Bob Smith
Columbus, Ohio
day.mo.year - May 6, 1967
In 1966, Bob had begun a dominant season of his own at Oswego, winning five of the first seven features. He was 4th in the other two, all in the Lawless #66. He then spent the remainder of the season behind the wheel the Purdy Deuce and Nulls roadster collecting six more top 5's, including two more wins. He finished second in the points that year, a scant 7 points behind Nolan Swift.
Bob Smith, one of my favorites back then. A good guy who lost his life in an off track accident.
. . . written by SuperDave
Bob in the Lawless Chevy, 1964 |
1964 |
Sep 11, 1965 |
'65 Classic win?.. here is the race re-cap |
1966 opening day victory |
June 11th '66 win |
Smith and Swift dominate |
July 23rd, new ride in the Purdy Deuce |
Three 3rd's and a 5th in the Deuce before moving over to the Nulls roadster |
A ride in the Nulls roadster |
Bob Smith won two features in a row at the end of the season with the beautiful Warren Nulls owned roadster. Smith is in victory lane with his new crew. Owner Nulls is on the far right. |
September 3rd in the Nulls roadster |
Final points night... ..and here's the rest of the story |
Bob' remarkable 1966 season (will open in a new browser window) |
Friday, May 12, 1967
1966 Speedway Runnerup Dies In Car Accident
Bob Smith, the Columbus Comet, who was nosed out for the Oswego Speedway track championship only on the final night of the season last year, was fatally injured in a private automobile accident Saturday night of last week, according to information supplied late yesterday afternoon by the Associated Press, after this department's request to investigate the rumor of the fatality.
Smith, who put in a full season here in 1966, after competing on a part-time basis the previous year and in a number of the local track's special events for the past three or four seasons, was killed when the car in which he was riding, either as a driver or passenger, veered off the highway near South Bloomfield, Rickway County, Ohio. Further details concerning the tragedy were unavailable, but unofficial word reaching this office indicated Smith was returning to his home in Columbus after a USAC race or warmup period that had been postponed because of rain. Whether the popular throttler was alone at the time of the accident was unknown.
Smith was a great favorite with the thousands of fans who patronize the Oswego Speedway, at least partially because of his spectacular daring and firey competitive spirit. He recently passed his 29th birthday
He participated in 13 of 18 race programs here last year and chalked up seven feature event victories. He piloted car No. 66 at the outset of the campaign and, subsequently, went behind the wheel of Cars No. 2 and 7.
On the track's final night of regular season racing, Smith enjoyed a slight advantage in the point Standings over Nolan Swift of Syracuse and a huge throng was on hand to watch this crack twosome battle it out for the year's most coveted award. Both, however, were compelled to take over in other machines when No. 7 and Swift's 10-Pins were immobilized and, while neither managed to place near the front in the main event, Swift profited when Smith was put out of action entirely mid-way in the crucial run and the Syracusan wound up as the 1966 titlist.
Funeral services for Smith, whose address was 3774 Beechton Road, Columbus, O., were held yesterday.
- Bob Smith links
- -link here
- please links, stories, stats or images so we can all remember Bob Smith.
- stats
- ranked 23rd on the Oswego Speedway all-time supermodified win list with eight wins
- 16 top 5's at Oswego (ranks 54th)
- ranked 147th in all-time Oswego points
- finished third in the '65 Oswego Classic (visited victory lane but later had it taken away due to scoring issues)
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