Brett Smrz – Hi Everyone!

Brands Hatch, England (October 15, 2009) – This has already been a very eventful week! On Sunday I started work on Wichita (The Movie) at 5:00 AM Eastern time in Boston before leaving for the airport at around 1:00 PM to begin my Team USA Scholarship experience in Europe. It was a bit sad saying goodbye to all of my friends. We had a bunch of fun working on the set together, and I look forward to working with them again soon.

For those that don’t know, in addition to pursuing my dream as a race car driver, I am a stunt man in the film business. My father, Gregg Smrz, is a stunt coordinator, and my uncle, Brian Smrz, is a 2nd Unit Director. I kind of fell into the business as well, and have been doing stunts since I was 9 years old. If you would like, you may go to www.imdb.com and type in my name to have a look at my resume.

On Wichita, I was doing some precision driving, which is my specialty in the stunt industry. We went to an empty parking lot and were learning how to throw e-brake slides in our spare time! It was quite a blast.

I checked in and went through security with my parents, and then I said my goodbyes. Although I love having my parents with me at the track, it should be a great experience traveling to a foreign country and doing some racing on my own.

I met up with Connor, my teammate, after I went through security, and we waited at our gate until the plane was ready to take off. We both wanted to try and get some sleep on the plane, but unfortunately we were both unsuccessful. The lights were very bright and the service down the aisle was non-stop!

We got to Ireland, collected our bags, and then met up with Cliff Dempsey who will be running our Formula Ford cars in England. He took us back to his house and we went to bed for a couple of hours. When I woke up, Mrs. Dempsey had already made us a full Irish breakfast, which is a nice change for me as I usually only eat cereal!

We went to the Dempseys’ race shop, just outside Dublin, so that we could get fitted to our race cars. I am going to be in the same car that Josef Newgarden had last year. I can already tell that Cliff is a very hard worker, and he will do anything he can to make Connor and I happy while we are over here. The fitting to the car was successful, so I look forward to the weekend ahead.

After dinner, we headed out onto a ferry to England. Cliff then drove the truck to Brands Hatch where we had everything prepped for the weekend. He drove until 4 AM to get us to the track on time. Very hard workers, the Irish are!

I would like to thank the Dempseys for everything they did, and are doing for us while we are here in the UK. Also everyone who has contributed to the Team USA Scholarship to make this possible for both Connor and me. The Dempsey racing team is fantastic, and they don’t stop working until everything is complete. I look forward to having a successful couple of weekends with them.

I will keep you updated with more information during my stay in Europe for the Team USA Scholarship.