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The West Coast siblings grew up in a household where speed and competition were a way of life. Parents Dave and Cindy Smith have been involved in drag racing for many years and have a well known transmission-building business, Pro Trans, in Lancaster, Calif. Their products have been utilized by a slew of successful racers with a multitude of wins between them as well as a few championships. Dan Fletcher, Jimmy DeFrank, Peter Biondo, and Doug Lambeck are among the competitors who have raced triumphantly with Pro Trans transmissions, and Pro Trans pieces were used by Chuck Rayburn when he won the 1995 Stock world championship and Frank Grossi when he became the first GT pilot to break into the 8s with an 8.77 in his GT/AA Pontiac last year. NHRA Super Stock Hemi automatics typically have a Pro Trans in the powertrain, and the Smith family have also been spending a lot of time lately finessing transmissions for the new Dodge Drag Pak cars and Cobra Jet Mustangs.
"It started out with my dad working on transmissions and doing some development work back in the 70s and 80s when he and his brothers, Greg and Pat, were running their own car," said Darren. "Word got out, and he started doing transmissions for people here and there. Over the years he built a bigger and bigger customer base, and in the late 90s, he quit his work with the county of Los Angeles to pursue the business full time. I joined him in 2001 and now I'm in charge of the building of the new transmissions for our Stock, Super Stock, Comp, and Sportsman bracket racing customers." Darren has plenty on his plate helping out at Pro Trans, and of course the business always comes first, but it would be a mighty task to keep the Division 7 challenger away from the race track. At just six months old, he was celebrating in the winner's circle in honor of his Uncle Greg's 1982 Winternationals win, and Darren's passion for the sport was launched. He bracket raced at the local track in high school and at the end of 1999 put together a car to compete with in Stock. Right away the young racer was going rounds in his DT/SA '98 Dakota and posted a semifinals finish at the season-opener in Pomona, and at the Phoenix divisional event soon after, he added three more round-wins to his tally.
The snappy little SS/EA Dodge carried Smith to the first championship won by a Mopar driver since Dave Boertman claimed the title in 1977, a proud achievement for the family of long-time Mopar campaigners. Former Junior Dragster racer Staci was by her brother's side throughout the exciting year and enjoyed some success of her own in the family Dakota Stocker, going rounds and recording a quarterfinals finish at the fall national event in Las Vegas. The next season, the younger Smith sibling stepped up to Super Stock for the last few events, and in 2009, Staci focused her attention solely on the category behind the wheel of her uncle's Daytona, one of the fastest GT/DA entries in the country.
"I've already had a lot of fun racing. After competing in Juniors for two years, I turned 16 and got my license on a Monday, and I was at Sonoma for a points meet that Thursday. Getting to do all of that in one week was really exciting. The older I get, the more I get into racing. Now I'm looking forward to helping my dad and brother out more with the business. I'd like to be involved in the marketing end of things." Staci's assistance will likely come in handy as the family looks to expand Pro Trans beyond Stock, Super Stock, and Comp in the near future while cutting down on production time and venturing into heads-up and index classes, and possibly all the way up to Pro Street, as they develop new, high horsepower three-speeds. They even have a soon-to-be-launched Web site in the works, ProTransRacing.com. Away from the business and on the track, the Smith siblings are competitors but also friends, and they contribute to one another's racing programs as much as possible.
It's a no-brainer for Darren to share his knowledge and skills with his sister. "I'd like to see my little sister do something like win the championship," he said. "It would be really neat, and we're working on that. If either one of us are ever in the chase again, we would have to go after it. It's nerve wracking, but it's a lot of fun." Darren continues to enjoy a fair amount of success while in pursuit of his first national event win - he competed as an alternate at the prestigious Jegs Allstars and runner-upped at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals in Chicago in 2008 - and Staci isn't far behind now that she's getting comfortable in her Super Stocker. The two share a friendly sibling rivalry, and little sister is planning to keep big brother on his toes.
"Darren and I have raced each other twice; he was .005 red against me in a Combo race at LACR, and I went red against him when I was racing my Dakota in Super Stock. I was at a little bit of a disadvantage in that one, but we're even right now with racing each other. My brother has bragging rights for bringing home the first world championship, and now I think I'd like to win a national event ahead of him. I have to do something before he does." The elder Smith welcomes the challenge, and has a few goals of his own. "I'd like to move up to Comp, eventually, and after that I'd like to try Pro Stock, just like everyone else who races in Super Stock," said Darren. "I'd definitely like that, even if it was for just a season or two. Right now, we're discussing venturing into the NHRA Unleashed program and doing some heads-up racing, and that could also help expand our business. We've got a lot that we want to pursue, and it gets pretty hectic trying to get out there to race, but my family is really lucky to be able to do this."
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