PRO STOCK BIKE’S MATT SMITH AT EASE, AT TOP OF ORDER AT ST. LOUIS

Written by Susan Wade, photo by Roger Richards    Sun, 2019-09-29 04:00

 


So far this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway in suburban St. Louis, Matt Smith’s own transmission has been giving him more trouble than his NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle rivals.

Smith leads the field for Sunday’s AAA Midwest Insurance Nationals eliminations with a 6.801-second elapsed time and 198.93-mph speed on the Madison, Ill., quarter-mile course that’s .037-seconds quicker than closest competitor Steve Johnson.

His transmission broke in third gear during his final qualifying run Saturday (and gave him fits Friday evening, as well), but his E.T. from earlier in the day was enough to secure the 35th No. 1 starting spot of his career. Unruffled, Smith said he’ll pop another tranny in for race day and will be good to go against No. 16 qualifier Jianna Salinas in the opening round.

If he can beat her, he’ll have his 340th elimination round-win.

Smith, rider of the Elite Motorsports Denso Auto Parts EBR, was part of a Pro Stock sweep in time trials. Erica Enders, his Elite teammate, was No. 1 in Pro Stock. Moreover, dad Rickie Smith was quickest among the Pro Modified racers Saturday.

“It’s a pretty proud moment,” Smith said.

And it comes at a venue he said he thinks of as “my second home track.” The reigning series champion and reigning champion here at this facility also won here two other times, in 2007 and 2013. He said he loves this dragstrip because “it has lots of bite.” He said he felt assured coming into this weekend because “it’s one of our better tracks. And we’ve got our good motor in.”

He indicated that he might have led the 16-bike field at the close of Friday qualifying had he not pushed himself out of his comfort zone and tried something more aggressive in the second overall session.

“We just missed it yesterday evening,” Smith said Saturday. “So today we got it.

“Tomorrow’s important,” the No. 3-seeded driver in the playoffs said. “We need to win the race. We were 23 points out coming into this race [behind Suzuki-riding class leader Jerry Savoie and 17 behind No. 2-ranked Harley-Davidson star Andrew Hines]. As long as we go to the semifinals or finals, we’ll stay in the hunt. You can ‘t have any first-round losses in the Countdown.”

Smith will be going for his 24th career victory and first since the one he earned upstate at Joliet, Ill., in June. Smith was runner-up earlier this season, at Las Vegas and Sonoma.

He said that he’ll work on the transmission, then try the go-kart track at World Wide Technology Raceway for some relaxation.

And that time in the go-kart Saturday night might be the only fun he gets, for Eddie Krawiec, Karen Stoffer, Hector Arana Jr., and Angelle Sampey could scramble the points behind Savoie and Hines in a hurry.

 

 
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