Higher Power

After a discouraging 2002 season, Kelly Smith is back with a unique new team for 2003. I recently caught up with Kelly as he was driving through a Michigan snowstorm on his was to a new indoor practice track.

By Jim Kimball

Reprinted with permission from RacerX

Racer X: Kelly lets hear about this new team you’re going to be on for 2003.

Kelly Smith: Well, a while back a guy named Billy Hubbard, and his wife Honnalora, were traveling to all the eastern four stroke nationals like I was - actually Billy was the chaplain at all the races. We met by chance and were together a lot and things just started clicking. He was starting to put something together with TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network) involving motocross and had a proposal into them to do something geared towards youth - with a new youth station that they have coming out called JCTV (Jesus Christ TV). They are a huge company carried on all cable channels and have around 28 satellites worldwide. Although I had a few offers, he noticed that I hadn’t signed a deal yet, so he wanted to get the word out to me that something was probably going to happen with this program. So I laid low and stayed patient and sure enough TBN ended up going ahead and approving the proposal. They are going to put a lot of money and effort into having a great motocross/supercross team for 2003. The team, which we are planning on calling Team Trinity, will be Brian Mason, who is a good friend of Billy’s, and myself. A lot of things have been really coming together - it’s been pretty amazing. A bunch of other Christian affiliated companies want to get involved, like Christian Bookstores whose headquarters are in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and some Christian rap groups. Actually I think Christain Bookstores is going to be our number two sponsor - which is just huge. I’ve also heard that Gary Baily is getting involved and is donating money from the first three schools that he is soon going to put together out in California. Everybody who has heard about this has been pretty blown away and is asking, “how can I help out? I want to be a part of it.” I think we’re going to have so much coverage that it is going to blow people away when they see the numbers with us being on TBN and JCTV as much as we’re going to be. I know that right now, as we speak, everything is being worked on - we have a lot of fine details to finish by the time Anaheim 1 starts. We already have a rig and are to have the graphics done this week. I’ve got a deal with Yamaha that I had previously so we’ll have some Yamaha support, which will help a lot. It’s great because I’m going to have a whole new reason for being out there riding - it’s not just going to be for myself or for personal glorification. I can express my glory to God and use that as a whole new reason for wanting to go out and achieve my goals. I’m just putting trust in the Lord that it’s all going to come together and I know that it’s going to be fine and be the most wonderful thing I’ve been able to be involved with.

You mentioned you’re going to continue your relationship with Yamaha, can you talk for a minute about what that relationship is?

Yeah, they’re going to give me bikes and a parts allowance and in turn I’m going to keep the bikes looking the way they want them to - with the logos and stuff like that. We are also going to use Yamahalube oils and some other Yamaha products. They’re actually going to help out a lot with giving me the bikes.

I know that the 2002 season was pretty discouraging for you - but you sound pretty excited about 2003.

Well last year at this time I was doing great, winning every single moto of the four stroke nationals. Then when I went out west I ran one warm-up supercross race and almost caught and passed Grant Langston. But then I snapped my wrist a week and a half before the 125 ESX started - but had to race anyway because I was worried about being able to stay on Moto XXX as I had a deal in my contract where I had to get top five in points. It was definitely nerve-racking racing hurt! I couldn’t make top five in points and I was let go. Then I went to 3D where nothing ran smoothly, they were tight on money and it was a big problem - everything was skimped on. The worst part about it was getting bikes and having the right parts. They still had a really nice rig and stuff, although I could have cared less about that, the bikes were the most important part and this year I’m going to have that taken care of. Yamaha stepped it up and I’m always going to have more than enough parts and good fresh bikes. I just need to stay healthy and things will be a lot better this year.

What classes will you be riding next season?

Well, I’m going to ride all the 250 supercrosses out west, which is going to be a big change as nobody has really seen me ride a 250 two stroke in quite a few years. I went to my first arenacross recently and rode one for the first time and got second place on it - I was really happy about that! I’m really excited about the bike. It’s great for indoors and like I said it will be kind of a new aspect of Kelly Smith that nobody has really seen before, and I want to show people that I can ride a 250 two stroke. Also maybe that will help me out when I move up to the 250 class some day, and when I do, someone will give me a chance on one. So there is that and then I think I’ll have a really good chance of doing well in East Coast 125 supercross where I’m going to ride the 250F again. That’s definitely my bike of choice and hopefully with all of those holeshots I had last year and staying healthy I’ll be able to keep it in one of the top three positions all the time. There is no reason why I shouldn’t be a podium guy every single weekend - that is my main goal to shoot for.