Nearly 20 years of Micro Sprint experience for TJ Smith has led him to one of the biggest opportunities of his career in 2024.
The 33-year-old from Fresno, CA, will pilot the Mounce/Stout Motorsports, Spike/Stanton No. 14S with support from Jeff Taylor of Rockwell Security and Rick Young of RAMS Racing on the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota for his first season following a national Midget tour.
“I can’t say enough about how much gratitude I have to do something like this,” Smith said. “Being a low-budget racer all my life and just racing when I can and where I can, hopping from car-to-car – it’s finally starting to work out that we’re getting more rides and getting to run with these quality teams. It’s awesome to be able to do something like this.”
Smith has evolved into one of the veterans of the Micro Sprint circuit on the West Coast over the past decade, amassing hundreds of Feature wins and several California track and series championships. Most notably, Smith scored the biggest win of his career in taking the checkered in the Outlaw Non-Wing A-Main at the 2023 Tulsa Shootout.
He becomes the fourth driver in the Mounce/Stout lineup on the trail of the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series in 2024, joining teammates Ashton Torgerson, Jayden Clay and Tyler Edwards for the entire 30-race schedule. Armed with the expertise, leadership and resources of team co-owners Jay Mounce and Gavin Stout, Smith is eager to tackle his first national tour.
“I think we have a really good group of guys,” Smith said. “Jay Mounce, obviously, and his crew at Mounce/Stout [Motorsports], being able to run out of their stable – I think they have a lot of knowledge. It just so happened that we all got along really good; everyone clicked really well.”
Smith will also receive support from Taylor and Young during his rookie Midget campaign. Taylor, owner and founder of Kansas City-based Rockwell Security, has been a supporter of up-and-coming talents in motorsports for several years, most notably backing the careers of Logan Seavey, Justin Grant, Ryan Bernal, Nick Hoffman, Zach Daum and various others in their rise to dirt track racing’s upper echelons.
Smith, Mounce and Taylor/Young’s first collaborative effort came at the Chili Bowl Nationals in January, which had been a long time coming.
“Jeff and I have talked about putting something together for probably the last three or four years now,” Smith said. “This year, everything kinda lined up. He put me in touch with Jay and Jay put me in touch back-and-forth with Jeff and we all kinda met in the middle and decided to make something happen.”
Though his Chili Bowl did not get going with the start he was hoping for on Monday night of the weeklong event, Smith was able to rebound on Saturday, appearing in five total lower mains before falling short of a transfer in a G-Main.
His comeback efforts did not go unnoticed, however. Smith’s resilient attributes have stuck with his supporters throughout his career, including Taylor.
“TJ just always stood out,” Taylor said. “Work ethic, salt-of-the-Earth kind of guy, hard racer, a clean racer. I know when he shows up, he’s there to win. That’s what we like to do, and that’s why we picked him to do that.”
While his opportunities to race Midgets outside of Tulsa have generally been sparse, Smith became more involved than ever last year, making four starts with the USAC Western States Midgets. In only his second start, Smith put the flagship Six8 Motorsports No. 68 in Victory Lane at Antioch Speedway, leading flag-to-flag for his first career Midget win – a statement to the Midget world and a sign of his potential.
“We held [Jake] Andreotti off for the last two or three laps; I just had to hit my marks and make sure I knew what I was doing,” Smith said. “Everyone was excited, and we had a lot of congratulations from a lot of people around, so it felt good to know that we were capable of running with those guys.”
Smith’s rookie season aboard the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota begins with the season opener at the Southern Illinois Center in Du Quoin, IL – Friday-Saturday, March 15-16.
Tickets for the event will be available at the gate. If you can’t be there to watch in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
