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.

Smith clocked a 7.097-second elapsed time at 190.22 mph to beat Joey Gladstone’s 7.163-second lap at 185.43 mph.

“That bike (the Buell) is bad a**,” Smith said. “The decision was, we've been running our Suzuki all year long. And basically, we just don't have all the parts and pieces to have a backup motor. And I've never ran a Suzuki up here. So, I just thought that instead of coming up here and taking a chance on hurting that, I had a V twin that won this race last year. And why not bring that out? Because it's just sitting in the top of the trailer. We're hauling it around.

“So I decided to roll it out and do it. And it paid off, because, no more qualifier, won the race, set both ends of track record. You can't ask for much more.”
It is believed Smith is only other second Pro Stock Motorcycle rider in NHRA history to win on two makes of bikes. The first is believed to be the late Dave Schultz. 

Smith clocked a track-record speed of 190.03 mph in his semifinal win over Angelle Sampey. It was the first time a Pro Stock Motorcycle racer went 190 mph at Bandimere Speedway. He then bettered the mph record in the final round. Smith also set the track record with a 7.090 elapsed time.

This was Smith 34th career national event victory and second of the season as he also won in Houston.

Smith, who qualified No. 1, had a victory parade that consisted of a first-round bye, a second round win over Marc Ingwersen, Angelle Sampey, and Gladstone.

This is Smith’s fourth career win at Thunder Mountain to go with the ones he captured in 2007, 2008 and 2021.

“Oh, it's sweet. Anytime you get a win, it's awesome, because these things are hard to come by,” Smith said. “You never know when it's your last one. Don't take it for granted because it could be your last one. I really wish I'd ran Angie (Smith's wife) in the finals. She had the bike to beat also, and something happened in the semifinals. We don't know what it missed a couple times, and she slowed up. And I wish she'd of been there, but all in all, DENSO Brand, Lucas Oil, everybody that helps us, we took the win and brought it home.”

Despite the success of his Buell, Smith wasn’t ready to be running the motorcycle at the next national event in Sonoma, Calif., July 22-24.

“I hate to put her back up in the top of the trailer, but that's probably what's going to end up happening,” Smith said. “We'll save her for the Countdown. If I need it, she'll be there.”

Smith added:

“I don't know for sure yet,” Smith said about running the Buell in Sonoma. “That's the honest answer. I need to talk to Lisa. We might run the Suzuki on Friday. If I'm not happy with, I might pull the V twin out for Saturday. I don't know yet for sure, but I want to run the Suzuki. The Suzuki seems to have an advantage at more sea level. Of course, the V twin were better out in altitude. So, I want to do what's best for my sponsor. I want me or Angie to try to win the race at Sonoma. You always want to win your sponsor's race.”

Although Smith had not competed on his Buell since the end of last season, he had no qualms about using the motorcycle in Denver.

“We come out here last year, went 11 three different times, and at 189,” Smith said. “So, I knew I had the tune up. I just loaded that same app in for Q1. And, on the first pass, I thought the bike was blowing up, because it was vibrating so bad going down the track. I almost pulled the clutch in at the eighth mile, but I said, ‘No.’ I just legged it on out. We got plenty of motors. When they told me it went a 10, I was like, ‘Holy cow. I've been on Suzuki, as Suzuki is so smooth a ride. And the V twin vibrates so much that I wasn't prepared for it like I thought it was, but I rode it good all weekend. And we dominated. We got the win.”

The Suzukis have been at the head of the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, but Smith wasn’t worried about them Sunday.

“I told tech when, after the first run, I said, ‘These guys, everybody missed them. They just missed it,’ Smith said. “They even came over, after Q4, after we went, what, 7.09? NHRA came over and tore us down. And I told him, I said, ‘Look, those guys can run within two, three hundredths of us, I feel like.’ And Joey came out here and win a 15 today. And Eddie went 14 today. So, we know they can run. They just were missing the tune-up a little bit. And I'm sure another year up here with that, they'll creep it on down. The Suzuki’s will be better next year for sure, a hundred percent.”