Meet the Driver: Bill Smith

by “Motorsport Mike” O’Hare photos provided by Justin Husman

Bill Smith sharing his passion with an eager group of members

In closing out Maverick Region’s first year of “Meet the Driver,” we had the pleasure of featuring Pro-Am racer Bill Smith (Porsche Carrera Cup North America). The club was privileged enough to have “The Phoenix Insurance” host the event at their Garages of Texas location in Carrollton.

Bill prepared an extremely informative PowerPoint presentation on his racing career. He started off by sharing his childhood passion for all things “cars” and his admitted “addiction” to racing. Outside of his successes on the track, Bill has had a highly

A SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR HOST

accomplished career that included serving as the President of Technology Operations for AT&T, as well as residing on the board of directors for several major corporations.

Those who attended got to enjoy in-car footage from various tracks and an informative telemetry analysis of Bill’s racing performance. The group served up several inquisitive questions regarding favorite track (Road America), car setup, physical conditioning demands, and sponsorship and financing requirements. It was a great session whereby everyone drove away with a better understanding of what it takes to race at this level!

I truly enjoyed my first year serving as the Maverick Region’s Motorsport Journalist. I’d like to offer up my gratitude to a few individuals who have helped me evolve in the position. This has been a total team effort, and would not have been possible without several club members. First, to club President Bill Kruder and the Maverick Board for creating the role; second, to Kurt Scaggs and Carey Spreen for their skilled due diligence in editing my articles; then to Jim Hirsch for his consultation and input; and finally to Justin Husman for The Phoenix Insurance’s sponsorship of our “Meet the Driver” events.

Of course, a special thanks to drivers Don Yount (see October Slipstream Online) and Bill Smith for their willingness to partake in our “Meet the Driver” sessions. By the time you read this, we will have completed our inaugural 2022 event featuring four of our Club Racers (David Hodges, Daniel Shofner, Seth Higgins, and Bill Miller) at Eagles Canyon Raceway. Look for an event recap in a future edition of Slipstream. Please feel free to drop me a note if there is anything special you’d like me to cover – I’m always open for ways to improve the content!