Matt Smith Tops Indy NHRA
W
hile Vance & Hines Su-
zuki's Gaige Herrera has
dominated the NHRA Pro Stock
Motorcycle class this season, it
was six-time World Champ Matt
Smith who walked away with the
sport's biggest prize, the U.S.
Nationals win at Lucas Oil India-
napolis Raceway Park.
Smith, who had been winless
so far this season, rode his Denso
Suzuki to a 6.86 elapsed time in
the final round to defeat GETTRX
Buell's Hector Arana Jr., who
ended the final on the starting line
with a narrow red-light start.
While Herrera dominated the
early part of the event, Smith
never once believed that he was
out of the running.
"I'm not surprised at all," Smith
said. "I've got good power. This
is our second year with the
Suzuki program, and we've got
great power. The problem is that
I can't figure out how to make
the clutch work. I need the parts
to test because we're not getting
our 60-foot times where we need
them. I think a 1.09 was my best
this weekend and when Gaige is
going 1.03 and 1.04, that's not
good enough. We need to figure
out our clutch and get the right
rear tire and we can run with
him."
Smith, who previously won
Indy in 2006 and 2022, made
his way through Monday's final
eliminations with wins against
John Hall, his former teammate,
as well as Chase Van Sant, and
Herrera, who lost for just the
third time this season after his
Vance & Hines Suzuki suffered
a spark plug malfunction during
the run.
"Gaige had a great bike this
weekend, but we can run with
him," Smith said. "A few weeks
ago in Sonoma, we were just a
thousandth of a second behind.
We got a little bit of a break today,
but we honestly don't need much."
WIND
IN THE
P52
Matt Smith heads into NHRA's
playoff with momentum after
winning the U.S. Nationals at Lucas
Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
PHOTOS: MATT POLITO
