Tommy Kerr and crew in Smoky Mountain victory lane
The Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series last visited Smoky Mountain Speedway on June 16th of this year and a local hero came away with the $5,000 victory on the lightning fast track. This coming Saturday night that regional touring series will once again make its way to the Maryville, Tennessee facility and hometown driver Tommy Kerr will attempt to capture his second checkered flag in as many tries in front of his friends, family, and fans.
The 43-year-old Blount Motorsports driver doesn’t climb into the cockpit of his No. 4T Rocket Chassis as often as he used to, and while he enjoys the increased time he gets to spend with his family, he also believes his sporadic schedule poses certain challenges when he does race.
“Being that I’m not racing every weekend it’s hard to adapt to making consistent laps, but it seems like everything has come a lot faster for me this year in the few races I have run,” Kerr stated in an interview with InsideDirtRacing.com. “Back in that Southern All Stars race, everything just fell into place in that we hot lapped good and we qualified good. We’re looking forward to this up and coming weekend. If everything falls into place and we unload good and don’t have to chase the car and I’m comfortable then it looks bright for maybe trying to get a second win here within the past few months.”
Kerr stresses the importance of good preparation. Having a car that is up to speed right out of the hauler makes the job of a part-time driver that much easier.
“It seems that not being in a race car every weekend that it’s hard to get in a good rhythm,” the former Southern Nationals champion pointed out. “You hear these NASCAR drivers talk about how they unloaded off the truck and they were fast in the first practice and the second practice then as the weekend progresses they end up winning. It makes the driver very comfortable when you do unload and your car is handling good when you get going and you’re not chasing it. There again, not being a racer that races week in and week out, it makes it so much easier to get in a rhythm and to get comfortable.”
Kerr’s No. 4T Blount Motorsports Rocket
The truck superintendent for Maryville-based Blount Excavating places the utmost confidence in Blount Motorsports crew chief David Bryant. Having a long history together, each knows what it takes to win races even when competing on a limited basis.
“It makes it very comfortable for any driver who believes in the team he drives for,” Kerr insisted. “David Bryant, my crew chief, we’ve known each other for years and we’ve worked together for years. That makes it a lot easier for me to have a guy like David in the pits. He stays on me a lot about my mistakes. For instance, he’ll get on to me because I’m not charging the corner hard enough and staying in the accelerator as long but that’s from that factor of not being in the car every week.”
One aspect of this weekend’s $5,000-to-win affair that Kerr is very confident about is the track on which it will be contested. He has always felt at home on the 4/10 mile clay oval which leads him to believe he can repeat his previous successes there. The consistency of the track surface at Smoky Mountain puts the driver’s mind at ease going into a big race.
“Smoky Mountain has pretty much been my home track since back when I first sat in a Late Model,” he explained. “Even before I was in a Late Model I was running at Smoky Mountain and 411. And that helps a lot, being familiar with the environment we’re racing in. Each and every time we race down there the race track mirrors what it was like the last time.”
When Kerr pulled the No. 4T into victory lane back in June, a loud roar went up from the assembled crowd of local supporters for one of their favorites. He hopes to once again hear those cheers at the end of the night on Saturday.
“I’ve always had a pretty strong fan base at Smoky Mountain and it seems like as I’ve cut back on my racing over the past four or five years that my fans are more eager to want to come out and watch me race here in Maryville. That’s what a lot of these short-track facilities still have is the loyalty of people who love short-track racing and are loyal to their favorite hometown drivers. When these big drivers do come in, you’ve got guys like Jimmy Owens and Scott Bloomquist and Josh Richards, a lot of people would much rather see a Tommy Kerr or a Skip Arp or somebody that’s raced at Smoky Mountain be competitive with those guys.”
