WIND
IN THE
P48
leader with a 6.680 run, and Gad-
son was also solid with a 6.759,
but Smith was able to keep the
leaders in his sights with a 6.773
for the number-three spot in the
field.
Under the unique four-wide for
-
mat, both the first- and second-
place finishers from each "quad"
advance to the next round, and
Smith had little difficulty doing
just that. He won his first heat
with Chase Van Sant and then
reached the final by beating Gad
-
son in the second round. Smith
also set the top speed of the
event at 203.16 mph and backed
that up with a 202.91 mph run in
the final round.
It has been six weeks since
the season opener in Gaines
-
ville, Florida, and Smith made
good use of the downtime with
multiple test sessions along with
his wife, Angie, and their team-
mates, John Hall and Jianna
Evaristo.
"We think it's smart to run
four bikes, Vance & Hines have
two, and we can surround them,"
Smith said. "I'm going for a sev
-
enth championship this year, and
I want it.
"They [Vance & Hines] ran
6.68 during qualifying, and today
they just flat missed the tune-up.
They should have run 6.65 or
6.66, but we were able to capital
-
ize on their mistakes."
Herrera, who dominated in
Gainesville, had the best bike in
qualifying but fell off a bit during
Sunday's final eliminations. He
did manage to hold off Hec-
tor Arana Jr. and John Hall in
round one and then topped Marc
Ingwersen and Steve Johnson
in the semi-final round. Herrera
was also consistent with runs of
6.728 and 6.762.
The Pro Stock Motorcycle
class will be featured next at
the Gerber Collision and Glass
NHRA Route 66 Nationals in
Joliet, Illinois, on May 16-18.
Kevin McKenna
FINAL
1. Matt Smith (6.736) 202.91 mph def.
2. Richard Gadson (6.738) 201.37 mph
3. Gaige Herrera (6.747) 201.13 mph
4. Steve Johnson (6.799) 196.62 mph
Smith beat a
stacked final
that included
defending champ
Gaige Herrera,
Richard Gadson
and veteran
Steve Johnson.
