Doug Smith Departs Cleveland Airport with Top-Ten Performance

Doug Smith Departs Cleveland Airport with Top-Ten Performance

 

CLEVELAND, Oh., June 30, 2005 - Doug Smith entered last weekend's Grand Prix
of Cleveland planning to use the Burke Lakefront Airport as the launching
pad to his first  Formula Ford Zetec Cooper Tire Championship. However,
events out of his control have pushed those plans back for the Plantation,
Fla. driver as he was forced to accept ninth-place in Saturday's 30-minute
feature and 11th in Sunday's event. The results would drop the No. 35
Packers of Indian River LTD/wirewheel.com/Race-Sport.net Van Diemen out of
the top-five in points but the top-ten and near top-ten finishes keep him
within striking distance of the overall point leader in the championship
with eight races remaining.

 

Smith would qualify 14th for the first race of the weekend on the
2.016-mile, ten-turn airport circuit. He would move the No. 35 Packers of
Indian River LTD/wirewheel.com/Race-Sport.net GTP Motorsports entry towards
the front of the pack reaching ninth by the end of the 21st, and final, lap.
Now positioned tenth on the grid for the second of the two races, Smith
looked poised to grab a second top-ten finish in Sunday's race. However, a
bevy of yellow flags, accounting for 22 of the 30 minute race, and a
mechanical problem would push the No. 35 to 11th at the checkered flag.
Running eighth, having gained two positions in the limited time that the
green flag was out, Smith brought the GTP Motorsports entry down for the
final 'green flag-white flag- checkered flag' finish as time ran off the
clock. However, a small piece of rubber had lodged itself into the throttle
linkage which connects the accelerator of the Van Diemen chassis to the Ford
four-cylinder engine. The lack of proper throttle control cost the 2002
American Continental Championship runner-up three positions on the restart
on the 13th of 14 laps. 

 

Doug Smith now has four event weekends, eight races, remaining in the 2005
season. The departure from Cleveland's airport circuit means a return to the
permanent road courses of North America for the remainder of the year. Next
up will be two events in conjunction with the Ferrari Challenge at the
picturesque Road America facility in Elkhart Lake, Wisc. on August 6 and
7th. 

 

Doug Smith: "I had pretty high expectations coming into Cleveland. I was
hoping to do well and gain some ground in the points. Things just didn't go
as planned. That's racing. I will say that I learned a lot working with my
engineer, Glenn Phillips. I'm looking forward to getting back in the car at
Road America."    

 

For more on the Formula Ford Zetec Cooper Tire Championship, please visit
www.cooperseries.com <http://www.cooperseries.com/> . 

 

 

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Digital images and bio available upon request.

Editors, please do not publish any contact information other than web sites.
Thank you.

 

Contact: Tom Moore, Doug Smith Motorsports

615-778-1614 (office), 615-509-5000 (cell), tom@darkhorsecom.com