LANCASTER – For nearly half of last Saturday’s 75-lap Race of Champions (ROC) Series event at Dunn Tire Raceway Park, Oxford’s Rusty Smith was languishing in the middle of the pack among a stacked field of quality drivers – and even better racing teams.

“We saved our tires and kind of hung out the first 25 laps,” said the Blueox-sponsored Smith

A yellow flag soon followed, and Smith re-started on the outside in 20th place. “Things kept clicking on the outside, and every time a caution came out, we shuffled back to the outside,” he said. “We just kept picking them off one by one.”

With 20 laps remaining, Smith had moved all the way up to fifth place. Unlike his previous ROC race where he led for 40 laps, but was passed late in the asphalt modified feature, Smith clearly had the best car, and just used his savvy and experience to eventually move to the front. He took the lead with three laps remaining, and pulled away for a 15-car-length victory, his second win of the 2009 season and second career ROC win.