The beginning...

Finally, after a busy weekend, I have a minute to sit down and give you the story behind the seemingly infamous Bubba Smoothe. Those who know me best call me “Sharpy”, a nickname given to me by Tommy Mauney – yes, the bad ass chassis builder from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Most recently, though, it’s been “Bubba Smoothe” and I can’t seem to shake it.

The moniker came along during a photo shoot in Runaway Bay, Jamaica a few years ago. It was Chuck Melton, father of Sean Melton of Urban Hillbilly Action Videos who bestowed the nickname on me. Basically, we spend a week every year in Jamaica shooting pictures of models for the BabeXtremeOnline.com calendars and after a 15-hour day of taking pictures, most the girls want to see how the images turned out. Well, Chuck started to notice the random women leaving my room, strictly work related, and tagged me the “Bubba Smoothe”. It’s a lot of fun and having the initials B.S. fits perfectly with the politics involved in drag racing from time to time.

I grew up in sunny Tampa, Florida and have some really fond memories of guys like Bruce Allen, Tony Christian, Warren Johnson and Morris Campbell, Jr. blasting up and down the local drag strips. I spent a lot of time at the tracks in St. Pete and Bradenton and ended up meeting a group of people that would forever change my world. People like Steve Cohen, Corky and Sherry Markwart, the Brannens, Hollingsworths, Tim Butler, Jim Carlton and Mel Eaves who would later give me a pit crew job at the age of 19 – helping with his Top Sportsman car at the time.

One of the most influential people in my life was during those years, his name was Gordie Hmiel, cousin of Steve Hmiel of DEI Inc, who was just moving to Lenoir, NC and starting his own engine business. After a couple seasons Gordie asked if I would like to go to work for him. The answer, of course, was “yes”. We’re talking about the first guy to make a 6-second pass in a nitrous-assisted door car in Bristol, Tennessee. From racing on the track to the business that is racing, Gordie taught me a great deal, but the most important lessons were on life in general.

At the time I was spending my weekends at some of the hottest Quick-8 spots in the world; places like Shuffletown, Mooresville, Farmington, Greer and Coastal Plains, hanging out with guys like Ed Hoover, Michael Martin, Ronnie Sox, Tim McAmis, Tommy Mauney and Ronnie Hood – just to name a few. Unfortunately, that rush came to a tragic end one Friday morning when the plane Gordie and his father were piloting crashed in the woods of Warner Robbins, Georgia, killing the both of them and racer Tony Cox.

Two guys showed up at the door that weekend and told me that everything would be okay; their names are Roger and Mike Sanders, they helped a broke kid with a little cash and made sure no one tried to take advantage of the situation. When the dust settled both Gene Fulton and Tommy Mauney had offered me jobs. I thought Tommy and Gene were both gifted in the individual professions, but I wanted to race and TM had a bad ass Willy’s at the time. Tommy is a blessed individual with talents that reach much further than just drag racing. He kept me in check and more importantly kept me educated. I could never repay him for what he had the patience to teach me.

After a short stint working for Brad Jeter I decided to venture into a different world, still greasy, but a different kind of grease – the restaurant business. I opened 132 units worldwide for a well-known company called Ruby Tuesday, all the while staying in touch with my buddies – Gene Fulton, Shannon Jenkins, Tim McAmis and a few years ago I was presented with an opportunity to help get a little nitrous company started named Speedtech.

It’s been a challenge, but a very rewarding one. It’s been a demanding industry to be involved in, fortunately for us we have a strong core of engine builders and racers that will listen and work with us to become a better company and build a constantly improving product.
As for photography, which is what I’m best known for here at Di (that’s probably debatable), it’s been a passion of mine since I was 7 years old. Back then I was just a kid who was handed a camera to take pictures during rec. center soccer games for the local news. With such a diversified history, I figured there is no better way to document the story than with photos. It’s great to know that there are some people out there who enjoy my images that have been printed in Drag Illustrated.