ROCKINGHAM — Paul Smith’s eyes burned from the champagne shower he received Saturday after winning The Smoke Show at Rockingham Speedway.
Smith, was celebrating his victory in MB Drift’s second competitive round of the 2024 season with second-and third-place winners Drake Carter and Anton Shenderov.
Originally from California, Smith now lives in Monroe after spending a few years in Charlotte.
When he got into drifting around 2012, Smith drove a Ford Escort and his friend had a Mazda FC RX-7.
“It was fun,” he said about his car, “but it wasn’t the FC, ya know?”
Smith eventually got his own FC: “It turns out I suck at drifting … back then,” modestly adding, “I’m probably not that great now.”
Through the years, Smith went through several other cars including a Toyota Corolla and a Nissan 240SX.
Smith’s home track was Willow Spring International Raceway in Rosamond, California, living about 15 minutes away.
“I didn’t take a lot of advantage living so close,” Smith said. “We did a lot of track days … but nothing as much as I spend out here now.”
Smith missed the first round after blowing up his motor at another event in December.
He’s also drifted with Piedmont Drift at Piedmont Dragway — affectionately known in the drift community as “Tandem Town” — in Guilford County, which he considers his new home track, and Catch My Drift at Southern National Motorsports Park in Wilson County.
This was his first time on the Rock’s infield road course since it was repaved earlier this year.
“Usually out here I’m fighting for grip, I’m letting air out of the tires …running about 20 psi …,” but this weekend he had run around 60 psi. “It’s fantastic because the tires last all day.”
Smith said he ran the same tires in the competition as he used during the earlier practice runs.
This is Smith’s third season competing in MB Drift’s grassroots series, the second driving his blue Nissan 350Z. Last year he drove a Corvette.
Smith placed fourth in 2022’s Battle of Little Rock — the closest he’s been to the podium.
On his way to the top of the bracket, Smith — who qualified 20th— outslid Vlad Khulahin, Derick Gaskins and Nathan McDuffie before showdowns with Shenderov and Carter for the finals.
However, Carter wasn’t able to complete the second run as he had already used a time-out before losing his intercooler clamp from his Mazda Miata after his first run with Smith.
“I hated to win that way because we had so many good battles,” Smith said, adding that he was worried about driving against Gaskins, Carter and Shenderov. “(They’re) really good drivers … I just drove with Tony (Shenderov) at Piedmont last weekend, I know what he’s capable of. The talent, especially at the top of the bracket, was just ridiculous.”
Many of the battles were decided after one of the drivers spun out coming out of the next-to-last curve in the layout.
This was the second consecutive competitive win for Smith, taking the victory the previous week at Piedmont.
The Round 2 win puts Smith sixth in points for the season.
Smith said he was “happy to just be back in the driver’s seat and have fun with my friends.”
This was Carter’s second time making the podium in the four seasons with MB Drift.
Carter, of Concord, placed third in the final round of 2021. Heading into that event, he was the only one of the top six drivers without a top-three finish. He came in at fifth overall for the season, and was seventh overall in 2022.
Shenderov, a Belarusian native now living in Charlotte, took the top spot in the first round and still leads in points.
Click here to read about Round 1.
Despite their losses this weekend, Jake Little and Gray Champion are still second and third in points, respectively.
Rounding out the top 10 are: Gaskins (4); McDuffie (5); Frank Evans (7); Tyler Williams (8); Jeremy Coble (9); and Andy Wright (10).
Although he’s listed at 11th, Dan Stoneburner is tied at 98 points with Evans, Williams, Coble and Wright. Also tied are Little and Champion with 126 points, and Gaskins and McDuffie with 112 points.
Following Saturday’s competition, drivers got in some seat time in the dark with night drifting and fun runs on Sunday.
MB Drift has three more events this year at the Rock:
- Summer Matsuri – July 27-28
- Rounds 2 and 3 – Aug. 24-25
- Halloween Havoc – Oct. 19-20
Drivers with MB Drift will also be giving a demonstration at the Speedway’s Open House, scheduled for July 13.
See more photos below. For additional media from other photographers, visit the MB Drift Chats and Media Group on Facebook.
