Mr. And Mrs. Smith Reign
Supreme at NHRA Finals
W
hen it comes to husband-
and-wife racing teams, they
don't come much more success-
ful than Matt and Angie Smith,
who each enjoyed one of the
best days of their long careers
at the season-ending Auto Club
NHRA Finals in Pomona, Novem-
ber 12-14.
Matt clinched his record-tying
sixth Pro Stock Motorcycle
Championship early on race day
and a few hours later, he got to
celebrate again when Angie won
the third race of her career.
Angie has admittedly struggled
at times this season, but she
was at her best in Pomona with
a solid performance from start to
finish. Qualifying in the number-
four spot with a 6.734 elapsed
time, Smith rode her Denso Buell
past Fred Camarena, White Al-
ligator Suzuki's Jerry Savoie and
Steve Johnson to reach the final.
Once she got there, she dug
deep and downed Reed Motors-
ports Suzuki's Joey Gladstone on
a holeshot, winning with a 6.749
to Gladstone's quicker 6.739.
"Coming in here I knew I
needed to qualify well and then
turn on some win lights on Sun-
day and we did just that," Angie
said. "We've been creeping up
on it for a while I had a really
good bike today. I had to race
Jerry [Savoie], who has been a
thorn in my side this year, and
I finally got him. I knew I had to
make a decent run. Then I got a
single run when Steve Johnson
broke, and the bike shook the
tire a bit so [Matt] made a tune-up
call. The last thing my guys told
me before the final was 'You got
this' and I did my job. To win on a
holeshot is epic."
Matt likely faced a bit less pres-
sure than his wife since he had the
championship all but locked up
IN
THE
WIND
P36
Matt Smith captured his
sixth NHRA Pro Stock
Motorcycle Championship
at the Pomona finals. He
joins Dave Schultz and
Andrew Hines as a six-time
champ.
PHOTOS: MATT POLITO
