• Lee Smith, who lives in Hudson, Mass., is a
  clockmaker by trade, and has spent most of his time over the past
  few years building a new business, Classic Clocks, in Wayland,
  Mass.
  When Smith first burst onto the NEMA scene, he made such an
  impression that, even though he was running home built equipment,
  he was named Rookie of the Year, and later, the Most Improved
  Driver. He continued to run an upright chassis in the late 70s,
  when NEMA was dominated by laydown roadsters. In 1977, he beat
  them all, winning his first championship.
  Three years later, he did it again, and two years after that, won
  his third. In the years following, he was almost always in the
  top ten, finishing second in the standings twice, adding to his
  total of 21 feature wins, which ties him for 6th in the all-time
  NEMA feature winners list. But as he realized his long term goal
  to own his own business, racing had to take a back seat.
  Now, he thinks the business is well enough established that he
  can race again. "I finally decided that the customers would have
  to buy their clocks in six days, because I'm going to take a day
  off for some fun," he said. "I called Ed Czyzewski, who owns the
  car I last ran, and told him I'd get it ready if I could run it
  again. He agreed, and we're ready to go."
  Gene Angelillo, NEMA President, said, "Not only are we looking
  forward to running against Lee again, it will be great to see
  Eddie Czyzewski back in the pits. This guy, who fielded winning
  midgets for so many years, in spite of the fact that he was
  "handicapped" by the loss of an eye and both legs on Pork Chop
  Hill in Korea, is an inspiration to us all."
  The addition of the Smith/Czyzewski team to the field that has
  staged fantastic racing in its two previous shows this season
  means that Saturday night's show at Star is almost guaranteed to
  be a barn burner.