Meet The Rider: Cameron Smith

Get to know American Flat Track Mission Super Twins Rider Cameron Smith. Cameron was very generous with his time during the Sixth Annual Cory Texter Promotions Mission Foods Winter Throwdown presented by Holeshot Powersports. Cameron discussed his racing career, navigating different track surfaces and how events like the Winter Throwdown can even the playing field between privateer efforts and factory riders.

Hi my name is Cameron Smith I’m from coosville Pennsylvania I’ve been racing flash track since I was four years old I’m 20 24 years old now so I’ve been doing it for a good bit of time what got you started in racing uh just being around the flat track Community um in my

Area you know you had a lot of top Riders Brandon Robinson Jake Johnson Johnny Long Johnny Lewis you know all those guys from PA is just um just a High um I don’t even know how you would say it just a lot of fast riders in area

And I just got to be you know just introduced to all those people you know at at whatever track we’re at local race and you know every race on you know they kind of helped me out you know every race a different Rider would help me out

And they kind of put me where I’m at today you know with all of the um good Riders and the talent and all that kind of stuff it kind of makes it more even for me today because kind of it’s just like you know all these fast Riders and

Some people get overwhelmed and it’s just like well I’ve been riding with them you know for a good while now so was kind of just one of those things just get a good hole shot hold your line and do and put in a good race and as

Long as you do that you should be all right unless you know a guy comes underneath you if you leave a door open but long as you put a good race in and get a good start have yourself in a good position especially like a track like

This when it’s one line just get out front and just put in good lines do races like this uh sort of even the playing field do you feel uh yeah because I mean you know you might have uh a kid who might be coming up from the amateur ranks or

You know guys who really don’t normally ride on 450s ride 450s um guys are already on 450s trying something new so I mean everybody’s kind of everybody wants to win but everybody’s always trying something so yeah the play the the playing field is even I mean there’s no big rigs here

There’s not like you have a million teams here everybody’s in the van you know normally everybody’s already down Florida so they just brought a bike up you know people might have came down from North or Cali or something like that just try to get some rid time before Dayton and obviously because it’s

The winner so yeah they a playing field I think it’s pretty fair I think my size and the way I ride twin kind of shoots me a little bit better but if I have to get on a 450 and ride it I will um it really doesn’t matter like I said

Preferably I’d rather be on a twin but if I had to be on a 450 I would go on a 450 but at the end of the day you got to ride both of them you got to ride everything on kind of everything a track

Like today isn’t too bad I mean if the groove was wi would be kind of good so you can have a little bit more room to pass um I like slick tracks dry tracks tacky tracks I kind of like them all but I like the looser tracks like limo or

Something like uh kind of like how it was here on Friday kind of let it hang loose and kind of let the bike do it at once and kind of pick your foot up in the middle corner and just kind of drive off that’s kind of like my

Liking um it can be hard you know you just got to keep eye on the track you got to know your motorcycle what’s it going to do when you make a certain type of change um just keep watching the track watch the weather um it could be

70 and during the day it could be 7 at the night but it could be high humidity so it’s going to be Slicker you know obviously with the humidity and stuff like that and the moisture coming up out of the ground so you just got to pay

Attention um to what’s going on how many riders are on the track what the track is doing what the weather is doing and just my new changes to the bike and more or less making more changes to yourself um John I meant John kind of out of coincidence in Springfield Illinois

After a short track back in like 2017 or 18 he told me to come to his house so he could show me how to short track I think um I met up with him later that year and ever since people just been cool um trying to help you know out with his

Kids he’s helped me out with stuff being on Twins and just trying to be overall help to each other and trying to benefit from our relationship um I was with Honda for a long time and then I actually kind of rode a KTM here this weekend for the

First time um and I really like it it’s definitely different from anything I’ve ever read I’ve read the newer Yamahas um but I like the k M I think KTM kind of sticks out to me the most and I think it’s it’s kind of Suits my style and does what I wanted to

Do private to your effort uh for for most of your career um what are some of the the challenges that that those that presents to you um on a weekend like a national um just kind of It kind of all starts on Monday you know you’re you’re working you’re trying to get everything

Together um working your day job working out getting the bikes together so kind of on race say it’s kind of hard sometimes mentally just making sure that I’m there mentally knowing that I can win even though I have a full-time job I’m trying to get everything ready by

Myself I’m not going to load the bikes up and head to the track but at the end of the day um I love it you know just working grinding it out getting the work done on the bikes and going to the racetrack and seeing what I can do up

Against the best guys with you know with the best teams so I think that’s kind of cool I get to go out and do that and I have people behind me that allow me to do that definitely working all the way up to the point to you know um getting

Podiums and you know getting a win um definitely have to get better on putting the whole day together you know good time qualifying a good heat race and a good main um I’ve done it before but just keep doing it throughout the season and I think it’s just putting a whole

Thing together I think that’s going to come with putting the whole team together and just you know them work with me on how to how to be a better racer so I think um race technique and strategy is going to be better you know obviously being with the

The the better Riders up front I think that’s going to be a big key so I just think knowledge keep getting knowledge and experience on the Twins and try to learn as much as possible get chance to see this track before they go to their next