have been reasonable for Smith
to feel extra pressure, but he
insists otherwise. He was fo-
cused on the task at hand and
was never seriously challenged
as he made his way past Marc
Ingwersen and three-time world
champ Angelle Sampey to reach
the final. Smith's slowest run of
the day was a 7.12 and that was
still more than enough to cover
Sampey, who slowed to a 7.25.
"I had a great bike, but there
were plenty of fast Suzukis out
there," Smith said. "Joey [Glad-
stone] ran a 7.15 and Eddie
[Krawiec] ran 7.14, so they were
fast. I said from the beginning that
those guys would be fast, but they
just missed the tune-up a little. It's
not easy to race up here on this
mountain. Sometimes it takes a
few runs to get the hang of it. The
Suzukis will be better up here next
year. I guarantee it."
As for Gladstone, the final
round loss was his second in as
many races. The Reed Motors-
ports rider also went to the final
at the Norwalk, Ohio, round last
month and he appears destined
to win his first NHRA event in the
near future.
Gladstone rode past Ryan
Oehler, Krawiec, and Smith's
wife, Angie, to reach the final.
Against Angie Smith's Denso
Buell, Gladstone made his best
run of the weekend with a 7.15,
while Smith's bike slowed after
a throttle-position sensor report-
edly malfunctioned.
"I really wish I'd have run Angie
in the final, but her bike slowed
up," Matt Smith said. "Her bike
was every bit as good as mine
and she could easily have won
this race but it was just bad luck.
Fortunately, we put a Denso
Buell in the winner's circle and
that's most important."
With the win, Smith has of-
ficially overcome his slow start
to the season. He's climbed to
third place in the Camping World
NHRA standings and is just
19 points behind leader Steve
Johnson and nine points behind
second-ranked Sampey. Glad-
stone has moved to number four
and is just 46 points out from first
place.
The NHRA Pro Stock Motor-
cycle class now goes from the
slowest track on the tour to one
of the quickest, Sonoma Race-
way in Central California. There
are three races remaining before
the start of the Countdown to the
Championship, NHRA's six-race
playoff to determine the season
champion.
Kevin McKenna
IN
THE
WIND
P56
After a slow start to the
season, Smith is now
right there in the hunt for
the 2022 title.
