12 Questions with Regan Smith

Our series of weekly NASCAR driver interviews continues with Regan Smith, who drives for Tommy Baldwin Racing. Smith returns to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend, where he crossed the finish line first in 2008 but was denied the win after NASCAR ruled he passed below the yellow line on the last lap.

Q: What is an errand or chore in your daily life people might be surprised to learn you do yourself?

A: Change diapers. Well, I change more now that we have two kids (Smith and wife Megan have a 1-year-old son, Rhett, and a one-month-old daughter, Eliza). When it was one kid, if I knew it was a pee diaper, I could get away with, “Oh, I’ve got this one! No big deal!” I could tag in at the right moments. Well now you pretty much get them when they’re there.

Q: If you could do any race over again, which race would you choose?

A: There’s a lot of them. One that sticks out to me was actually an Xfinity race in 2007 at Kentucky. It was the last race before the Ginn team shut down, and we didn’t really know it was coming that quick. We had them covered — it was one of those where you don’t get cars like that very often. I was out there driving 80% and just a straightaway ahead of everybody. But we had a miscalculation on fuel before a green-flag stop, ran out of fuel and lost a lap on pit road because of it. That’s one that has always stuck out when people ask what was the best car I’ve ever had.

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Q: The longest race of the year is 600 miles. How long of a race could you physically handle without a driver change?

A: I think you could do a 1,000-mile stint. It depends on the racetrack. The 600 this year wasn’t that bad and didn’t feel like a 600-mile race, whereas Darlington felt longer even though it was 500 miles.

Q: Let’s say president of NASCAR was an elected position voted on by the drivers and you decided to run. What would one of your campaign promises be?

A: I would find a way to make the tires consistent and fall off. That’s my campaign slogan.

Q: At the start of this year, exactly 2,900 drivers had ever raced in the Sprint Cup Series. Where do you rank among those 2,900?

A: I have no idea. That’s a question that’s better answered by other people. All drivers, myself included, want to say, “Oh, I’m in the top 100” but that’s not something you can answer about yourself. Everybody in this garage probably thinks they’re up there, but that’s part of what we do — you have to be confident in your abilities. There are just a lot of circumstances that go into the ups and downs of someone’s career.

Q: What do you think your reputation is and is that reputation accurate?

A: I’d be curious to know what my reputation is. I hope I’m a good person and enjoyable to work with. There are days I’m probably more enjoyable than other days. (Laughs) I hope I’m viewed as somebody who races hard and clean and does everything he can do on the racetrack.

Q: A famous chef wants you to invest in the new restaurant he’s opening, but he wants you to pick the cuisine. What type of food would your restaurant serve?

A: It would have to be sushi. I could eat it every meal.

Are you a fan of the traditional sushi or do you like the creative rolls?

I’ll do them both. Just anything sushi-related, I like all different variations — except for the stuff that’s decorated up with too many sweet sauces.

Q: What is the most daring thing you’ve done outside of racing?

A: I’m scared to death of heights and I’ve gone skydiving, so that ranks up there. The first time I went, it was just with a local company and I wasn’t so sure the plane was going to make it back down to the ground in the first place — so we were going to have to jump either way. But I didn’t realize how sketchy that first company truly was until I got to go with the Golden Knights as part of the Army sponsorship. They had a small X on the ground, and I’m like, “No way are we going to hit that from 13,000 feet.” And sure enough, we did.

I’ve done some daring things this year, too. We hiked Mt. Baldy (near Auto Club Speedway in California), and I got up to the Devil’s Backbone (a part of the trail with drop-offs on either side). I looked over both sides and it was like a 2,000-foot drop on one side and a 1,500-foot drop on the other side, and I said, “That’s it.”  Both sides looked like imminent death to me. (Laughs) My knees got shaky and wobbly, and I turned around while my hiking partner continued on.

Q: In a move to generate more excitement, NASCAR decides in an upcoming race they’re going to require every driver to have a passenger in the car. You get to pick the passenger. Who do you choose?

A: Normally I’d say it’s gotta be my wife. She’s already gone out and done a ridealong with me at Bristol, though. So I’d pick whoever my crew chief is at the time. Whether you’re complaining about something or you like something on the car, you can put it into easier terms for them and they can really see what you go through in there.

Q: How often do you talk inside the car without hitting the radio button?

A: A lot. And that’s one thing I was bad about in the past. This year, one of my personal goals was to get better about not putting that stuff over the airwaves. It’s better to keep it more to me and my inner circle afterwards. I talked too much on the radio in years past, and maybe that was one of the knocks on me at times.

I’ve gotten to comment on the Radioactive segment on Race Hub (during guest appearances on Fox Sports 1), but I enjoy not being part of it.

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Q: Who will win the Sprint Cup in 2021?

A: I would probably pick a young guy who is already in the series. You could make an argument for Chase Elliott. Being a teammate of his in the past, I know how good he is. But you always question when a driver responds to that pressure of the Cup Series, and it just seems like he’s really handled it well. So I’ll go with him.

Q: I’ve been asking each driver to give me a question for the next interview. Last week was Kyle Busch, and he wanted to know if you’re a bandwagon Broncos fan because you moved to Colorado and why you aren’t a Panthers fan if you live in North Carolina.

A: I didn’t become a Broncos fan until I moved to Colorado. But I don’t think that classifies me as a bandwagon fan, because that was during the Tim Tebow Era. Nothing against Tebow — I like him and he’s an amazingly gifted athlete and person — but if you were a fan during that era, that’s not bandwagon.

The experience of going to the games in Colorado, the fan base is so much more passionate than anything else I’ve experienced. I remember the first game we went to was a loss, but the way the fans were reacting during the game and after the game, the knowledge they had and how religious they were about it, I was hooked right away. That’s what’s made me stick with them.

Living back in Charlotte now, I’ve still got the Broncos hat on every day. That's not bandwagon. But if I was a Panthers fan, I would be a bandwagon fan because all of them are as well. (Laughs)

And do you have a question I can ask the next driver? It's Michael McDowell.

You recently adopted a son from China. What does he think about racing and being around the race cars?

Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck