| Jack Smith worked at a service station near Roswell, | | | | shoulders, big arms. They raced and they fought |
| GA in the 1940's. He started racing against the local | | | | back then. It was hard life. " Jackie Smith said. "It |
| bootleggers of the area. He wasn't picky "he'd race | | | | was barely making ends meet. They all had jobs |
| on rough dirt, superspeedways, or across fields. "I | | | | during the week. It wasn't for the money that they |
| used to watch those guys before the war out at | | | | raced. It was for the love of the sport". |
| Lakewood and knew I could do that. When I got old | | | | By 1961, Jack had won the first race for NASCAR's |
| enough I entered a race in Thomaston." This was | | | | premier series at BMS. It was the Volunteer 500. |
| Jack's first race in 1946. "I qualified second to | | | | 18,000 fans watched as he took the checkered flag |
| defending national champion Roy Hall but after the | | | | with some relief-driving help from Johnny Allen. |
| race started I spun out a whole bunch so I knew I | | | | Legend Fireball Roberts said that Jack Smith was one |
| had some learning ahead of me." In 1949 he raced his | | | | of only about four drivers who could stand up to the |
| first NASCAR event at Charlotte (now Lowe's Motor | | | | pace of the increasing speeds (at Daytona). Average |
| Speedway) and finished 13th. At Darlington in 1954, | | | | speeds there were about 155mph at that time. In |
| Jack drove in one of his most memorable races. He | | | | 1955, Jack began a chain of food stores in his home |
| was trying to chase down the leader, Fireball Roberts | | | | town. More than 30 years later Food City became |
| and crashed over the wall. His car flipped five times | | | | sponsor of BMS's annual spring Sprint Cup race, The |
| and landed in the parking lot. "Daddy raced in the | | | | Food City 500. The chain also sponsors the |
| rough and tough days," said his son, Jackie. | | | | Nationwide Food City 250 in August. Jack Smith's 21 |
| "He was a man's man. He drove hard. He had broad | | | | wins are ranked 24th on the all-time wins list. |