NASCAR Driver's Dad Is Helping Fight The California Wildfires
Yesterday at 02:26 PM
One of the first lines of defense in battling the California wildfires has been the fleet of airplane pilots dropping fire retardant chemicals on top of the flames. As it happens, one such pilot just so happens to be the father of a NASCAR driver.
Over the weekend, Captain RK Smithley became a viral sensation when KTLA showed a video of him flying a DC-10 Air Tanker above an ongoing inferno and dropped the chemicals on top of it with pinpoint accuracy.
While Captain Smithley might have made a name for himself going top speeds through the air, his son Garrett Smithley has also made his career going fast - in stock cars.
Garrett Smithley is a NASCAR veteran who has over a decade of experience in several of NASCAR's top circuits. And he's been one proud son over the past few days as fans have started praising Captain Smithley for his work on the California fires.
"There he his! Nice drop," Smithley wrote on X, adding a few clapping emojis.
There he his! Nice drop 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 https://t.co/Yyovp7L69J
— Garrett Smithley (@GarrettSmithley) January 11, 2025
While Captain Smithley has been fighting fires in the sky, Garrett Smithley has been trying to trying to make his own impact on the racetrack.
Smithley has run over 250 races between the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Craftsmen Truck Series, taking five top-10 finishes in the Xfinity Series,
He is currently set to race full-time for SS-Green Light Racing in 2025.
Unfortunately, Captain Smithley's job hasn't been without its challenges. In a recent interview with Trib Live, Smithley lamented that some of the firefighting efforts are being disrupted by people with drones flying them high in order to get photos of the fires.
"People flying drones because they want to get pictures of the fire and post on Instagram and Facebook – jeopardizing aerial firefighting effort," Smithley said.
We hope his efforts can continue to go well.
Related: California Gov. Gavin Newsom Getting Ripped For Reaction To Wildfires
