Lisa Smokstad

Smokstad was born on September 6, 1969 in Shakopee, Minnesota.[1] She is the daughter of Ellis and Pat Jones.[2] Smokstad began participating in gymnastics and competed in the sport until her early teenage years.[1] She worked as a child advocate in Minnesota's courtrooms.[3] While enrolled at the University of Minnesota on a psychology course,[4] Smokstad found work doing concessions at Raceway Park in 1990 which she did during the weekends.[1][5] The job was secured by one of her friends with whom she attended gymnastic class with.[6] Smokstad said in 2006 that she had not originally intended for an auto racing career: "When I went to college I didn't think I'd be dirty four days a week."[7] It was where she met her husband Craig, whom she married in 1993.[1][5] She obtained the job as she was the only member of her family who could understand tire fractions.[3] In 1992, Smokstad graduated from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor's degree in psychology.[1]

In 1996, Smokstad began working as a tireperson for her brother-in-law who was competing in American Speed Association-sanctioned races.[8] She later overheard that race car driver Ken Schrader was planning to start a new short-track team and required a tire specialist.[5][9] Smokstad and her husband accepted the position and moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in 1996. When two race teams merged in 1999, she was required to look for a new job because Schrader wanted a tire specialist with more experience. He advised her not to send a résumé to Hendrick Motorsports because of her gender.[5] However, she was asked by Jack Sprague and his crew chief Dennis Conner to join Hendrick Motorsports as their tire specialist.[1] She began in the position in 1999.[4] That same year, he won the Craftsman Truck Series; the experience strengthened Smokstad's loyalty to team and garnered her admiration for its founder Rick Hendrick.[9]

She later worked with various drivers who raced for Hendrick Motorsports.[1] Smokstad coached a gymnastics team while not working in auto racing.[10] She gave birth to her daughter, RaElla, on August 30, 2007.[2] She and fellow crew member Zach Miller were awarded the Cup Series "Consistently Smooth" Tire Specialist Award in 2009.[11] Smokstad was promoted by Hendrick Motorsports in 2010 to focus on strategizing and tire testing.[1]