Hot Rod Heroes: LeRoi “Tex” Smith, Founder Of The NSRA

LeRoi “Tex” Smith. Photo from www.hemmings.com Photo credit to Dale Moreau.

While it is true that LeRoi Smith participated in the formation of the National Street Rod Association (NSRA), you simply cannot define him by that. Born as Clarence Leroy Ugama in Oklahoma in 1934, Smith took his stepfathers name and became “Tex” due to a second-hand jacket with “Tex” embroidered on it that he wore as a young man.

His stepfather was an auto body worker which probably brought the young man into the hot rod fold early in life. An Air Force stint in the 1950s as a pilot certainly inspired his love of speed. He wound up in a staff position at Hot Rod magazine back in the early years before it became the bible of hot rods and long before digital magazines took over.

Smith was the fabricator behind the magazine build XR-6, the hot rod that was built on the pages of the magazine then campaigned and won the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award at the 1963 Grand National Roadster Show in Oakland, California. This rod was the first contender to break out of the traditional roadster mold after Barris’ Ala Kart. Many claim it was the next evolution in contemporary roadster builds.

He continued on through the 1960s at Hot Rod as a freelancer while helping Street Rodder magazine get started. As a hired hand, Smith also contributed to Rod & Custom magazine to revitalize the brand.

LeRoi “Tex” Smith. Photo from www.hemmings.com

In the early 70s, he helped create the NSRA and the first Street Rod Nationals held in Peoria, Illinois. By the end of the decade, Smith was looking for something different and he moved to Wisconsin to become the editor of Old Cars Weekly.  After a very successful tour of duty as editor and publisher, he finally relocated to a place that was more fitting of his nickname and he moved to Dallas taking over the PR Director for the Great American Race. In 1987 Smith once again stepped back into the magazine world by starting his own publishing company.

Beyond starting publishing companies, writing articles for the top car magazines of the day, building award winning cars, and traveling around the world searching for the next trend in the automotive industry, Leroi “Tex” Smith was a trend setter himself. Smith died on June 11, 2015 in Australia, having left his fingerprints all over the hot rod world.

About the author

Bobby Kimbrough

Bobby grew up in the heart of Illinois, becoming an avid dirt track race fan which has developed into a life long passion. Taking a break from the Midwest dirt tracks to fight evil doers in the world, he completed a full 21 year career in the Marine Corps.
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