MATT SMITH TOPS PRO STOCK BIKE FIELD HEADING INTO ELIMINATIONS AT DALLAS
The performance by Pro Stock Motorcycle star Matt Smith Friday night allowed him to celebrate Saturday afternoon.
Smith, the reigning NHRA Mello Yello Series world champion, clocked a 6.776-second elapsed time at 200.26 mph in Q2 to capture the No. 1 qualifying spot Saturday at the NHRA FallNationals at the Texas Motorplex Friday near Dallas.
“It’s a lot of hard work,” said Smith, who pilots a Denso-sponsored EBR motorcycle. “After the struggles we had at Charlotte (N.C.) and the frame was broke. We had two tough days of working non-stop just getting things ready and then driving all day to get here to test the day before. I just can’t say enough about my crew guys. Michael Ray and Nate stayed with me and helped me out with the process. I also can’t do this without the backing of all my sponsors, Denso, Lucas Oil, Mark Stockseth, and Elite Performance and I just can’t say enough for everybody who helps me.”
This is Smith’s 36th career No. 1 qualifying spot and fifth this season. Smith came to Texas Motorplex sixth in the season point standings – 151 behind leader Andrew Hines.
Following Dallas, there are two races left in the Countdown to the Championship as the 2019 NHRA Mello Yello Series concludes with races at Las Vegas (Oct. 31-Nov. 3) and at the Auto Club Finals in Pomona, Calif. (Nov. 14-17).
“The green hat (for the No. 1 qualifier) is a double bonus,” Smith said. “Not only are we No. 1 qualifier, we got some bonus points, we got some extra money for being No. 1 and we get a bye first round.”
Smith received a first-round bye because there were only 15 qualified motorcycles for a 16-bike ladder.
“The first run (Saturday) the fuel pump wire broke when we took off,” Smith said. “It wasn’t that the bike didn’t shift. It was fine. We came back up here and made a good run. It went toward the wall in Q4 and I had to fight it all the way down the track or we would have gone 81 or 82. All in all, we have a good bike (for Sunday).”
Smith said his team took a different approach to Saturday’s two qualifying session because of his blistering fast Friday.
“I knew we weren’t going to run better because the air was worse and the track was hotter,” Smith said. “We kind of tested a couple of little things to see how we ran compared to the pack. The first round we didn’t get that test because the fuel pump wire broke and the second round it drove toward the wall. We will probably do the same test first round (Sunday) because we have a bye. If it doesn’t work out and run good compared to the field, we will go back to what we ran Friday night.
"It’s great to have a bye run. We don’t want it in our category and that’s probably the first time we’ve had this in a long time. Sometimes you get that near the end of the season, especially with the Countdown format. People don’t have a lot of money and a lot of sponsorship, so they don’t go to all the races at the end of the year if they are not in top 10. It’s just part of it and we will enjoy the bye run (in first round) and do a little test and see what happens.”
As for Sunday, Smith did talk about his chances for a victory.
“I think the three big players here are me, Jerry Savoie, who is in the Countdown, and then you have Steve Johnson, who made a nice pass, who is not in the top 10. We’re not worried about Steve because he can take all the points he wants, that doesn’t impact our Countdown deal. Maybe Steve can take out some big hitters for us. I have Scotty (Pollacheck) on my team and he qualified fourth and the way it looks he will have a tough competitor in the second round if he gets past the first round. We have some blockers for our side, so we will see what happens.”
Smith has one win this season in Chicago, June 2.