Houston Bites Smith Once Again

Never winning a round at Houston Raceway Park, NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Matt Smith was determined to change that stat this weekend. Qualifying in the No. 1 spot for just the third time in his short career, Smith was ready to go some rounds on Sunday.

“We hurt the motor in the bike on Friday’s morning session and are now down to only one motor for raceday, but this motor is just as bad as the other if not a little better,” stated Smith. “I know my stats at Houston and I know at the last race Angelle was No. 1 and lost, so I am ready to beat the odds first round.”

Smith lined up against Steve Johnson first round. The two would be the last pair to run first round and after watching all but one pair go red first round, Smith knew what he had to do. Stay green!

When it came Smith’s turn to race he fouled out by just a mere .003 of a second (-.003) and to make matters worse ran low elapse time of the round (6.988et at 189.31mph).

“I am so mad at myself,” stated Smith. “We had a great bike and I let my team down. I knew I needed to nail the tree, because on raceday anybody is fair game. The bad thing is I didn’t even feel like I left early, but red is red and we will go into Atlanta in a few weeks with our game face on. I’ve always been told if it doesn’t kill you it will make you stronger and I’m determined to prove it.”

Smith is third in the NHRA Championship Points and you can catch him in action again in Atlanta, April 27-29.