ST. JOHN’S, Pa. – Nearing the halfway point of his 2008 schedule, Oxford’s Rusty Smith nearly won back-to-back races for the first time this season settling for a second-place finish last weekend at Mountain Speedway in the asphalt modified feature.

A week earlier, Smith won the 40-lap feature at Mountain Speedway – his second win of the season on the track – moving from the eighth position to take the lead on lap 17. “I made a three-wide pass, and won pretty easily,” Smith said. “It was exciting for some time because it was bottled up. The (drivers) are getting better down there.”

Smith’s second-place finish on July 5 may have been his most exciting overall race of the season. His car was performing under expectations, an uncharacteristic turn for what Smith calls the best of his three race cars. “The car wasn’t working the way it has all season,” Smith said. “So we took a gamble and pitted on lap 45.”