PNB interview:

Autumn Smith
talks to Patrick Nathaniel Bartholomew III

Autumn Smith, on the right track

PNB: Autumn, tell us about the differences between your experiences at the 1993 Miss Teen USA Pageant and the 1997 Miss USA Pageant.

Smith: Just before the '93 Miss Teen USA Pageant, my dad was injured in a stock car race at Talladega [Alabama], so that pageant was a totally different experience. That was more of a learning experience for me because it put my priorities in order as far as what was important in life. It didn't matter to me what I did in the Teen pageant. All that mattered was whether or not my dad was going to live. When I decided to run for the Miss Alabama USA title, I was ready because it wasn't my first priority. I wanted to win, but I knew that I had everything in perspective. Even though our state pageant in Alabama is not as big as a lot of the other state pageants, I felt that I had an advantage in 1997 at the Miss USA Pageant because I had been to a national pageant as a teen. I was ready for the Miss USA Pageant because I had reduced my body fat and I had worked on interview. I felt like I was ready. I just wanted to do the best that I could and I think I accomplished that. I was really pleased with the results.

PNB: OK. Let's backtrack just a bit. When did your dad's car accident occur? Tell us more about it.

Smith: It happened on July 25, 1993, and I was supposed to leave for the Teen [USA] nationals on July 26. The crash happened on a Sunday, and I was scheduled to leave on Monday. I had just worked with Christina King, who was Miss Alabama Teen USA 1992, the day before, and Christina said that I should go to the race. I had thought about staying home and packing. Instead, I went to the race in Talladega.

I didn't see the wreck happen. I was on pit row. My mother was in the trailer watching it on TV. I remember the crew chief, Philip Hamilton, turning around and looking at me, saying, "Go get your mother and go to the infield care center." At the time, I just wanted to make sure that my dad was OK. The pageant didn't even cross my mind. I left and went to get my mother. Then I remembered my dad telling me that you can always tell how bad a wreck is if you can look and see how they hit. So I stopped by the trailer and saw that he had hit the wall head on. I thought that it didn't look too good, but then another car flipped over the wall, which had never happened at Talladega. So I thought that my dad was probably not as badly injured as the driver who went over the wall.

When I walked over to the infield care center, I saw the paramedics working on someone, and then I saw my mother throw her head down and my brother panic. I knew it was bad. I took off running and they let me into the care center. My brother and I asked if our dad's accident was as bad as Davey Allison's helicopter accident, which had happened at Talladega about two weeks before. Davey had died in that crash. The paramedics said that it was as bad as Davey's crash. We knew things weren't good. So they got us together and we prayed. I never will forget when I looked up and saw the life-saver helicopter carrying him off. I will never forget that as long as I live. The pageant didn't matter then. I didn't leave for the Miss Teen USA Pageant until several days later, when I knew that my dad was OK.

Smith: My planning in 1997 was much better. I was more organized. I was probably the most organized girl there. That was important to me.

PNB: What were the differences in the promotional appearances that you made in Alabama as a teen in 1993 compared to the appearances that you made as a Miss titleholder in 1997?

Smith: When I was Miss Alabama USA, Yancey Mitchell helped me arrange opportunities to speak in front of students. You cannot imagine how much that helped me, because the more you get out there and do it, the better you get at it and the more comfortable you get at it. When it came time for the Miss USA Pageant, I'd been up in front of people and was used to public speaking. Sometimes you get a good group of kids. Sometimes you don't. You never really know.

More talk with Autumn Smith ...

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