Athens – In a career that has spanned over a decade, Athens Ontario Canada’s Blake Smith is just getting started and making some major strides in his young career and looks for more as 2026 begins.
The 16 year old driver will once again be behind the wheel of the family owned number 18B in the DIRTCar Sportsman division, with plans to compete at the Brockville Ontario Speedway, where he has seen much of his early success.
After a long run in the karting ranks at Brockville and several area tracks, accumulating several feature wins and track championships, the decision was made to make the jump into stock car racing after the 2023 campaign.
In 2024 Smith turned heads in the region by taking 2 feature wins at Brockville in the Novice Sportsman division. Along with his two wins, he proved that consistency can get you to the top of the mountain, as he went on to claim the track championship.
Following the track title, the obvious next step was a move to the DIRTCar Sportsman class to compete against drivers he has grown up watching at the speedway.
His Rookie year in the regular Sportsman division was a major learning curve, but Smith quickly earned the respect of his fellow competitors during 2025. Along the way he claimed 4 top 10 finishes including a best finish of 6th on August 9th, where he led the majority of the 25 lap feature event and hung in all race long to score his career best run.
After all the lessons learned during his debut season at Brockville in the Sportsman division, he went on for a very impressive 10th place finish in the track standings, but Smith, like every driver, wants more each year.
As mentioned, the team will run full time at the Brockville Ontario Speedway for the 2026 season and if things go well, there is a possibility to travel to other tracks on off nights to gain even more experience against some of the best in the Northeast.
The major goal is to win, but most importantly Smith and his family-owned team are looking for solid performances all year and see how things shake out at the end of the season.
The team recently took their first laps of the new year at the Brockville Ontario Speedway test and tune held Saturday May 9th and looked very impressive with the opener just one week away.
The new season gets underway for Blake Smith in the Oglivie’s Triple Crown Series opener at Brockville, which will be a 40 lap contest this coming Saturday. Smith has 4 career starts in the series and closed out the season with a series best 9th place finish on August 23rd of 2025.
Smith would like to thank his great sponsors and supporters who have been there with him and his journey in the sport of auto racing. He also appreciates the ongoing support his family gives him, cheering him on every race night and being there for him on those tough nights every driver will face in their career.
With his quick progression, don’t be surprised to see Smith challenging for wins in 2026 and quite possibly the season opener.
Blake and the team would like to thank their many sponsors and supporters for 2026.
All Out Performance, Dunster Renovations, Dixie Electric Services Inc., Birms Polishing, P38 Energy, Ogilvie’s Performance, Dr. Erika Sabourin, Family Chiropractor, W.R. McBride Electric, RS Drill Service, Randy Liston Mortgages, Big Waters Bakery, Lamont”s, Automotive Machine, Stingers Indoor Paintball, Leading Edge Overhead Doors and Angry Duck Graphics.
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