Matt Smith Dominates Denver
M
att Smith has now won 34
NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle
events but none of his previous
victories were anywhere near
as dominant as his latest win at
the NHRA Mile-High Nationals in
Denver, July 15-17. Racing in the
thin mountain air at Bandimere
Speedway, which sits 5800 feet
above sea level, Smith made the
bold decision to park the Suzuki
that he's been racing this season
in favor of the Denso Buell that
he rode to last year's champion-
ship. Smith figured the V-twin
combination would give him a
distinct advantage over his rivals.
He was right.
During qualifying, Smith set
the track record with a 7.10-sec-
ond run and then powered his
way through four tough rounds
on race day in 95-degree heat.
Smith finished the day by beat-
ing Reed Motorsports' Suzuki's
Joey Gladstone with a 7.09, well
ahead of his opponent's other-
wise competitive 7.16.
"I made the decision to race
a Suzuki up here for a couple
of reasons," Smith said. "First,
we don't have a lot of parts and
pieces right now, so I really have
one good engine and with two
races in a row, I can't risk hurting
it. Obviously, the Buell is the bike
that won this race last year, and
I know it pretty well. I figured it
would be good to bring it out.
"We qualified number one,
won the race, and set both ends
of track record," Smith said. "I
can't ask for much more than
that. Now, I hate to put this bike
back up in the trailer when we
go to Sonoma next week, but I'm
pretty committed to the Suzuki
program. I honestly haven't made
up my mind yet."
With such a huge advantage
over the rest of the field, it might
IN
THE
WIND
P54
Matt Smith (pictured)
defeated Joey Gladstone
in the NHRA Pro Stock
Motorcycle final in Denver.
PHOTOS: MATT POLITO
