NPK Star Wayne Smozanek’s Racing Legacy Lives On Through Wife & Son

In 1988, Wayne Smozanek met his future wife, Wendy. The two fell in love and started a life together that would grow a business, a family, and, ultimately, a racing career. In 2022, though, Wayne tragically lost his life due to complications from Covid-19; he left Wendy and their son, Will Race, behind to carry on his memory and to campaign his car on the “Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings” circuit.

Like many others, Wayne had been into drag racing since he was in high school; he didn’t graduate but had plenty of street smarts to help him succeed in life. He often street raced, both with his 1969 Chevrolet El Camino and his 1979 Chevy Camaro Z28, among other vehicles. Wendy wasn’t into racing when the couple first crossed paths in their early 20s, but she was supportive of her man’s dreams and aspirations and grew to love the sport, too.

Photo by Courtney Paulshock

“We were together for less than a year when he told me he was going to own a monster truck,” recalled Wendy tearfully. “I thought he was crazy, but, by the end of 1989, he bought one and named it ‘Tropical Thunder’ in honor of where we live.”

Based in Jupiter, Florida, Wayne and Wendy spent years developing their shop, Performance Center Auto Repair, while Wayne also followed the monster truck circuit. The two were married in 1994, but prior to that, Wayne had decided to focus on the business instead. “It evolved from auto repair to high performance and us building custom street rods, hot rods, and bikes,” Wendy noted of the family’s business which she had to unexpectedly take over after Wayne’s passing.

Despite calling it quits with Tropical Thunder – a 1990 Chevrolet Silverado – Wayne couldn’t stay away from racing entirely. He picked up a 1996 Chevy Corvette in a trade and regularly raced it in Outlaw Pro Mod categories at big class racing heads-up events.

“It got to where we knew we wanted to do “No Prep Kings,” but the Corvette wasn’t legal and was too long of a chassis,” said Wendy of how the couple’s racing plans changed trajectory. So, together as a team, they began searching for a replacement that they could use to reskin the ‘Vette with instead.

It wasn’t long before Wayne stumbled upon a deal that seemed too good to be true: a 1997 Ford Probe that had originally been commissioned by Ford and built by Jerry Haas Race Cars for Bob Glidden during the 1990s. Ford had changed direction so Glidden never took delivery of the ride, but it eventually ended up in the hands of Dan Saitz, and Wayne was later able to snap it up.

“He called me while I was at work and said he found a car but it was in St. Louis and it was black and red,” Wendy reminisced of when her late husband found their soon-to-be-famous new car. The car was amazing and met all of their criteria, but Wayne was hesitant to spend the money. “We couldn’t afford not to get it, so I told him to take the money we had been saving for a new kitchen for me.”

Wendy’s generous donation of her dream kitchen fund inspired Wayne to name his new Probe “My Kitchen” so they could share a laugh about the situation. They made the purchase on April 6, 2019. They hurried to get the rolling chassis ready and fitted a screw-blown, 521 cubic-inch Hemi engine between the framerails in time for the first “No Prep Kings’ race of Season 3 at Maryland International Raceway on May 3-4.

I never thought I wouldn’t see him come home again…I expected him to recover. – Wendy Smozanek

“We almost didn’t make it, because we had to add too much weight to the car to be legal and Wayne wasn’t sure about it,” said Wendy. “I told him we weren’t giving up, and he was able to make the first runs with the Probe even though he had never even sat in it before with the motor running.”

Wendy was anxious to watch her husband shake down their new car in the Future Street Outlaws class, but the entire Team Tropical Thunder group was pleasantly surprised when everything went well.

They wound up running the entire nine-race “Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings” series in 2019 and paid their dues. Thanks to his performances – and personality – Wayne was invited to participate in several other “Street Outlaws” spinoff series, including “JJ’s Arm Drop,” “Mega Cash Days,” “Fastest In America,” and others.

The following year, the Covid-19 pandemic hit and postponed Season 4 from 2020 to 2021 instead. “We ran in the Invitational race that year and one of our biggest accomplishments was the fact that we raced our way in,” Wendy added, proud of her late husband’s grit and determination. “We ran all of Season 4. Wayne was an exceptionally good driver who understood his car and his engine very well.”

In December of 2021, though, the Smozanek family attended the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Show in Indianapolis, Indiana. They had gone to dinner with a group of other people and all of them wound up contracting Covid-19. Almost immediately, Wayne, Wendy, and Will found themselves very ill with the virus. Wayne typically avoided doctors and hospitals, so later in the month when he asked his wife to take him to the emergency room, she knew his situation was dire.

“I never thought I wouldn’t see him come home again…I expected him to recover,” she said, crying as the memory of losing her lifelong love hits hard.

Photo by Courtney Paulshock

Wayne spent all of Christmas in the hospital fighting the virus and his doctors did everything they could to keep him off of a ventilator. There was a period of time where he stabilized, not getting better and not getting worse, and the family was hopeful – but his condition did eventually deteriorate.

By early February, Wayne was still fighting and Wendy was emotionally exhausted from watching him fade before her eyes. “He wasn’t one to always say ‘I love you’ or a mushy guy, but we were on the phone at one point and he said it three times. I should have known at that point I wouldn’t speak to him again,” she sobbed.

We would always load the trailer together after a race and just talk and recap things and it’s weird not to have that anymore. I would always tell him ‘I love you and drive like hell’ and he would say he loved me, too. – Will Smozanek

The next day, Wayne’s doctors called to tell Wendy that they had put him on a ventilator and she immediately went to be with him. “I watched him die, slowly, day after day,” said the grieving woman. “I could tell he was fading, so, I leaned into his ear and told him he could go, that it was okay, that we didn’t want him to suffer.”

Wayne passed away peacefully on February 12, 2022, at the age of 60 with Wendy by his side. He was buried with a beautiful memorial service over which fellow “Street Outlaws” star Robin Roberts officiated.

Showing tremendous strength, Wendy and Will chose to continue on with Wayne’s “My Kitchen” Probe in “No Prep Kings” competition in his honor. “I don’t care about being on television,” asserted the woman who has become known throughout the circuit as “Momma Wendy.” “I’m doing this because it’s the only thing I have to use to my advantage to help my child long-term. We want to eventually get him in the car and get sponsors since we’re funding this ourselves on a tight budget and expenses are awful lately.”

Although Will does have experience driving Jr. Dragsters as well as a wild wheelstander, the 17-year-old isn’t quite ready to jump into the driver’s seat. Until then, Wendy has trusted NPK veteran and former PDRA racer Stan Allen to do the honors of piloting the Probe and her amazing crew to help keep everything running seamlessly.

Photo by Courtney Paulshock

“I don’t expect to just jump right into it, I know I’ll have to work my way in like my dad did,” said Will, wise beyond his years and full of quiet confidence. “We would always load the trailer together after a race and just talk and recap things and it’s weird not to have that anymore. I would always tell him ‘I love you and drive like hell’ and he would say he loved me, too.”

Admittedly, Wendy is struggling a bit with her new role as team owner. The only female car owner in “No Prep Kings” is a title she enjoys having, despite the unfortunate circumstances that enabled it.

“I would rather be a husband-and-wife partnership, and people are so used to listening to Wayne that sometimes I have a hard time getting my opinions heard,” she candidly shared of how she’s had to step up and be strong for herself and for her son. “We really are blessed to be here with so many wonderful people, though. Wayne was loved and respected a lot more than I realized.”

To those that were fortunate enough to have met him, Wayne was a kind, giving, honest, and easygoing man. He would give anything to anyone to help them, and that generosity came back to him tenfold whenever he found himself in need. He always dreamed of racing at such a high level but never sacrificed his family or financial obligations to get there. He prioritized his wife and son, and his love for them was a driving force in his success on the track and in life.

Although the pain of losing the family’s patriarch is still fresh, Wendy and Will are continuing on with a new version of Wayne’s original mission – a silver lining from a truly tragic situation.

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Ainsley Jacobs

P.TEN Marketing's Ainsley Jacobs is a freelance motorsports marketing professional with extensive experience in marketing and communications, website development, social media management, photography, journalism, and more.
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