Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Matt Smith couldn't believe his ears. Woken from a slumber early Friday morning while in his motorhome at zMAX Dragway, wife Angie was telling him his bike was gone, driven off the track property while housed in a trailer. And, no, it wasn't a dream.
 
"Angie wakes me up about 5 o'clock in the morning and she goes, 'Joe's truck's gone,'" Smith said Saturday night, referring to partner Joe Riccardi. "I said, 'You're screwing with me.' She goes, 'No, I'm serious.' I got up, I looked out the window and I saw Jerry (Savoie's) trailer."

The trailer that housed Smith's new Suzuki wasn't there, giving Smith the unexpected view of Savoie's White Alligator Racing hauler. Immediately, Smith called Riccardi, wondering what could have happened. 

Voicemail. So Smith called again. Voicemail. 

"Called like 10 times, never could get a hold of him," Smith said. "Still to this day he's not answered my phone call or called me."

Smith eventually talked with the Concord, N.C., police, accusing Riccardi of taking the bike. Smith admits that Riccardi owns the new Suzuki chassis, but Smith said there are $5,500 worth of parts on the bike that he owns. Plus, there's a wheel and tire that was supposed to be Angie Smith's spare that are on the missing bike.

What happened? Matt Smith has one word for it: Stealing.

"I have about $5,500 worth of bills of parts that's on that bike that he took without paying," Smith said. "I have Angie's wheel and tire on there that he took wrongfully, and I consider that stealing. He got up sometime between 3 and 5 o'clock in the morning and loaded his golf cart in his trailer and left in the middle of the night and then didn't tell me or do nothing. So if that doesn't speak character for how he is, to me that's a snake in the grass of leaving at 5 o'clock in the morning. 

"I don't care if an emergency popped up or anything, you come and knock on my motorhome door that you're sitting right next to and tell me, 'Hey, I gotta leave.'"

Riccardi, reached at his place of business Monday morning, said it was a business decision.

"Basically, my response is San Marino Excavating, we made a business decision to halt the program," Riccardi said. "There's no personal hard feelings, no ill will. I wish Matt and Angie the best of luck, and that's it. That's our official response."

When asked about the parts that are on the new bike, Riccardi said, "There's a contract put in place, and we will follow the contract. We will follow the contract to the 'T.' We've spent a lot of money on the program since the end of last year, and we just didn't feel like it was a good business decision and we just ended the program. That's all there is to it.

"Any odds and ends, there's a contract in place for a reason. That's all. Matt got his ignition box back that he claimed he needed to run his Victory, and we'll wish them the best of luck."

Smith said this incident is the "third bridge he's burned" in the bike class, accusing Riccardi of "stiffing" Greg Underdahl and Chris and Kelly Clontz. 

"To make a long story short, I don't know what's going to happen," Smith said. "The correct thing to do is, I hope he comes to his senses and pays me for what's on the bike, gives me that wheel and tire back, and gives Chris and Kelly their stuff back, and he walks away from the sport. If he doesn't – I'm not saying that I'm going to talk to a lawyer, (but) I'm going to give him time to give all this stuff to me."

Smith and Riccardi had partnered this year for Smith to race on the new Suzuki. The bare chassis was delivered a week before the season-opener in Gainesville, but there wasn't enough time to get it done before that race. Smith ended up not qualifying for Gainesville on his old bike.

To race in Charlotte, Smith was then forced to pull his old Victory out of his own trailer on Friday, and he ended up qualifying No. 6 with a best of 6.836 seconds.

"My Victory was in the trailer because our backup plan was if something happened to the Suzuki – because as of right now we had one motor to run – we could withdraw that if we weren't qualified and put that one in. So luckily I had that," Smith said. "Crazy weekend, and it's bad for our sport in my opinion. You know, we try to be a family out here in the Pro Stock community. If somebody comes over and needs a part, we do that without a question asked."

Well, maybe not Riccardi any longer. 

"I'm fine if he quits and he wants to quit, I'm cool with it," Smith said. "Just pay me what is owed to me and be gone."