From 1965 until his early retirement from the sport in 1986 at the age of 40, Stuart Smith dominated the world of F1 Stockcars and won a world record 501 meeting finals including 6 world championships. He was National Points Champion for a record 13 years in a row prior to his semi-retirement in 1981. No driver has ever come close to this record as a whole, and the likelihood of anybody doing so in the future is practically none existent with the closest current drivers having a mere 200 plus wins in twenty years!

 

Stu took no prisoners when it came to his driving and if a slower driver got in his way, then the bumpers were used to make progress. There are several legendary hits on video, one of which can be seen here from the 1984 Long Track championship held in Baarlo, Holland.

 

From the early days until 1980, Stu ran under number 391 until he was offered number 1 by a friend with the very apt phrase of 'The one and only Stu Smith'. Very much a larger than life character, Stu was a superb driver, ambassador for the sport and above all a showman. Indeed his exploits are often talked about today by those who can still recall them 20 years on. Without fail he can now be found in the pits with his sons often signing autographs for the young generation of fans who have heard from parents of his world beating talent.

 

Although he travelled the length and breadth of the country, and indeed abroad, with his chosen sport his home stadium of Belle Vue, Manchester was where he had so much success winning 64 finals in his racing years with his closest challenger winning a mere 18. His fast arrival on track as he turned around in his own car length was always met with a deafening roar from the crowd of thousands. These were the halcyon days of Stockcar racing in this country. Belle Vue itself is no longer with the stadium, zoo, entertainment park and the King's Hall all making way for housing, a small trading estate and cinema complex. However, the roar and excitement of Stockcars can now be heard at the adjacent greyhound track on Kirkmanshulme Lane. Whilst this track is very different to the old Belle Vue track which had long straights and wide sweeping bends, the action is still excellent and not to be missed.

 

In June 2008, for the first time in sixteen years, Stu drove his younger sons car, specially converted to look like his old car, in a champions race of champions which formed part of Peter Falding's testimonial at Coventry. As probably would be expected, the years melted away and Stu won the race by a considerable margin.

This was the first time, when all three Smith's (Stuart Snr, Andrew and Stuart Jnr) had raced together. Hopefully it will not be the last. To see a video of this race, courtesy of Rollingstart click here.