There has been plenty of drama in NHRA’s Pro Stock Motorcycle class this season — especially the last two weeks.

Matt Smith, a six-time world champion, has been right in the center of the drama about parity in the class … or lack thereof.    

Prior to last weekend’s race in Seattle – Gaige Herrera aboard a Vance & Hines Suzuki – won all six races, and dating back to 2023 had won 11 races in a row.

Moreover, in the last two seasons, he had won 46 rounds before losing in the Seattle finals to Chase Van Sant.

Well, on Saturday, Matt Smith and his Buell stole the spotlight.  

In the Pro Bike Call-Out, Smith ousted Herrera, Steve Johnson, and MSR teammate Jianna Evaristo to claim the win in the all-star race during the Denso Sonoma (Calif.) Nationals.

“Yes, it's a lot bigger payday, and for our class that's huge,” Smith said about his $25,000 triumph Saturday. “We don't make a lot of money doing this anyway. We do it for fun. We do it for our sponsors. And this means a lot. And I got to say thank you to Steve Bryson and GETTRX for putting the money up for us to do this because without them here we wouldn't have a specialty race.”

Smith was ready for his heavyweight first-round Call-Out battle with Herrera.       

“Mentally, I went down the track twice Friday and he went down zero. So, I think if the Call-Out would've been after qualifying like it normally is, they probably wouldn't have picked me,” Smith said. “So, I think it was a mistake on their part, and the way I look at it, I felt like we had the second-best bike of the whole shootout, and we knocked the best bike out first round. Because they went a 68, and that was their first time down the track, so that's off the trailer. So, hats off to them. They made a really good run. We just made a better run, and we turned on two more win lights and got it done against our teammate, Jianna.”

Jianna, who is Top Fuel racer/owner Mike Salinas’ daughter, has been tutored by Smith.

“There's nothing I haven't told her how I do stuff. She's seen me play the games and stuff like that,” he said. “She's still new to this V-Twin. She's going to be an exceptionally good rider another year or two with a V-Twin. Look for her to be able to win a lot of races and be able to run for a championship. All in all, I mean, I'm just so proud of the way she's doing. We have four good motorcycles in our camp right now. I know John Hall didn't show that. It didn't crank up. Q4, probably the same thing happened to me in Seattle. We'll get back, fix it, and he'll be ready” for eliminations.

Smith also wasn’t apologizing for defeating Jianna in the finals.

“No regret. I just told her, I was trying to get in her head a little bit because she's been a little slack on the tree with this V-Twin,” Smith said. “We all know the Suzuki. She's been really good on the tree. So, there's something going on. I don't know if it's the vibration of the bike or something has got her a little different with how she's letting the clutch go on time. But she'll get there. We're getting there and we're making progress, but I had to go up there and tell her because my best light (Saturday) was a 50, and I was like 50, 50, 50. I'm like, ‘I can't cut a light, neither, but I'm going to spank your butt on the tree.’ That's kind of what I've told her. I knew she had just as good a bike as I had. It's just how we rode it down the track and it was who left the line first. Luckily, it was my turn to do that. She's beaten me before with the same consequence.”

If the victory march in the Call-Out weren’t enough, Smith clocked a stout track-record run of 6.655 seconds at 204.23 mph in his win over Evaristo to claim the No. 1 qualifying spot. He faces Eiji Kawakami in the first round.

Smith smashed the Sonoma Raceway PSM record set by Angelle Sampey at 6.696 seconds in July ,2022. Smith is aiming for his second career Sonoma win, his lone victory logged in 2007.

“I'm really thrilled. I mean, I think this is actually our third win in this specialty race,” Smith said. “Honestly, Denso, Outlaw Beer, Smith Trucking, everybody helps us, but we have not had a stellar year. We haven't won a race yet. We've won the Mission 2Fast2Tasty twice, but we just haven't been able to do it on Sunday. We've been good on Saturdays, just like today. We were good on Saturday, but we got to be good on Sunday, and that's the plan. Hopefully, we got a bike that can contend, and hopefully the sun doesn’t come out too much and get too hot because, if it stays like it is, I think we have a really good shot.”

This is Smith’s 56th career No. 1 qualifier and fourth this season to go with the ones he captured in Chicago, Bristol, Tenn., and Norwalk, Ohio.

Smith last snared a Wally on Sept. 17, 2023, when he beat his teammate Chip Ellis in the finals at the Pep Boys Nationals in Reading, Pa.

“So, hopefully, we don't have a bike problem” Sunday, Smith said. “I do my job, the bike does its job, and hopefully we work together like we did (Saturday), and we can turn on four win lights and finally get this monkey off our back where we haven't been able to win on Sunday.”

If Smith had his choice in the Call-Out, he wouldn’t have chosen Herrera.

“I would've gone with somebody else. My pick was going to be Steve Johnson just because he annoys me all the time. He talks a lot of stuff about me, but I got to pick him second round, so it all worked out well,” Smith said. “But ultimately Gaige picked me. I wouldn't have done that. I would've probably picked somebody, like I said, that I didn't like or who has been talking a lot of smack. And Gaige talked smack, (said) a lot, but it was their mistake and maybe they'll learn from it.”     

And Smith was quick to point out his victory Saturday doesn’t address the perceived parity problem in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class. 

“I still don't think so,” Smith said when asked if his stance on parity changed because of what he accomplished Saturday. “Yes, we made some very, very nice runs. I mean, we went .105 (in 60-foot time) in the finals there. We were .105 (Saturday morning). That's how we were able to run the 66, 65. Those guys can run .102s in 60 foot. We've seen it time and time again. Chase went .103. So, if Gaige goes 102 out there or 103 and he runs 203 mph, I think he goes to 63 or 64 out there. So ultimately, I still think they have an advantage. They're just proving me wrong right now. But we'll see come Indy, we'll see come the Countdown, and we'll see what happens.

“Yes, we had a meeting, got a lot of things talked about. We talked about a bunch of stuff, but in the long run it's up to NHRA to do what they're going to do. They're going to do what they want to do anyway. So, we'll see what happens.”