Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Smith Takes First NHRA Win f econd-generation NHRA Pro Stock bike Jracer Matt Smilh provided the p€rfect Father's Dq. gift for his father, veteran drag racer Rickie Smith, when Matt claimed his first NHRA title at the K&N Fllte.s Supemationals in En8lishtown, New Jersey, on June 18. On a hot and mut$/ day, Smith's Torco Buell overpowered the rest oI the field, including final-round opponent Karen Stofier. AkhouSh Stofier gained . sizzble holeshot on her Geico t'lotorcycle Suzuki, Smiti was able to track her down before the end of the quart€r-mile to take the win, 7.1I to 7.24. For Smith, fie win helped take the stinS out of a painful loss at last year's Mac Tooli U,S. Nationals. At that event, Smith appeared to win the final round agarnst Steve Johnson, but the final result was over- tumed a day laler when video evidence showed that the front tire oflohnson's bike had crossed th€ linish line a split second before Smith's. "This time, the win i5 mine, alld I'm not givinS this trophy back," Smith said. "l've worked a lon8 tim€ for this. and l'm esPecial- ly glad that my dad was down there [at the linish line] waitinS for me- I could tell he was awfully proud." Smith qualified foorth aboard his S&S" powered V-twin, and he had one of the quickest bikes on race day with a 7.09 w'n over l4ichael Phillips in round one, and a 7.l2 in his semilinal win over Tom Bradford, who was close behind with a 7.14. "My teammate lchip Ellis] had the bike !o beat this weekend, but I think I had che sec- ond-best bike," Smith said. "We made some prett), solid runs this weekend, and I knew that as long as I did my iob as a ridei we could be in a position to win this mce l've waited a long time for this, but now that l've done ir, hopefully the wins will stan coming a litde easier now-" Smith managed to avoid ahe red'light start (hat took out several favorites, including low qualifier Ellis, current points leader Angelle Sampey, and former champ Ceno Scali. Stolfer qualified near the bottom of the field in the l5th spot. but she was solid rn ellminations, with wins over Scali, rec€nt ChicaSo champ Ryan S.hniE, and Matt Rocklin Buell's Matt Guidera. Stoffer iumped ofr to a solid lead in the flnal round, but it wasn't enough to hold olf Smith, "l knew I had an advantaSe, but I didn't think it would be enou8h," Stoffer said. "l just tucked m)6el, in as tithtty a! possible and waited for him to come by me, and he did. I was hoping that the finish line would hurry up and get there, but I iust ran out of race- track. ' For the second straight week, the Pro Stock Bike field was the quickest in NHRA history All l6 qualifiers were wedged betlveen the 6.99 elapsed time of Chip Ellis and the 7.l0 ofSnap-On Tools Suzuki's Steve Johnson. With six of 15 races now in the books, o o E I It's an open secret that both Ducati and KTM are ,ol- lowing the upward trend in twin-cy'inder spoftbike capacit,, levelt to l200cc, and coniecure holds that guell is workinton su(h a motor, too, for the Superbike class. lt's equally well known - becaus€ factory bosses have admitted as much - that Afrilia is, conversely, hard at work developing a l000cc 72{e8ree V-four sport- bike with wiich to challente the might ofjaPan lnc. and its Ducati compathots for Superbike supremacy in 2008 - with the possibility oI a couple oI wild-card races at the end of ?007. But what's equally fas

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