Name: Josh Wilson AKA (The Smurfman)
Year / Make / Model Car: 1988 Monte Carlo SS
Number: 12
Class: Street Stock
Years Racing: 2
Job: Licensed Practical Nurse and future Surgical RN
1. How did you get into racing?
JW: I got into racing by growing up watching my dad race for all my childhood years at MMS and I begged him for years to finally get me into racing as soon as I graduated college.
2. What would you be doing if you were not driving a race car?
JW: I would be hunting or fishing or spending all my hard earned money on another expensive hobby!
3. People who have inspired you the most while you have raced?
JW: Dewayne Middlebrooks, my Dad, Joe Bethea Jr., Chance Adkins, Jason Mayhan, Brad Edwards, Dwayne Wesenberg, Perry Patino, David Wood, Johnny Otto and Billy Ammons and all the other drivers in the street stock division.
4. What is the biggest obstacle you are facing in your quest to succeed in racing?
JW: getting quality seat time and learning to drive, along with having the money to afford to race while going back to nursing school currently to achieve my RN degree.
5. What driver are you a fan of?
JW: Dewayne Middlebrooks and Augie Grill and basically every driver in the street stock division right now who continue to teach me so much about how to drive around that track and get better and faster
6. Out of all the race cars you have driven, which one was your favorite and why?
JW: well since this was my 1st year and I really didn’t do very well this year I would have to say that my favorite race was earlier this year when an inversion after qualifying put me on the pole to start the race! And that was very memorable because it was an awesome feeling leading the start of a race and having everybody in my rearview mirror for once.
7. Pick one : CD player, I pod, 8-Track or Record player, and who do you listen to?
JW: Cd player and i would probably be listeing to Clay Walker or Metallica.
8. What have you been doing during the off season?
JW: Deer hunting, and I am currently back in nursing school, and getting back to work rebuilding my car getting it ready for the 2015 season.
9. Is there any other type of race car that you’d like to drive that you haven’t yet?
JW: I would love to drive a late model someday especially to get to feel the speed and the horsepower.
10. Your best and worst moment in racing?
JW: Well since this was my 1st year, I didn’t really have a best moment other than improving my lap times every race and getting alot faster with each race. and my worst moment was definitely losing it on the front straightaway on the last race of the season in front of the whole crowd because of a dumb rookie mistake especially when my car was running the best that it had run all year!
11. Any local legends that you admired while coming up in Short Track Racing?
JW: Dewayne Middlebrooks, Jeff Wainwright, Doobie Lewis, Marty Bean, Frank King, Buddy Welch, Augie Grill.
12. What motivates you to be the best in your racing division?
JW: Because so many people have told me that I don’t have what it takes to drive and to win and also that its impossible for someone who didn’t grow up racing for many years to actually become a good driver and I plan to prove to everyone that just as Phillipians 4:13 says in the Bible: “I can do all things through Jesus Christ that strenghtens me!!” and through the strong will to succeed and determination that God has blessed me with I plan to show everyone that I will become a great driver and hopefully win races in the future!!
13. Favorite smell at the track : race gas or burning rubber?
JW: Racing gas for sure!! It smells amazing!!
14. What’s the funniest thing you have ever seen on the race track?
JW: The funniest thing I ever saw at the racetrack was years ago I was watching a race at MMS and in the final lap the top three drivers were fighting for the lead so hard that they all three wrecked and the 4th place car (who was way behind them) drove right by their wrecked cars to win the race!!
15. What local driver do you have the most respect for and why?
JW: I have alot of respect for Chance Atkins and Joe Bethea jr. because they both have been racing for many years just like all the other drivers in the street stock division, but they actually took the time away from working on their own cars at the track before the race, to come down to my pit stall and help me get my car fixed and give me valuable advice on how to improve my driving and I really appreciate that because the only way a rookie driver can actually learn how to drive is for the veteran drivers to give us the advice we need to figure out problems with the setup on the car or how to fix mistakes in how I am driving the car.
16. Do you have another sport you enjoy to watch or participate in?
JW: College Football–ROLL TIDE!!
17. What’s more important … racing for points or racing for the win?
JW: Racing for the win because winning the points championship would be great but to be able to actually win a points championship, you must first win a race!!
18. Your favorite track and why?
JW: Montgomery Motor Speedway because it was the track that I grew up coming to and watching races every other Saturday night watching my dad race here. But I would like to get the opportunity to go race at Opp speedway in the future!
19. Which describes you best : calculating driver or kamikaze driver?
JW: Well I would love to say I am a Calculating Driver but I don’t know enough yet to be able to calculate my next move while driving so I am gonna say I am more of a Kamikaze Driver because I am normally spinning out because I am trying so hard to beat and pass the guy next to me but with each lap around the track I am progressively learning to calculate my next move while driving which is a big improvement from early in the race season this year!
20. Last Lap, you’re in a side by side dash for the win… who would you want to beat and why?
JW: I would have to say Joe Bethea jr. because I know he won’t give me one inch to get the win! I know he will race me clean, but I also know I will truly have to give everything my car has to be able to inch past him and earn the win and the checkered flag!!
I want to say thank you 1st to God and my Savior Jesus Christ for giving me the ability to even be able to drive a race car!! Next I wanna say thank you to my sponsor: Joey Holley with Versatile Solutions LLC or Vs. also a big thanks to M&J Transport: Mr.Jim and Mr. Mike. A very big thank you to Gary and Cindy Cranmore and my Dad for getting me started in racing and spending so many tireless hours in the shop working on the car with me!! I definitely couldn’t do this without you! Mr. Allen Caton for helping us out last year! Also a huge thank you to the guys who helped me work on the car at the shop and who ran my pit crew: Blake Gazell, Randy Wetzell, Paul Lackey. A huge thank you to Phillip Cook for painting the car and for all your amazing help last year. Another big thank you to Brad Edwards for all your help last year and your continued help now as well as: Joe Bethea Jr. and Chance Atkins for all the help and advice at the track! A huge thank you to Jason Mayhan for all your help with parts and advice! And last but not least, I wanna say thank you to all the other drivers in the street stock division because I had the best time I have ever had in my life racing with you guys last year and each and every driver has found a way to help me improve my driving this past year and I can’t wait to see what the 2015 race season has in store for the best action-packed division at Montgomery Motor Speedway!!! STREET STOCKS!!
Thanks Josh, for providing us with this information, and if anyone else would like to be featured here please contact me at ShortTrackTalk@gmail.com