by the time he arrived in Pomona.
Smith needed to win just the first
round of eliminations to claim the
title and he did that with an easy
win against Michael Phillips, who
is well known as one of the class's
most active trash talkers.
"I had to race Phillips in the
first round, and he was all over
me," Matt Smith said. "It started
in driver intros, and he followed
me around most of the morn-
ing just blabbing away. It got to
the point where it was annoying,
but I didn't let it bother me. I just
ignored him and won the race."
Matt went on to ride to defeat
Marc Ingwerson's Buell V-twin in
the quarterfinals but a loss to Glad-
stone prevented what could have
been a storybook ending where
the Smiths raced in the final round.
Both Smith and Gladstone ran
identical 6.75-second elapsed
times, but Gladstone was slightly
quicker off the starting line, to
earn a spot in the final round.
Out of competition, Matt simply
focused on his job as a tuner to
prepare Angie's bike for the final.
"This Denso bike has been
bad all year," Matt Smith said.
"Angie and I had a shot to finish
1-2 in the points and we missed
that, but we made a lot of prog-
ress this season. I'm really proud
of what we've done, and I think
we can do more."
The magnitude of his accom-
plishment was not lost on Smith,
who understands the history of
the class, especially the contri-
bution made by the sport's first
six-time champion, Dave Schultz,
who passed away from cancer in
2001. Smith also acknowledged
long-time rival Andrew Hines,
who also has six titles.
"I never got to race against
him, but I knew Dave [Schultz] a
little bit, and I always looked up
to him because he was the best
out here and the same goes for
Drew [Hines]. To be associated
with them is amazing," Smith
said. "It's cool to think I've got six
championships and I might not
be finished yet. I'm 50 now, but
I'm not done yet. Next year, we're
going to continue developing our
Suzuki program and I expect us
to be fast. We've got some new
parts and we'll be testing all winter
just to get ready for next season."
The 2023 season will begin in
March at the Gatornationals in
Gainesville, Florida.
Kevin McKenna
FINAL
1. Angie Smith (Bue)
2. Joey Gladstone (Suz)
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 46 NOVEMBER 15, 2022 P37
Angie Smith made it a day to remember for the Smith family. Angie won
the Pomona finals while husband Matt wrapped up the 2022 title.
Matt Smith and the Denso Buell crew celebrated the 2022 Championship.
