Reigning NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion made the decision to switch from Buell to Suzuki in the offseason.

However, he didn’t get rid of his championship-winning Buell and that was a good thing this weekend.

Smith brought back out his Buell to compete in the high-altitude of the Mile-High Nationals.

Smith rode the Buell to a dominating win in 2021 at the Mile-High Nationals and history repeated itself Sunday at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo., just outside of Denver.

Longtime Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous driver Chris Rini scored his first-ever Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) win Sunday night at the Drag 965 Summer Shootout presented by Classic Graphix at Virginia Motorsports Park. Rini’s .006 reaction time and 3.732-second, 202.97 MPH pass gave him the win over first-time finalist Dane Wood and his 3.963 at 178.00. 
 
The final rounds closed out a long weekend that extended into Sunday due to afternoon rain showers on Friday and Saturday. A brief shower on Sunday afternoon also tried to derail the completion of the series’ fifth of eight races. 

Leah Pruitt delivered the  first Top Fuel victory for Tony Stewart Racing at the Mile-High Nationals

Robert Hight (Funny Car), Matt Hartford (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won at the 11th of 22 races during the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season. The stop in Denver marks the first event in the three-race NHRA Western Swing.
 
 

Final round-by-round results from the 42nd annual Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, the 11th of 22 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series:

Brittany Force had a lousy Friday.



It was far from a typical opening day for the best qualifier on the NHRA tour. Coming into the weekend having qualified in the top half of the field at every race this year, Force struggled during both of her runs - puting a hole out early in Q1 and then seeing her machine shut off due to a mechanical issue during Q2 - leaving the second place driver in Top Fuel points 14th on the ladder.

There are dominating efforts, and then there is what Elite Motorsports did on Saturday.

Elite Motorsports held the top three positions in qualifying and six of the top eight slots on the ladder as youthful stalwart Aaron Stanfield paced them all.

Matt Smith wasn’t taking any chances in Denver, although a nearly .08 qualifying advantage suggested there was nothing conservative about his first-day efforts at the NHRA Mile High Nationals. 

The only thing Smith wasn’t taking chances with was having enough parts to race for a championship. 

That’s why Smith left the 4-valve Suzuki he’s been developing in the trailer and instead rolled out his proven Buell. 

After rain put a stop to Friday qualifying, additional thunderstorms on Saturday afternoon forced Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) officials to postpone eliminations to Sunday at the Drag 965 Summer Shootout presented by Classic Graphix at Virginia Motorsports Park. All classes completed one round of qualifying, and some classes started or completed a second session before the rain started. All fields are set for Sunday eliminations. 
 
The No. 1 qualifiers in the professional classes are Jim Halsey in Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous, Melanie Salemi in WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive, Elijah Morton in Liberty’s Gears Extreme Pro Stock presented by AED Competition, Daryl Stewart in $hameless Racing Pro 632, Chris Garner-Jones in Drag 965 Pro Nitrous Motorcycle, Nick Agostino in Menscer Motorsports Pro Street presented by AFCO, and Ron Rhodes in AFCO Super Street presented by Menscer Motorsports.