Cayuga County Native Misses Shot at the Daytona 500

Cato, New York native 23-year old Regan Smith, a rookie on NASCAR’s Nextel Cup Series this season, will have to wait until next year for a shot at running in the Daytona 500. Smith finished 19th in the second “Dual 150” qualifying race at Daytona yesterday, but that finish was not good enough to place him in the 43 car field for Sunday’s 500. Smith this year is driving the No. 39 Ginn Resorts Chevrolet. He’s a teammate with veteran driver Mark Martin. Smith did collect a paycheck totaling $19, 983 dollars for yesterday’s qualifying race. He also finished in front of big name drivers like Elliot Sadler, Ricky Rudd, Kevin Harvick and Juan Pablo Montoya. Smith, is the son of former Cato residents Lee and Ronnie Smith. He grew up in the Cayuga County village and raced in the Syracuse-Geddes Microd Club until his family moved to Mooresville, North Carolina. Smith is running a fulltime race schedule in the NASCAR Busch Series.