JACK SMITH “UNLIKELY” TO LEAVE BJR

Jack Smith appears most likely to continue his Supercars racing career at Brad Jones Racing in 2022.

Jack’s father Peter Smith, founder of the SCT Logistics business and family patriarch, confirmed arrangements were almost set for his son to undertake a third full-time year in the main game with the Albury squad.

“Probably the conclusion to that right at this particular point is that a change is unlikely,” Smith told Auto Action in an exclusive interview..

The renewal comes after rumours surfaced at the Townsville Supercars event that Smith was shopping around, potentially looking to place his son, the SCT backing and REC that underpins the entry, at another team.

Matt Stone Racing was the squad mentioned most often in scuttlebutt.

Smith confirmed there had been investigations made on the team’s behalf by Andrew Jones, the former Supercars driver and nephew of Brad Jones, who is head of SCT Motorsport Programs.

“At that particular time [around the Townsville Supercars events] there were a few rumours around without us pushing it out,” said Smith.

“No-one really knew what this Gen3 really meant, how much people should be paying. To be quite honest nobody knows now, we know less now than what we knew six months ago.

“It was all about just seeing what other teams were making available and did I think – or did Andrew [Jones] think – would they be better teams for Jack than the team he was already in?”

The result, it seems almost certain, is a decision to stay put at BJR.

“I have a lot of faith in the team at BJR and so does Jack,” said Smith.

“He’s got his same engineer [Paul Forgie] and he’s got a crew of guys down there that mean something to him, so at this particular point there’s no expected change to be made.”

Jack Smith first raced in Supercars as a wildcard in 2019 before stepping up from Super 2 full-time in 2020 in a BJR Holden Commodore ZB backed by SCT underpinned by the ex-Jason Bright REC.

He finished 22nd in the championship in 2020 and runs 21st in 2021, with a 21.8 qualifying average and 20.3 finishing average.

His best career qualifying was 10th for race six in Tasmania this year, although he was hit with a three-place grid penalty for impeding Tickford’s Jack Le Brocq in qualifying. His 15th place finish in that race was his best result of the season so far.

“Jack has shown a lot of ability at certain times,” said Smith. “He struggles when it comes to trying to get up the front of the grid in qualifying, but he has a good racing ability when he gets in there and gets going.

“He is still very young in Supercars terms and make no mistake, the step up from Super 2 to the main series is significant and takes a bit of time. We see his progress behind the scenes which gives us confidence on where he’s heading.”

Peter Smith also revealed his son was guaranteed backing for “four or five years”.

“That would put him at the age of 26 which seems to be the age where Supercars drivers hit their straps, so if he’s not peaking by then, then I’d suggest he’ll be looking for a new career path.”

For more from Peter Smith pick up your copy of Auto Action 1819.

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