In the second round of qualifying at the recently completed NHRA Northwest Nationals, multi-time Pro Stock champion Matt Smith made a profound statement without uttering a word. 

A session earlier, Angie Smith's Buell Pro Stock Motorcycle laid down the fastest speed in Pacific Raceway's history when she ran 200.62 miles per hour. She could have gone faster in Q2 but never got the chance. Smith held out his bike, his wife's, and the rest of his team. 

Smith said initially in social media posts it was to preserve parts, but later, in a press conference on Wednesday ahead of the NHRA Sonoma Nationals, he pulled no punches. 

"We look at it like this, the V Twins, we cannot 60-foot when the track gets hot," Smith said. "That's kind of why I'm trying to set out some of the nighttime passes because we get a false sense of hope, and our qualifying looks better when we run a late evening pass, and we actually do 60-foot good, then everybody goes, "Oh, the V Twins can 60 foot." 

"We can when the track gets cool, and we got better traction. It's all the torque that we have, and it's the track temperature that doesn't work well for us. And you look at Sunday, and that's where it pans out to where we don't 60-foot good."

Smith is no stranger in pointing out NHRA's lack of parity in the Pro Stock Motorcycle division. 

Smith is open to NHRA rendering some weight additions to the four-valve Suzuki and even to his combination to do what's suitable for the class. 

"NHRA should do something. Plain and simple, this is a parity class," Smith explained. "It's not like Pro Stock Car where everybody has the same stuff. We are a parity class, and it has to come to the fact that they have to do a better job of keeping parity. They do it in Pro Mod, which has four different power additives. It's no different than where we're at. 

"Just because one brand will 60-foot better, and then another brand will run more speed, they have to do their job to keep parity because ET is what parity is. It doesn't matter what the speed is; it doesn't matter what the 60-foot is. It's the quarter-mile ET, which is what parity is. They do that in Pro Mod; they do it in Factory X; they do it in Factory Stock, so they need to do it in Pro Stock Car, and that's what. It's NHRA's job to do that."

Herrera had .021 in qualifying on Smith, and even though Smith's bikes had faster speeds, those speeds don't equal parity. 

"I don't know how we can slow the Vance & Hines four-valve motor down enough to get the parity right," Smith said. "Honestly, I think that, in the grand scheme of things, I think they need to be slowed down a little bit. The Gen II motors that we have, we need to be slowed down a little bit, but they need to be slowed down more. I think they have an advantage over us. I think we have an advantage over Hector [Arana, Jr.], and I think we all have an advantage over the Monster Head."

The Gen1 Buell combination recently received a 10-pound weight break, which the consensus of the riders spoken to feel does nothing to help their situation. 

"I think the Gen I S&S V-Twin, out of all the packages, they are the least favorable," Arana added. "Unfortunately, we have a little extra to battle with, but we're going to do whatever we can to try to get that win.
I can tell you I don't have any weight balance on the motorcycle and I've already shedded as much weight as I'd like to off of my [personal] body. I'm currently 148 pounds, and last year we spent the extra money to buy brand new bodywork, so it's all carbon fiber with just the wrap, and even then, going across the scales, on a good day, 625, 630, and then now we're carrying the camera for the extra footage, for GETTRX, which added another five pounds across the scales this past weekend. The 10 pounds off of us didn't do anything. It's almost like fake news."

If Smith has his druthers, NHRA makes the Vance & Hines Suzuki four-valve run at 660 pounds [adding 15 pounds], and his Gen2 V-twin should have ten pounds put on it. 

"That would slow the top guys down a little bit to try to help even this class out," Smith said. "Is that the fix? I don't think that's a fix, but that is a start. I know they said, '660 is a lot of weight but Harley's back in the day with weighed 660 and they stopped just fine. We've been to that point before, and all I'm trying to do is make parity in this class. I want good close racing between everybody. Everybody needs a chance. Not just my team, not just Hector's team, not just Steve Johnson, who I dislike a lot right now, but we all need shots of winning races."

Gaige Herrera, who has already clinched the first Pro Stock Motorcycle berth into the Countdown, didn't directly comment on the parity issue but pointed out that one rider winning every race isn't necessarily good for the class. He does believe the parity is a lot better than it has been. 

"I feel like a lot of people expected it [the streak] to go all season, and, to be honest, I did not want it to go all season," Herrera said. "I'm glad to see Chase go out there and get his first win and there's going to be a lot of other winners this year. I feel like the parity is a lot better now, besides the Gen I Buells, like what Hector was talking about, he's already as light as he can get, so you're going to have to do something as far as on that side."

In a sarcastically shocking stance, Smith disagrees with Herrera.

"I really don't think that the parity is there," Smith contends. "I know we ran good at Seattle, and Jianna ran good, but in the grand scheme of things, I look at what the bikes do to Pro Stock Car. Pro Stock Car is elite. They don't miss a tune-up that much. And I know how much the Gen I motors are behind Pro Stock Car. I know how much the Gen II motors are behind Pro Stock Car, and I also know the Vance & Hines four-valve is behind Pro Stock Car.

"And Gaige is a great rider, no question about it. He's performed well; he's a champion. But the problem is I don't think that bike has performed the last two races like it should. I guarantee you it'll probably step up this weekend because there's more money on the line. I feel like they'll step it up, especially in a shootout, but we'll wait and see."  

Of the racers in the forum, no one has made more runs in competition than Johnson. 

"When we started Pro-2, we wanted to represent the whole class, but I always said we were never going to do anything with parity," Johnson said. "I got involved with that a little bit personally for a while, and I've heard Matt's position, and I try to be a realist. I really, really do. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter who it is; it just matters about the competition. I sincerely believe that however the sanctioning body and the committee get together, they really do want two motorcycles going across the finish line or four motorcycles going across the finish line at the same time.

"That's what the fans want to see. They want to see excitement. Our class has so much diversity, so you're never going to make anybody happy. My answer is, what is best for the class? The growth of the class that's what I think.