VOL. 55 ISSUE 45 NOVEMBER 13, 2018 P57
BY KEVIN MCKENNA
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATT POLITO
I
t isn't an exaggeration to sug-
gest that the final day of the 2018
NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing
season at Auto Club Raceway in
Pomona, California produced one
of the most dramatic moments in
the history of the Pro Stock Mo-
torcycle class. After eight months
and 16 events, the final race of the
year at the Auto Club NHRA Finals
in Pomona became a winner-take-
all battle for the championship
with Elite Performance EBR's
Matt Smith winning his third title at
the expense of Screamin' Eagle
Harley-Davidson's Eddie Krawiec.
Smith capped off one of the
most dominant performances of
this or any other year with a 6.76
elapsed time that easily covered
Krawiec's 6.81. For good mea-
sure, Smith also ran 201.22-mph
at the finish line, the fastest speed
recorded to date by a Pro Stock
Motorcycle.
"This is the same situation I had
in 2007 where I had to win the
race to win my first championship.
We came out victorious then, and
it was like history repeated itself
today. The only difference was this
time it's my birthday.
"Racing Eddie in the final, I guess
that's the way it was meant to be,"
Smith said. "It was supposed to be
a storybook ending. This was the
last of the four NHRA pro champion-
ships to be decided on Sunday, so I
guess we gave the fans a good rea-
son to stick around and watch the
bikes run. In the final, I just knew I
had to stay focused. I had to leave
TAKE ALL
Smith wins third NHRA championship
final event of the season
