Garrett Smith was penalized during preliminary competition of the Dirt Track World Championship at West Virginia Motor Speedway by Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series officials, but the question is why.
During the Group A feature, Garrett Smith was putting together a solid run in the sixth position. However, with 12 laps to go Benji Hicks made a move to the inside of Tyler Carpenter and their two cars came together and it resulted in Hicks spinning at the bottom of turn 1. Drake Troutman, who was running in fifth, made an evasive maneuver to the outside as Hicks stayed on the gas to spin his car back in the right direction. While Hicks was spinning, Garrett Smith had nowhere to go and stopped his car in order to avoid making contact with the spinning Hicks.
Following the caution, both Hicks and Garrett Smith were sent to the rear. Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series officials had deemed that Smith was part of the caution.
That ruling turned into disaster for Smith as he was then caught up in a wreck that started a few rows ahead of him. While he was able to avoid damage from the spinning Benji Hicks, that was not the case here. Smith suffered damage to his right rear as well as his nose. The damage to his right rear appeared to be from contact with Benji Hicks as Smith attempted to move to the top of the track to avoid the logjam in front of him. However, he was not the only one to make such a move and he ran into someone else who made a similar move just ahead of him casing the damage to his nose and spinning him around.
Smith would bring out the caution five laps later and retire from the race with a disappointing and likely frustrating 22nd place finish.
It is unclear why Smith was ruled as part of the caution during the Hicks spin. In fact, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series rules indicate that he should have been given his spot back and would have actually moved up to fifth with Hicks spinning and being the sole cause for the caution.
The rules appear to be pretty crystal clear on this matter: “In the event of a caution, the car, or cars, involved in the incident that comes to a stop on the racetrack, will be sent to the rear. All cars that are indirectly involved in the accident (spinning or stopping to avoid the wreck) will be given their position back.”
It seems pretty obvious that Garrett Smith, who was running sixth, was not involved in the original incident. It was Benji Hicks who was battling with Tyler Carpenter for third and running in the fourth position that was the cause of the incident. Thus, one would think that Smith would have been given his spot back because he was literally stopping to avoid the wreck. However, that was not the case and he was sent to the rear and one has to question: Why?
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Director Rick Schwallie was contacted for a comment, but did not respond at the time of publication.
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