Angie Smith said, “I'm not one to sit around and not do anything.” So it’s no surprise that not only is she back at the dragstrip following her vicious spill from here Pro Stock Motorcycle at the recent St. Louis race, but that she’s ready to race this weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Cleared to race late this morning by NHRA Medical Director Dr. Phillip Surface, Smith spent Friday prepping to return to action during Saturday qualifying for the Nevada Nationals. Smith is wearing walking casts on both feet because she has eight broken toes, and she has undergone two surgeries to repair damage from a serious arm burn. She became separated from her bike past the finish line during qualifying two races ago, at World Wide Technology Raceway.

“I'm healing very well. I had my skin graft nine days ago, and everything's going along as planned. And I got clearance from my plastics doctor, my orthopedic doctor and he's an orthopedic surgeon, trauma orthopedic surgeon, as well. So I got cleared from three people,” Smith said.

“It was probably a surprise to everybody, but I can see my progress and everything that's going on. I have a little bit of medical background, and I know my limitations. So as long as I keep everything how I'm supposed to do it, I think everything will be fine,” she said.

“I don't like sympathy. I probably don't give a lot of sympathy, and I don't need a lot of sympathy. I'm not soft. I'm not going to be held down long,” she said. Besides, she said, “NHRA drag racing is near and dear to my heart.”

One reason for her acceleration, Smith said, was the fact “I just did everything the doctor told me to do when I was supposed to stay in bed with my feet elevated. I really wanted to go to Dallas, but I didn't go to Dallas because Matt was like, ‘You need to stay home and rest and recuperate.’ And that was probably the seven days that I needed to be at home. I absolutely didn't do anything but stay at home with my feet elevated, and I didn't do anything. So that probably helped me more than anything. I was not a very happy person, because me not being at the racetrack and my team and my family being there is hard.”

Smith said the plan is to make passes Saturday but clarified, “I'm not going down the track full-power, 190 miles an hour, tomorrow, but I am getting on the bike tomorrow for Q3 [the third overall qualifying session]. I will be on the bike. I had a walker for the first three days [following the accident], and I was like, ‘I'm over this.’ Then the doctor told me I could walk in my boots, and so I walk in my boots and I got it going. I have to walk on my heels because of the whole situation with my feet.”

She has no worries about her broken toes, she said, “because they took X-rays this week and they said I'm healing very well. We're going to wrap it up real good and it'll be fun." Although she hadn’t slung her leg over her motorcycle since the incident, she said that doesn’t mean anything: “I've been racing motorcycles for 25 years. I'll be fine.”

Although a debate has developed about whether motorcycle-racing leathers are thick and protective enough, Smith defended hers.

“My leathers did their job," she said. "The reason why I had to have a skin graft is from the heat of the pavement and the bike being on top of me. My leathers did their job. They were completely in one piece. It was the heat from the bike being on top of me – 600 pounds being on top of me for that brief second. I was under the bike for a brief second. That’s why I had to have a skin graft on my arm. After I'd separated from the bike, I rolled a lot, and that's why I broke my toes, the flipping. The flipping is what broke the toes. The skin broke.” The arm injury was a burn “because from the heat of me skidding with the bike on top of me. Vanson Leathers makes the best leathers there are out there, and they did their job.”

She did say she and husband Matt Smith, the team owner and five-time and reigning Pro Stock Motorcycle champion, plan to look at the possibility of acquiring a different style of racing footwear.

“We are going to entertain the idea of different shoes, and we are going to work with Mr. Cuadra to get us different racing shoes, she said. “Mr. Cuadra” is Pro Stock racer Fernando Cuadra, who owns Leon, Mexico-based Corral Boots. At this point, Cuadra does not specialize in racing apparel, but Angie Smith said she and Matt Smith and the Cuadras will collaborate on a design.

“They're going to beef up the toe a little bit. They're going to do a couple things to make our racing shoes better, but other than that, all of the safety equipment did its job," she said. "It's going to be the first time [for Cuadra to fashion a racing boot]. Matt's going to test them at Pomona coming up in two weeks.”

She, too, might be competing for a spot in the Pomona field. “That’s the plan,” she said. “We’ll see how many bikes are at Pomona.”