Maryland NHRA: Overcoming Adversity
W
hen Angie Smith's Denso
Buell broke in the final
round of the most recent NHRA
Pro Stock Motorcycle event in
Chicago, she thought things
couldn't get much worse, but
they did.
Ten days later, Smith and her
husband, Matt, were headed
to the next event at Maryland
International Raceway, May 29-
31, when life intervened. Matt
developed a case of gallstones,
putting the team's event in jeop
-
ardy. Matt is not just a rider and
team owner, he's also the crew
chief for each of MSR's four
Buell entries. From his hospital
bed, Matt decided to run all four
bikes, calling in veteran Chip
Ellis to replace him on his own
Denso Buell.
Despite the adversity, Angie
overcame the frustration of the
Chicago loss and claimed her
first win in nearly four years by
beating Ryan Oehler in the final
round. Smith also made drag
racing history by capturing the
200th win by a female in the
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Rac
-
ing Series after a career-best run
of 6.683 seconds at 201.52 in
the final round.
"I am just ecstatic because at
7 a.m. Friday, we were running
zero bikes. We were [making
one qualifying attempt] to get
our 30 points, packing up and
going home," Smith said. "At 10
a.m. Matt said, 'We're running all
four bikes, I believe in you, and
you can do it.' So that's what we
did. It was tough, and it was not
easy, and it's one of those things
when your team believes in you
and your husband believes in
you."
The Chicago final notwith
-
standing, Smith continued to
have the best bike in the catego-
ry for the second straight race.
This time, she made sure to
finish the job, earning her fourth
career victory in the class. From
his hospital bed, Matt tuned
Angie's bike to some of the best
runs of her career during qualify
-
ing, and he was back at the track
on Sunday to see her dominate,
WIND
IN THE
P42
Angie Smith
(pictured) defeated
Ryan Oehler in the
final in Maryland.
