Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1544998
Matt Smith, Angie Smith Meet in the Joliet NHRA Final T he well-known diversity of the NHRA Drag Racing series was on full display May 15-17 at Route 66 Raceway, where the husband-and-wife team of Matt and Angie Smith met in the final round to decide the Pro Stock Motorcycle winner. Angie had the best bike and was a clear favorite to win, but a broken transmission kept her from making the run, handing Matt the most bittersweet victory of his long career. Matt cruised to the win with a run of 6.835 seconds at 185.41 mph on his Denso Auto Parts Buell, and the six-time World Champion won his second straight race, though he was not thrilled about it. "This kind of sucks, actually," he said. "I wanted a fair race. I wanted a good race, just like when we ran each other for the 2Fast2Tasty Challenge [bo - nus race on Saturday] Angie had the best bike this weekend, but it just wasn't meant to be for some reason. She'll get it at the next race in Maryland. I feel confident that we will get things under control for her bike and get it back because everybody here knows that she had the best bike. "When we were doing our burnouts, I thought they were having a problem with Angie's bike, which is why I waited," Matt said. "I thought she was going to be fine, and then she wasn't. She had no first and no third gear. I just hate it for her because she deserved to win this race." The emotions of the moment aside, Matt does appear well on the way to a possible seventh World Championship, and he's now got 44 NHRA wins in his career. On the way to the title, Matt defeated Jianna Evaristo, RevZilla/Vance & Hines Suzuki's Gaige Herrera, who was previously unde - feated at Route 66 Raceway, and Brayden Davis to reach the final round. Angie was indeed dominant, qualifying number one and dominating eliminations with convincing wins over Chase Van Sant and reigning World Cham - pion Richard Gadson, who remained in the points lead. The final was Angie's 12th, and she nearly claimed her first win in four seasons. Angie not only made the weekend's quickest run at 6.726 seconds but also set the event's top speed at 201.70 mph. The husband-wife final round wasn't the only drama to come out of the Route 66 event, as a stiff crosswind wreaked havoc with NHRA's two- wheel racers. Several riders had a close encounter with the retaining wall, including Matt Smith, who brushed the wall at nearly 190 mph but managed to stay upright and avoid a possible disaster. "That crosswind was bad, almost too bad for us to be racing in it," Matt said. "As soon as you cleared the grandstands, it hit you, and even though you know it's coming, there's only so much you can do as far as aiming the bike and trying to steer into it. On that run where I hit the wall, I definitely stayed in it longer than I should have. My foot hit the wall pretty hard, but about a year ago, Corral Boots made some custom steel-toe riding boots for me, and they absolutely prevented me from getting hurt. This could have been much worse than it was." The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action May 29-31 with the inaugural NHRA Potomac Nationals presented by JEGS at Maryland International Raceway in Mechanicsville, Maryland. Kevin McKenna FINAL 1. Matt Smith (Bue) 6.835-1855.41 2. Angie Smith (Bue) DNS WIND IN THE P68 It was a bittersweet win for Matt Smith in the Route 66 Nationals final in Illinois. PHOTO: MATT POLITO