How time flies! Exactly four years ago I came up with the idea of On The Backstretch in an effort to erase some of the lines between the participants and the fans/bettors of Harness Racing. While the interviews took place in November, it all started with Corey Callahan in a December 2017 issue of Harness Digest newsletter and eventually extended to this online portal.  This feature has focused on drivers, trainers, owners, caretakers, handicappers, announcers, track officials, breeders, and people from just about every aspect of the sport. While these interviews certainly started with fewer questions and were more light-hearted in nature, I'd like to think they have evolved over the years and now provide all readers with a good picture and a better understanding of the chosen subject. Thank you to everyone who was kind enough to answer what can often seem like a mountain of questions over the last four years. Without your help this column would not be possible. I'd also like to thank the Pennsylvania Harness Horseman's Association for sponsoring this space for the last three years and everyone who has read these weekly Q&A's along the way.  Below is On The Backstretch #200 with driver Trevor Smith. This was my first-ever conversation with the 25-year-old driver and I certainly came away impressed with his attitude and love for the game. Hopefully you'll enjoy it and we can continue to shine the spotlight on many more of the great people involved in Standardbred racing over the coming years. What kind of car do you drive? BMW 440I. Favorite dinner meal? Snack? Tilapia and chicken rice; Cheez-its -- I'm allergic to them so that makes it worse. I was recently diagnosed with a form of celiac so I can only eat them like once a week. It's only a skin-form, so I can deal with it. What is your favorite track to race at? Why? Scioto Downs because of the pure history. I get a different feeling racing there. It's incredible. What is your favorite big event in racing? Why? Number one would have to be the Little Brown Jug and the Hambletonian second. Growing up in Ohio [the Jug] means more. Even kids in my high school that didn't know a thing about horses knew about the Jug. It was the race that was most important and that's how it has always been. How often are horses or racing on your mind? 12-14 hours a day. Pretty much all the time when I'm not sleeping. What is your favorite thing to do outside of harness racing? I like to explore the world -- take walks, bike rides, parks; anything outdoors. What is your favorite sport to watch? Team? NFL -- Cleveland Browns.  What is one thing about you most fans/bettors don't know? I assume they don't know anything about me in the first place. Maybe that if I wasn't a harness driver I would be designing and creating clothes and shoes. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter What is one word that describes harness racing for you? Thrilling. How did you get started in harness racing? My family -- I started through my brother Tyler and my cousin Austin Hanners begging me to drive. That's how I got started in the race bike. They had seen me train and I had been around them in the barn. It was always kind of a thing like 'why don't you give it a try?' I was always struggling with what I wanted to do because I always wanted to be a basketball player. When I figured out it wasn't working, they were like 'try this'. Our whole family, both sides, the sport has been generational. So that push was there to drive and I felt the confidence. The first time I sat in the race bike at Miami Valley it was all over. They didn't have to tell me to do it anymore.  Your brother Tyler is also a catch-driver. Is there a bit of a sibling rivalry at times? Not really at all. It is so hard to treat it that way. He's just like the other eight or nine guys out there. He's not going to pay my bills if I don't make money. What is the best advice you've ever gotten about harness racing? Turn the page. I used to let it eat me up all the time. When I got to the point where I could just go home and not worry about it, that's when it started to get better.  What was your best moment in harness racing? Definitely winning the Kentucky Filly Futurity -- 110,000%. Even when I look back now, it's like fine wine, it just keeps getting better. It was unbelievable. Could the Kentucky Filly Futurity win behind Katie's Lucky Day be life-changing in terms of helping your star rise? 100 percent, I really do. It's one thing to be on the big stage and get the opportunity like I got, but it is another thing that we were in the second tier and still won a prestigious race like that. I looked back at all the drivers that won it after the race and it was just astonishing, like wow, we really did that. I don't mean to be arrogant or anything, but that win itself just lifted me. Now people will see my name as a winner of the Kentucky Futurity.  Which is the best horse you've ever driven? Katie for sure, just by the way she came along and it was almost a dream come true. The young ones, you have to take your time with them. With her, we were able to and she just blossomed. I always felt it in her and it was just nice to just keep building her up to that moment. She's just impeccable. Statistically your career is a complete "up arrow" as you've earned more in every year since starting to drive in 2015. Does it feel like things are going up to you? It does. The only year I felt like it wasn't a success was probably my third year. I felt like I went a little downward. It's just the pure numbers. You look at the draw sheet and you see your name eight times instead of three or one and it is a lot easier. It's just nice to see things getting better and better. I know there will be a tipping point where it won't.  If you had the power to change one thing in the sport, what would it be? I'd get rid of the post drag. It doesn't bother me as long as there is a timer telling us when the race will start, but it's about the fans. People my age are not going to come down and sit seven hours to watch 20 minutes of action. They just aren't going to do it. The most important thing is getting people into the sport and keeping them in.  Along those lines, as a young guy in harness racing, how do we get more young people involved? That's such a tough questions. The fractional ownership is a good idea and more betting options would help. I honestly think getting the normal everyday person to associate with the horses more than they are would help. Like at Dayton Raceway, people in the stands can go directly up against the paddock and see the horse, almost touch them. That offers another side of things. It allows people to admire how special these animals are.  How do you view the future of harness racing? I don't see it as being up or down; just even. It seems like when a couple of states go up, a couple go down. Things have been all over the place over the last 12 to 15 years. Things have migrated from Chicago to the east coast and now to Ohio and Indiana. The hardest part is being a driver because I don't know where I'm going to be in the next 10 years. I hope it stays even and doesn't go down, but I don't see it going up right now. At 25, what are your career goals in the sport? Do you envision yourself as a Grand Circuit driver or an Ohio regular? I would love more than anything to be a driver on the Grand Circuit. I know that takes a lot of patience, skill, and a lot of other things, but that is where I'd want to be. That is where I feel I fit best. I don't want to be an Ohio regular, and I don't want to be disrespectful saying that, but I want to go other places, drive at other tracks and experience different things. I like the pressure because it makes me know that I have to perform.  Time for the stretch drive.  Favorite horse: Fusion Man. Best Trainer: My dad [Jeff Smith] because he taught me everything I know. I've seen him make something out of nothing.  Lasix -- Yes or No?: No. Favorite TV Show?: Jockeys -- It's been a while and they didn't renew it but it was always my favorite show. Trotters or Pacers?: Trotters.