Trifecta Motorsports’ 2023 campaign with the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota was set to be the team’s first and only run on a national Midget series. And then, they almost won the championship.
Now, they’re returning with two cars for the 2024 tour, adding Micro Sprint racer Peter Smith to the team.
“We went into those last couple nights leading the owner’s championship with a real shot at the driver’s championship,” said team co-owner Steve Carbone. “We’re all very motivated, and finishing second in both spots was fantastic, but we just want more.”
Smith, 19, from Anthony, NM, will contest the entire 30-race schedule at the controls of the Spike/Stanton No. 5U alongside veteran teammate and inaugural Series champion Zach Daum in the team’s signature No. 7U Midget.
“I think I’ll fair fairly well,” Smith said. “I know it’s going to be very tough and the competition’s going to be very good, but I feel like I can stack-up against any of them.”
For his first season on the national Midget trail, Smith brings with him brother Mark Smith to handle car chief duties alongside longtime 7U team crew chief Bobby Milliser. The brothers previously worked alongside Milliser as crew members during Milton Hershey School Appalachian Midget Week in 2023 and got their first experiences working as part of the Trifecta team.
“Being able to stay in the grind and not cut corners is a huge thing that they believe in, and working as hard as possible to make sure cars put on the track are 100 percent,” Peter said. “I feel like they have some of the best equipment, and the results of the team speak for themselves.”
That weeklong racing trip to Pennsylvania later evolved into Peter’s first time in the seat of the 5U car alongside Daum during the Xtreme Outlaw Series championship weekend in Oklahoma last October. In a field of over 30 cars each night, Peter qualified for every Feature and turned the third-fastest lap in Qualifying during Saturday’s program at I-44 Riverside Speedway in only his fourth Midget start.
“It was pretty cool,” Peter said. “I know I can drive a car very fast, and that just proves that. I hope to be able to do it again this year.”
Peter’s fast start and Mark’s commitment to helping the team laid the foundation on which their partnership has extended for 2024.
“If we didn’t see something in Peter and Mark, we would just be a one-car deal. One hundred percent,” Carbone said. “They’re the only ones that we were willing to do this with.”
“Mark and Peter know that the opportunity they’ve been given is directly correlated to their work ethic,” Milliser said. “I think that should be rewarded, especially in today’s age.”
While Peter’s racing background is rooted in Legend Cars and Micro Sprints, Mark has spent several seasons behind the wheel of Stock Cars and dirt Modifieds around the local New Mexico and Texas tracks. He’ll turn in his steering wheel for a set of wrenches this year, learning from Milliser’s experience with setup, maintenance and driver communication.
“With Mark, he’s a workhorse, and he’s a sponge,” Milliser said. “He’s come to me willing to learn; he’s humble. He’s got his opinion, but he’s not trying to inset his opinion into an operation that he knows is already successful. And that humility, to me, goes a long way.”
Since the dawn of their presence in the Midget world as a Chili Bowl Nationals-only team in the 2010s, Trifecta Motorsports was a single-car team that later ventured out to a handful of national Midget series events before going full-time in 2023. Rolling a second car into the trailer for each race weekend this year means twice the work for the team, but there’s an upside to that challenge that will help them immensely.
“The challenge is probably part of what we like about it,” Carbone said. “We’ve learned the past few years at Chili Bowl having multiple cars. I’ve always seen the value and the feedback of multiple cars, but to be on the road with multiple cars, I think our notebook is going to get really, really good. Not that they’re not good now, but I think they’re going to get even better.”
The two-car team will begin their chase for the 2024 Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota championship with the season opener inside Du Quoin, IL’s Southern Illinois Center – Friday-Saturday, March 15-16.
Tickets for both days will be on sale at the gate. If you can’t be in the building to watch in person, stream all weekend long with a subscription to DIRTVision.
