A graduate of Formula Ford, Mark won the 1989 Formula Super Vee Championship in the US. Three successful seasons in the American Racing Series (also known as Indy Lights) followed, with Mark taking three wins (Laguna Seca, Vancouver and Cleveland), eight podium places and 357 points. Mark then had two seasons in CART in 1993 and 1994, with a best finish of 5th at the Michigan 500 in 1994. Sadly, in 1995, Smith, who had just retired from racing the previous winter to concentrate on his firm, was involved in a car crash that killed his elder brother Michael and another passenger. His brother had also raced in some form in junior racing before becoming a pilot. From 1996 onwards, Mark has been involved in managing rental properties. As a boy, his mother taught him how to acquire rental properties by refurbishing old houses in North Portland which he would help fix up during the summer. When his career ended after he retired in 1994, he reignited the responsibilities of managing rental properties for a living, as his wife Elisa (sister of David Kudrave, another CART racer), sold a piece of land and restored a 10 unit apartment building with the proceeds. Over the next 24 years they continued to invest in Portland, Oregon and have now branched out from Portland to Nevada, North Carolina, Texas and Idaho. Mark also enjoys climbing, skiing and ski mountaineering and has founded a company called DPS Skis, a ski manufacturing business which, through marketing, has led to numerous other projects including motion pictures. The most recent is a stop motion, animated short film titled Two Balloons. It’s a kids’ film and it did well on the festival circuit, picking up 50 plus film festival wins including the Toronto International Film Festival and Animation Zagreb and was shortlisted at the Tribeca Film Festival. Mark is also the co-author of two photography books; The Powder Road and Osterlandet.

Biography last updated 15 Feb 2021