Smith Wins Pomona NHRA Final;
Herrera is Champ
T
he top two riders in the NHRA
Pro Stock Motorcycle divi-
sion battled back and forth at
the season-ending NHRA Finals
in Pomona, California, November
15-17, and while Denso Buell's
Matt Smith won the battle, it was
RevZilla/Vance & Hines Suzuki's
Gaige Herrera who won the war.
Coming into the 15th and final
round of the season, it was al
-
most a given that Herrera would
win his second-straight Mission
Foods NHRA world title, but
Smith was not willing to raise the
white flag and ended the season
with a dominant victory, the 41st
of his career.
Smith defeated Herrera in the
final round with a run of 6.702
seconds at 202.12 mph. The win
was Smith's second of the sea
-
son, and it enabled the six-time
world champion to finish second
in the points battle.
"We came in knowing we prob-
ably couldn't get three hats, but
we knew we could get two and
we did," said Smith. "We got the
low qualifier hat and the winner's
hat, just not the champion's hat.
Still, we were able to put pres
-
sure on Gaige. He's a deserving
champ, but we just made too
many mistakes, especially late in
the season.
In Pomona, Smith made few, if
any, mistakes as he qualified in
the top spot and then rode to vic
-
tories against Aaron Pine, Marc
Ingwersen and Steve Johnson.
Smith had never beaten Herrera
in a final round, but that changed
in Pomona. Afterwards, Smith
reflected on his 2024 season.
"I love doing this, but I've
thought about getting off and
putting some young kid on the
bike," Smith said. "I'm 52, and it's
hard to keep up, but I still love it.
Actually, our sponsor, Denso told
WIND
IN THE
P40
Gaige Herrera made
it back-to-back NHRA
Pro Stock Motorcycle
Championships. He
secured the number-one
plate with a first-round
win at the Pomona final.
PHOTOS: MATT POLITO
