KING, N.C. -- The phone call sounded like it came from next door, but former JEGS ProMod Challenge champion "Tricky Rickie" Smith was actually on the other side of the world in the tiny Middle Eastern island Kingdom of Bahrain.
As a guest of King Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah's second son, Smith had a simple request of the organizers of the JEGS ProMod Challenge -- if the Sheik had a new car built in time for the Mac Tool U.S. Nationals, could Smith compete on his former champion's exemption. The answer was yes.
"Those Sheiks were about as happy as you could be," Smith said in his deep, southern drawl. "I told them that Indy was the biggest drag race in the world and they said, 'Then we must race there.' That's when I made the call. I'm just glad Troy Coughlin and his guys let me into the race. From what I hear, you generally don't want to say no to the Sheik very often."
As the first champion in series history back in 2001, Smith was offered a spot in the reorganized JEGS ProMod Challenge at the start of the year. However, he turned it down at the time so he could concentrate on racing his Jerry Bickel-built Cobalt Pro Stock car.
"I tried," Smith said of his Pro Stock efforts, "but Greg [Anderson] and a few others have made it where you can't compete in Pro Stock any more unless you have a million dollars to spend. You can't do nothing renting motors and there ain't any to rent any way. If you ask me that class is gonna be in big trouble unless they go to spec motors where everyone has the same equipment. It's just ridiculous."
In between frustrating outings in his Pro Stock car, Smith became acquainted with a group of car-crazy Shieks from Bahrain. They asked him to name his price to visit their country and help them tune a Pro Mod car they had recently purchased.
"They do everything first-class over there," Smith said. "They have the best of everything. They just needed some help getting started so I went over there to help them out. Not long after getting there I ended up driving because the guys that were learning to drive needed a lot more seat time. We had some fun."
With four around-the-world trips under his belt by mid May, Smith felt comfortable enough to suggest to the Sheiks that they come to America and watch how it's done at the top level of the sport.
That's when the call went out to the JEGS ProMod Challenge.
"Now that we've been granted a spot it's full speed ahead," Smith said. "I'm gonna sell this Pro Stock car and get back to Pro Mod racing. Jerry's already started building a car for us and we'll run it with a supercharger. I think we can do some good and it's something I'm real comfortable with. Hopefully, all the guys from Bahrain make it over for Indy and we just grow this deal from there.
"They're buying up Pro Mod cars as fast as they can and shipping them over there. At the last race there were eight cars. I bet they'll be 12 or more by the fall when their season starts. They have a great track in Bahrain and another one in Dubai. It's a whole different world but they're awfully nice over there. I have no complaints.
"The money is just crazy. The Prince has one garage with 40 or so cars in there. Lamborghini, Porches, Mercedes Benz, Ferraris, Rolls Royces, you name it, it's in his garage, and none of them have more than 1,000 miles on them. Now they're getting into racecars. Formula 1 is the big thing but drag racing is on fire right now. They just love it."
Smith hopes his return becomes a permanent thing in 2009. "The way JEGS is running this deal it's become the premier thing for Pro Mod," he said. "I'm looking forward to it."
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