I look, so I didn't fall for it."
Coming into the event, the
battle for the championship
could not have been more com-
petitive. Matt Smith, gunning for
his record seventh championship,
was leading, but he enjoyed just
a six-point edge over teammate
John Hall and reigning champ
Gaige Herrera, while Gadson was
fourth, just nine points back.
Gadson opened elimina
-
tions with a win over Hall, Chris
Bostick and Ryan Oehler. He
then advanced to the final round
by beating Matt Smith, Hall and
Kelly Clontz. Since the top two
riders advance from each "quad,"
Gadson had to race Hall twice
and Matt Smith twice, but he was
not the least bit affected, as he
won the first two heats with runs
of 6.79 and 6.80, respectively.
Typically, the four-wide events
feature a lot of unpredictability,
and this event was certainly no
exception, as Herrera, winner of
five events this season, failed to
advance out of the first round.
Herrera's RevZilla/Vance & Hines
Suzuki encountered a mechani
-
cal problem, which allowed Marc
Ingwersen and Marcus Hylton to
advance. For Hylton, the win was
the first of his career.
Despite the loss in the final,
the result was a good one for
Matt Smith, who is coming off
a runner-up finish last weekend
in Reading, Pennsylvania. He
damaged an engine in his Denso
Buell on Saturday, and his team
worked late into the night to
repair the damage. Matt Smith
won his first quad and then fin
-
ished second to Gadson to reach
the final round.
"We're still in this," Matt Smith
said. "There are four races left,
and we're right in the middle of
it, so no one should count us
out. We had to work through a
lot of adversity this weekend, but
we got through it, and we'll be
ready for the next one."
Matt Smith and the rest of the
class won't have to wait long,
as the tour heads to World Wide
Technology Raceway just out
-
side St. Louis for the weekend's
NHRA Midwest Nationals.
Kevin McKenna
FINAL
1. Richard Gadson
(.015) 6.803-199.55
2. Matt Smith
(.027) 6.821-199.37
WIND
IN THE
P56
RevZilla/Vance & Hines
Suzuki's Gadson was
surrounded by three
Buell V-twin entries in
the final.
