Thank goodness for 100-degree days in North Carolina.
Without those long, miserable test sessions at Rockingham Dragway, where the track temperature made it feel like racing on the surface of the sun, Matt Smith might not have left the NHRA U.S. Nationals with another trophy.
Smith turned the lessons learned in that heat into a dominant Indianapolis weekend, beating his wife, Angie Smith, in the Pro Stock Motorcycle final with a 6.791-second run at 198.58 mph aboard his Denso Auto Parts Buell. Angie slowed to a 6.834 at 194.80.
It was Smith’s fourth U.S. Nationals victory, his third since 2022 and the 45th national event win of his career. It also came in his first full national event since medical issues and surgeries sidelined him earlier this season.
“It’s awesome. We worked really hard to get back to here,” Smith said. “Like I’ve said before, we did a lot of testing since we were all since Norwalk. I know the eight bikes went to Sonoma and we had to shoot out, but we did a lot of testing at Rockingham in these conditions, hot, humid, knew the track was going to be 120, 130 degrees.”
Smith and his team spent two days testing at Rockingham in triple-digit temperatures, concentrating heavily on the clutch. The work showed at Indianapolis, where his Buell consistently covered the first 60 feet in the 1.06-second range and qualified No. 1.
“We learned a lot of stuff,” Smith said. “We learned stuff with the clutches and it made us better for here because I was consistent. 106 is all weekend and that’s why my bike was so good.”
Smith defeated Chris Bostick and Clayton Howey before taking out reigning world champion Richard Gadson in the semifinals.
That victory almost came at the expense of a shot at the final.
About 100 feet before the finish line, Smith felt the motorcycle nose over and initially believed it had reached the rev limiter.
Back in the pits, the team found a broken intake valve spring and determined there wasn’t enough time to change engines.
“So we tore the top of the valve covers off, throttle bodies off and there was a broke valve spring, intake valve spring,” Smith said. “So that was just a valve hitting the piston and we leaked it real quick and the valve’s probably been a little bit. We was leaking like 25% and I was like, ‘Huh.’ I was scared to run it, but I’m like, ‘We didn’t have time to change the motor.’”
The crew replaced the spring and sent Smith back for the final against his wife.
“So we put a new valve spring on it and I said, ‘If it’ll just last one pass, that’s all it’s got to do. Whether we win or lose, just don’t blow up on me,’” Smith said. “And it didn’t. So we’ll go home and fix it and get it back healthy for Martin, but it held up long enough to turn that win light on and that was the most important thing for me.”
Angie earned her spot by defeating Kelly Clontz, Geno Scali and Gaige Herrera. Her semifinal victory ended Herrera’s bid for a third consecutive U.S. Nationals victory and gave Matt Smith Racing both lanes in the final.
The physical side of Smith’s return has been considerably tougher. He said he was about 85% when he returned for the Sonoma specialty event and still has hernias that prevent him from lifting weights, with another surgery planned after Thanksgiving.
“It was tough. I came back at Sonoma to do the shootout and I wasn’t 100%, but I was 85%,” Smith said. “I was good enough to go ride.”
Smith wanted to spend part of his recovery fishing and at the beach. Indianapolis changed those plans, and Rockingham became the destination instead.
“We didn’t go do that because we knew that this was important to come here and show,” Smith said. “This is the biggest race, this is the Big Go, and 72 years this has been going on and 75 years for NHRA. So we wanted to come up here and show out.”
Smith ranked the victory behind only his 2007 championship-clinching performance at Pomona among the biggest moments of his career.
“Oh, it’s on the top of the list by far,” Smith said. “I mean, probably the most special of my career was in ’07 when I had to win the race at Pomona to win the championship. That was probably the number one run I’ve ever had with doing that and doing that.
But this has got to be second best ever, because I’ve won six championships.”
Gadson’s semifinal appearance secured the regular-season championship, its $15,000 bonus and the points lead entering the
Countdown to the Championship. Herrera and Gadson will again give Smith the Vance & Hines tandem to deal with when the championship fight resumes.
Smith isn’t convinced Indianapolis showed everything the Brownsburg-based team has.
“I showed everything I had,” Smith said. “I mean, that 75, that 77, I mean, that’s all we had. I mean, went 200, almost 201.”
Smith pointed to Vance & Hines’ 60-foot numbers, saying the team normally produces 1.03- and 1.04-second times instead of the 1.06s it recorded at Indianapolis.
“And when they’re up there going 106s, that’s not showing their hand,” Smith said. “So he went 199, so we know he’s at the speed.”
Smith even suggested there might have been a little gamesmanship involved following a five-pound rules adjustment.
“They’re probably playing a little bit of a politic game and going, ‘Hey, see that five pounds you put on us? Now we can’t run with them,’” Smith said. “But they’ll be back. I promise you, they’ll watch and see at Martin and Rockingham. They’ll be right there. It’s going to be a dog fight till the end.”
Smith’s objective in that fight is a seventh championship, which would move him ahead of fellow six-time champions Dave Schultz and Andrew Hines.
“I want to get seven. I want to be the all-time leader in that and that will make me happy and that will complete my career over here in this motorcycle category,” Smith said. “I’m getting old. I’m tired. These leathers are really, really hot, but I want to get that seventh and get that behind me, and then I want to help.”
