Smith is following in the footsteps of his uncle Jack Smith, delving into Trans Am.
He’ll make his series return at the Hi-Tec Oils Mallala Homecoming for the penultimate round of the series, and will contest the bp Adelaide Grand FInal too.
Driving for The Racing Academy, he’ll be supported by the Smith family’s business SCT Logistics.
He’ll have good teammates to compare himself to, with race winner Blake Tracey headlining the team’s efforts alongside Cameron Laws and Cody Maynes Rutty.
It’s just the second Trans Am start for Smith, who filled in for Jack at The Bend Motorsport Park earlier this year in a TFH Hire Racing entry.
“I’m super excited to be competing in Trico Trans Am again,” said Smith.
“I feel like when I competed at The Bend, I was thrown in the deep end a little bit as I had never driven the car before, but now I can go into Mallala with some experience.
“It’s a big transition for me, coming from open wheel categories my whole career to now racing with a roof, h-pattern gearbox, minimal downforce and hitting kerbs.
“It is certainly a challenge, but my main goal is just to build off what I learnt last time and set myself up for Adelaide.”
Smith’s single-seater career took him all the way to the FIA Formula 3 Championship before switching to IndyCar’s feeder series, Indy NXT.
Now he’s back on home soil, looking at a future in domestic V8 categories.
“Adelaide will be really cool, it looks like a really tough circuit from what I have seen while observing my uncle, Jack, but it will be a learning weekend for me to get some practice for my future goals of Super2 or Supercars,” Smith explained.
“The style of event isn’t too different to supporting the Formula 1 events when I raced Formula 3, so I know just to enjoy the atmosphere of those events.
“The team has produced some great results recently with Blake so I am looking forward to working with this crew and absorbing as much as I can.”
The Racing Academy team owner Doug Westwood welcomed Smith to the fold.
“I’m genuinely enthused to use the experience we have in developing young drivers in the category to help Tommy get up to speed,” Westwood said.
“He is obviously a good driver, but needs some developing in Trans Am as he hasn’t had much time in these cars yet.
“We have been fortunate enough to support drivers such as Blake Tracey, Elliott Cleary, Cody Gillis progress in this category so I’m excited to do the same with Tommy.
“It won’t necessarily be about results, but rather making sure he is comfortable in the car and can improve on his skills outside of open wheel racing.”
The Trico Trans Am Series will have two practice sessions on Friday followed by qualifying and a Top 10 Shootout.
The series will have all three races across Saturday, November 22 with Race 1 at 1:15pm ACDT, Race 2 at 4:20pm ACDT, and Race 3 at 7:20pm ACDT.
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