nitro racing, and he’s
motivated more than ever to make the next step.
“Earning my A/Fuel license was a really cool
experience,” Smith concluded. “Most of all – be-
cause Dave is one of my best friends – being able
to do this with him, his parents, his guys, and my
parents here at Indianapolis. My parents have
supported me so much over the years. I also can’t
thank the PDRA staff enough for picking up the
slack in a few areas to allow me to do this.”
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O
ver the course of Will Smith’s
19-year-long career in drag racing,
he’s held a variety of titles: bracket
racer, teenage protégé on Steve John-
son’s NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle team, team
manager on the Awesome Motorsports/Al-Anabi
nitrous Pro Mod team, marketing manager at
Speedtech, and most recently, marketing director
for the PDRA. After three runs during the PDRA
Mid-America Indy Showdown, Smith added an-
other title to his résumé: licensed NHRA Top
Alcohol Dragster pilot.
Driving a nitromethane-injected A/Fuel drag-
ster owned by the legendary Hirata family and
tuned by longtime friend Dave Hirata, Smith
upgraded his license with full passes of 5.618 at
240.68 and 5.769 at 221.63. It was the realiza-
tion of a lifelong dream for Smith, who hopes
to use the license in competi-
tion soon.
“It was very emotional after
the first run because I real-
ized I just turned a childhood
dream – that’s been with me
my whole life – into a real-
ity. It hit me that, hey, I’m
really doing this. I just can’t
thank Dave enough for al-
lowing me to do this. I was
the only person he’d ever li-
censed. For him to have that
trust in me means a lot. It was
an emotional and humbling
experience.”
Hirata was equally move d
by the licensing process. While he’s never put
a brand-new driver in the seat of his 280-mph
dragster, Hirata felt at ease when he strapped
in Smith for his first pass. The two have known
each other for most of Smith’s time in profes-
sional drag racing.
“I was really excited for him because I’ve known
him for so long – it seems like I’ve known him my
whole life,” Hirata said. “I say he’s like a brother
or a son, but he’s too old. It was just very exciting.
He seemed very enthusiastic and excited. I met
his parents – very nice people. The whole thing
was just special because of our friendship. I just
had a riot doing it. That was probably one of the
most fun things I’ve done in racing.”
The familiarity and trust between the two also
allowed Smith to relax in what could easily be
a tense, stressful situation. Hirata first started
working with Smith two years ago to prepare
for this moment. Smith applied Hirata’s tips and
spent every free moment making runs in his mind,
visualizing the procedures required to finesse an