Reigning NHRA world champion Pro Stock Motorcycle pilot Matt Smith made the bold decision to switch from his Buell to a Suzuki in the offseason.

However, when his Suzuki wasn’t running like Smith would like he has not been afraid to switch back to his trusty Buell.

That’s exactly what he did at the Mile-High Nationals in July in Denver and won the race, and he followed a similar script at the U.S. Nationals over Labor Day weekend. Smith swapped his Suzuki for his Buell after Friday’s lone qualifying session and it proved to be a wise decision.

On Monday, aboard his Buell, Smith was celebrating his second career PSM U.S. Nationals win at Lucas Oil Raceway Park. Smith clocked a 6.872-second elapsed time at 195.99 mph in the finals and cruised to the win when Karen Stoffer slowed to 8.094 seconds in the other lane.

This was Smith’s 35th career victory – third this season – and his second of at the U.S. Nationals to go along with his inaugural victory in 2006.

“We started with the Suzuki this weekend on Friday and the goal was to run that,” Smith said. “We have a brand-new motor in the bike, so we have two motors (for the bike), but I just wasn’t happy. I couldn’t get the bike to leave the starting line right. I had a bad 60 foot, and it ran good to the eighth-mile, and I just shut it off. I was frustrated. I made the decision that night to bring out the V-Twin. 

“We have had good success with the V-Twin, and we brought it out Saturday morning and it went to the No. 1 qualifying spot until Angelle went 6.796, but we did set the track speed record at 201 mph, and we had a good bike the rest of the weekend.”

Smith’s victory parade consisted of wins over his teammate Scotty Pollacheck, Hector Arana Jr., Jerry Savoie and then Stoffer.

“All in all, I felt like I had the bike beat, but I didn’t do my job today on the starting line,” Smith said. “I could not let the clutch go on time. I was just a little bit late every time, but the bike did its job.”

The first round in Pro Stock Motorcycle saw a slew of upsets. Ron Tornow shocked No. 1 qualifier Sampey, Stoffer stunned Joey Gladstone, winner of the previous two events, and Jianna Evaristo upended world champion Eddie Krawiec. 

“We had five bikes that qualified in our camp and four of them won first round,” Smith said. “We had four bikes in second round and none of us had to run each other. We had a good chance of doing even better, but everybody lost but me in the second round, but I kept it going.”

Smith took a moment to discuss his plight with his Suzuki.

“We have run good with a Suzuki it is just not up to the potential that I want it to be yet,” Smith said. “When we do make good runs, we can run with every Suzuki out there. I’m just struggling with the clutch on that thing. It doesn’t react right, and it doesn’t 60-foot like it is supposed to with the way I’m used to. That has been my problem. It is a totally different clutch than what I run on the V-Twin. It is something I have to do some testing with. You will probably see that bike back out in Dallas (Oct. 13-16). I am going to run the V-Twin at the next two races – Reading, Pa. (Sept. 15-18) and Charlotte, N.C. (Sept. 23-25), I’m 100 percent sure. I’m not even bringing a Suzuki out. It is V-Twin from this point to Dallas.”

Smith acknowledged the rule to be able to switch bikes at races has been a blessing for him.

“Here’s the whole thing, we can go test anywhere we want but it is nothing like testing at an NHRA prepped track,” he said. “You can’t learn a lot of stuff you need to and the stuff I need to learn is the prep. I just can’t get that bike to work right. That’s why I have been very blessed to do that (switch bikes). I hope they don’t make a rule change for next year, but I’m sure they will at some point, and we will just call it the Matt Smith Rule because this was an Eddie Hill Rule back in the day that he could that.

“I hope they don’t take that away. I think it is good for our class to be able to switch and I think it good for all the pro categories. If something happens, fans don’t want to see a bye run. They want to see two bikes or two cars going down the track battling it out. So, it (switching bikes) has been a blessing this year.”

The wait between his U.S. Nationals victories also was not lost on Smith.

After his inaugural U.S. Nationals title, he tuned John Hall (2013) and Scotty Pollacheck (2020) to Indy wins.

“I won this thing in 2005 (against Steve Johnson) and two days later they overturned it from video,” Smith said. “I came back the next year and won it and I have been in the finals four or five times, and I have been blessed now I have my second one.”

With the six-race Countdown to the Championship now on the schedule Smith is ready to defend his world championship.

“I told them all at the beginning of the year, if they keep pissing me off with the way they are running I’m going to bring ‘ol red rocket back out and every time I do it,” Smith said. “They better watch out for me because I’m still here and I’m getting older, I’m not like my dad (racing legend Rickie Smith), I’m not saying I’m retiring but I’m getting older, and we have a good bike, and we are going to defend our championship I can tell you that.”