50th Anniversary Season Special

JACK SMITH AND OTHER RACERS MAKE TRI-CITY’S LEGEND LIVE ON
by Brian Spaid

April 23, 2004 

   [This is the second installment of a two-part story on former Tri-City Speedway champion Jack Smith]

    In last week’s installment about the racing career of Rocky Grove racer Jack Smith, he provided some insight into the racing world of the 1950s and 1960s.

   As Tri-City Speedway gets ready to open for its 50^th Anniversary Season this Sunday night, the 2004 season at the Venango County half-mile oval will be filled with racing memories from yesteryear. Many men and women have battled at Tri-City on the old quarter-mile and the current half-mile. The men of Smith’s era had their own character and skill, and Smith commented on them when asked.

   His biggest rival and best friend from that time is Henry Jacoby. The former Super Sprint ace competed with Smith in the old Stock Car division at Tri-City.

   “Anyone could run beside Henry for 50 laps, and he wouldn’t touch you,” said Smith. “He was a top-notch racer, and he’s still a great mechanic.”

   Smith, who was the 1955 track champion, also fondly recalls a championship driver of that era, Lloyd Keith. In 1957, the Franklin man won the track title. Tragically, the following year, Keith died of a heart attack at age 32.

   “He was a good, easy going fellow,” said Smith. “No one ever had problems with Lloyd on the track. He always tried hard and ran well. It was so sad to see his pass away at a young age.”

   Smith can also recall the era’s tough competitors. Men like Gale Ruth of Oil City, Andy Phillips of Rocky Grove and Russ Manning of Franklin earned their reputations as gritty, hard drivers on the local circuit.

   “Andy used to always hate it when you passed him. Russ drove the wheels off a race car. Both of them were tough to race, and they won a lot of races to.”

   Ruth, who died in 2002, scored wins at numerous race tracks throughout his career. His undocumented win total exceeds 100.

   “Gale was always a tough driver and a funny character. One time, he came out to my garage with a four-door Ford and the back doors were welded shut. I asked him why he did that, and Gale said he always wanted a two-door.”

   Along with his racing acumen, Ruth was a skilled mechanic.

   “Sam Stover of Oil City did a lot of work on Gale’s cars. One time, Gale and Sam were idling the car in their drive, and found out by passing a welding torch over the top of the carburetor that the additional oxygen made the car rev faster. So, they constructed this oxygen tank, put it under Gale’s seat in the car, and designed a foot pedal that Gale would push to force more oxygen into the engine. The car ran a lot faster. Back then, we never called it cheating. It was just ‘getting an edge.’”

   However, one man that Smith liked immensely was one of Tri-City’s founders, Merwin Tarr.

   “He was a really good guy,” said Smith. “Some didn’t like him because he was the promoter and made the money. But, the promoters in this game don’t make a lot. Many of the drivers don’t realize that.”

   For a brief period of time in 1957, a few drivers organized into a union known as the Venango Stock Car Racing Association. The effort failed miserably.

   “Edward Hackett organized that group, but Merwin told all of them he’d shut the place down if they didn’t like to race there.”

   Nowadays, Smith, 75, spends his time building engines for his son, Bruce, who races Pro Stocks. Although it is nerve-wracking to watch his son race, Smith is pleased with Bruce’s progress. The second generation racer has six career wins at Tri-City.

   “Building the engines for Bruce keeps a guy my age going. I build about two to three a year. There’s a lot of work that goes into it. People don’t realize it, but you can’t just buy stuff and bolt it together. Sometimes you buy a part from a reputable dealer and find out it’s not built right.”

   Smith then reflects on racing in general in today’s world.

   “I think if they got rid of the wings on the sprint cars, you’d see better drivers. I just don’t like it when the fast guy starts on the pole. It used to be that you’d start at the tail of the field if you won the feature the week before. The racers today don’t like that idea, but it made for better racing.”

   Smith believes that auto racing and Tri-City offer good, wholesome entertainment. He encourages anyone to try it out.

   “Anyone with a child or grandchild should help get him or her involved in racing. Ninety percent of the people in the stands would love to be out there racing.”

   As for his greatest accomplishment, Smith simply smiles about it all.

   “That would have to be all the fun I had over the years. My wife, Audrey, always said you worked hard for your money, and you should do whatever you want with it.”