How did Furniture Row Racing driver Regan Smith prepare for the first Sprint Cup road-race of the season? He went to High Plains Raceway with the High Plains Drifter. Translation: High Plains Raceway is a road course east of the team’s Denver shop, and the High Plains Drifter is Smith’s driving coach Rick Carelli, an Arvada, Colo. native, who acquired the moniker during his successful career as a late-model, modified, stock car and truck series racer. ‘They even have a corner named after Rick at High Plains Raceway,’ said Smith, driver of the #78 Furniture Row/Farm American Chevy. ‘It’s pretty neat that we have a road-course facility fairly close to our Denver (Colo.) shop, and to have Rick offering his expertise is a bonus.’ Smith and the Furniture Row Racing team were at High Plains Raceway in Deer Trail, Colo. Tuesday testing for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 road race in Sonoma, Calif. Carelli, an inductee into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame, feels both Smith and the team are well prepared for the Sonoma event. ‘If you don ‘t like road racing chances are you ‘re not going to do well at it,’ stated Carelli, an original NASCAR Truck Series driver in 1995. ‘But that’s not the case with Regan. He is a good student and welcomes the challenge to improve his road-racing skills. I am looking for a solid weekend out of this Furniture Row Racing team.’ Of his six road course starts, Smith’s best finish was 16th last year at the demanding 10-turn, 1.99-mile Sonoma circuit.(Furniture Row Racing PR)(6-21-2012)
