ROUND 7/JULY 7, 2013
SUMMIT POINT RACEWAY/NORWALK, OHIO
DRAG RACING
P88
NHRA PRO STOCK SERIES
OHIO
PLA
Aft
Ma
tak
Pro
It took Matt Smith
seven rounds
to finally win an
NHRA final in
2013, but the
Buell-mounted
rider did just that
at Summit Point
Raceway in Ohio.
BY KEVIN MCKENNA
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GARY NASTASE
T
he fact that Viper Motorcycle Co. Buell's Matt Smith
won an NHRA event in
2013 is not a surprise. The fact
that it took him seven events to
do it is another matter entirely.
Smith, the 2007 NHRA Champion, has had one of the best bikes
in the field for much of the 2013
season, but a rash of bad luck
prevented him from reaching the
winner's circle until this week's
Summit Racing Equipment Nationals. Smith rode to a 6.95 to
7.00 win over Sovereign/Star
Buell's Scotty Pollacheck to end
a winless draught of more than
two years.
"This is pretty special," Smith
said. "I've been stuck on 13 wins
for about two years and I was beginning to wonder what it was going to take to get number 14. I've
been close a few times, but it's
so easy to lose a final round. Our
Viper team has been fast all year
long, but we've had a few hiccups with out transmissions and
that cost me a few races early
on. Now, we have that fixed and I