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Jack Smith Biography
Jack Thomas Smith was born on May 24, 1923 in Metroplis, Illinois. His family moved to Georgia when he was two years old. He considered Georgia his adopted hometown for the remainder of his life.
It was in Sandy Springs, a suburb of Atlanta, that Smith acted on his long time love of race cars by beginning to participate in races instead of merely working on cars. He won 27 events in his first full season at the Peach bowl alone from 1950 - 1954. All five of those years he was voted the track's Most Popular Driver. During these years, Smith not only drove, but worked on the cars as well. He drove and worked for the E & S Ford Racing team of Atlanta. When E & S withdrew from racing following the 1954 season, Smith drove the 1955 season for Bill Turney and E.C. Wilson of Atlanta, winning 27 races on the Southern Sportsman circuit during that season in a Chevrolet.
Sandy Springs remained Smith's headquarters for the majority of his racing career. He went on to join a Ford factory team in 1956 owned by Jones Motor Co. of Dallas, GA. A bout with double Pneumonia put him out of commission for most of that season, but he returned later in the year driving Chryslers and Dodges for the Mercury Outboard tycoon Carl Kiekhaefer. In October of that year, Smith won his first Grand National race in Martinsville, Virginia in a '56 Dodge. Late in 1956, Smith fielded a fleet of stock cars for Chevrolet. It was in 1957, when Chevrolet quit the circuit, that Smith began to sponsor the cars himself and made the transition to owner/driver. He became a Georgia promoter that same year of Boyd's Speedway outside of Chattanooga, continuing that effort into 1958. Also in 1958 he was voted by NASCAR fans the "Most Popular Driver" and became a part of the Pontiac factory effort, although he continued to race Chevrolets on the dirt tracks, eventually returning to Chevrolet in 1959 and winning four Grand National races in that year.
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1960 was an eventful year, the year that is considered the start of the superspeedway boom. Smith married his wife Betty, moved from Georgia to Spartanburg, South Carolina, and went back to the Pontiac racing team. During that year, he was the first driver on the then 1.5 mile Atlanta Raceway where he tested the track with one asphalt lane and no guardrails to save him in the event of a mistake. In that year Smith won only one pole, qualifying second to Fireball Roberts five times and to Buck Baker once in Smith's own car. On July 4, 1960, after setting a qualifying lap record of 152.129 mph, Smith won the Firecracker 250 with a record speed of 146.832 mph, making him the first driver to win Daytona on the old beach track as well as the new International Speedway.
Jack Smith continued to race successfully for the next few seasons. He competed in 266 Grand National races between 1949 and 1964, finishing among the top five 94 times, including 21 wins, 19 seconds, and 24 pole positions.
Smith closed his NASCAR career with a second to Richard Petty's win at Savannah, Georgia during the 1964 season. He retired to operate his automatic transmission business in Spartanburg, spend time traveling with his family, and represent the sport as a former driver, future hall-of-famer, and a
life-time fan.
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Smith was inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame in 1981. In 1999, he received the Smokey Yunick Racing Pioneer Award. Also in 1999, Smith helped to select the 10 best drivers of the 20th century for Sports Illustrated. He was given the Driver Lifetime Achievement Award by the Living Legends of Auto Racing, Inc. He was selected 42nd by Sporting News; Stock Car Racing's Greatest Drivers 2001. Smith was the first driver to use 2-way radio to communicate. Smith tied for 24th on the all-time Nascar wins list with Terry Labonte, Bobby Labonte, and Benny Parsons.
Jack Smith's Transmissions opened in February of 1962 at 850 W. Main St. in Spartanburg, S.C.
Jack Smith passed away October 17th, 2001.
Currently, the business is owned and operated at the same location by Smith's youngest son, Lance.
Although we do all types of transmissions, we also specialize in racing transmissions and racing apparel and gear.
Lance enjoys keeping his Father's legacy of racing going. He also races at several of the area's dirt tracks. (SC, NC, and GA)
You might even see Lance with Jack's #47 -1960 Pontiac Grand National (NASCAR) Race car.
Jack Smith's Transmissions
864-585-9266
1-800-835-6435
Monday-Friday
8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
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