LEE Smart has quit speedway just days after being shown the door by Poole Pirates.

Smart was unveiled at Wimborne Road at the start of the season, the 26-year-old signed as a result of the Elite League’s inaugural draft.

But after enduring a torrid baptism in the top flight, the Swindon-born rider was axed just five meetings into the new campaign.

He mustered just eight points from 15 rides, the hapless reserve trailing in last in seven heats and failing to finish three others. Fellow reserve Kyle Newman scored 26 points from the same number of rides.

Smart had cut a dejected figure during Pirates’ victory over Birmingham at the end of last month, a meeting which proved to be the last of his career.

He said: “It is a tough one because I spent a lot of money this year for only six meetings, which is really hard to take, and I really wasn’t happy with how things ended.

“It (the draft) definitely needs some changes because it has worked out for some people and really not for others. It didn’t work for me.

“I have pulled the plug on speedway now. I have quit completely because I have had enough of all the politics and the rubbish which goes with it.

“The whole season was awful because I was let down in the National League by not getting enough meetings and things didn’t go well in the Elite League either.

“I wasn’t going to ride at all this year and I wish I had stuck to my guns in the first place.”