Every drag racer will tell you the same thing if they’re honest enough. Sometimes you need one round to go your way.
Six-time Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Matt Smith got that break in round one Sunday at South Georgia Motorsports Park. After that, he handled the rest himself.
Smith capped a commanding weekend with his first victory of the 2026 season, running 6.724 at 202.06 mph on his Denso Auto Parts Buell to beat reigning world champion Richard Gadson in the final. It was career win No. 43 and the kind of Sunday his team had been waiting on.
They had already shown speed this year. What they had not shown often enough was a trophy on Sunday afternoon.
“It’s not only rewarding for me, it’s rewarding for our team ’cause our team, we worked so hard this winter to find a little bit of power,” Smith said. “We found some power. We worked with Red Line Oil exclusively over the winter, developing a new oil for us. They came on board with us and we found some power. And we’re showing it.”
That much was obvious all weekend. Smith was quick, steady, and in control. Then the first round nearly changed the story.
He had the bye run. It should have been easy. It wasn’t.
“We got our toggle switch break first round. I had the bye run first round, and as soon as I dropped the clutch, the toggle switch on the fuel pump went out,” Smith said. “So we lost lane choice.”
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, lane choice can decide everything when conditions get touchy. Smith said the right lane was the place to be.
“For our class, the right lane was the best lane for our class,” Smith said. “And if you had lane choice, it was worth 200, 300. We stuck it out over there in the right lane from that point forward and took the win.”
That was one problem. Another showed up after he beat Chase Van Sant in round two with a class-best 6.685 at 203.06 mph.
“Second round, we heard the motor. I heard a knock on the shutdown,” Smith said. “We thought we broke a rock arm.”
The team dug in, changed course, and swapped engines before the semifinal against his wife, Angie Smith.
“That was our backup motor and it ran pretty good,” Smith said. “Not quite as good as our other one, but we’ll take it.”
They took it all the way to the winner’s circle.
Smith said the speed gains are real, and the rest of the class should probably pay attention.
“My bike just is working really good right now in the 60 foot and we got good power to go with it,” Smith said.
Then came the line that said more than he probably intended.
“So we’re 200 ahead of them right now and they’ve been 2 to 400 ahead of us for three years,” Smith said of rival Gaige Herrera. “So I hope we continue to be there.”
That is racer language for: we found something.
Smith also knew this win mattered after last week’s disappointment in Charlotte, where a starting-line mistake cost him a chance at a hometown victory.
“I did my job today,” Smith said. “I held my composure all day. I was good all day long.”
That is how veterans talk after cleaning up a mess from the week before. No speeches. No therapy. Just results.
Smith was also named to NHRA’s Top 75 Drivers list during the anniversary season, but he made clear nostalgia is not his focus.
“My ultimate goal is to get seven,” Smith said. “That’s what our goal is. We want seven.”
Three riders have six championships. Smith wants the list shortened to one name.
“There’s three of us tied for six championships, and I will go in a place that nobody’s been to if I can get seven,” Smith said. “I really want seven and we’re going to push really hard to get seven this year.”
He left South Georgia with a diamond Wally in one hand and a warning in the other.
“We got one today,” Smith said. “Now everybody knows we’re coming for the big one.”
