Matt Smith Enters Monday at Indy in P2

NHRA 57th Annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals Lucas Oil Raceway Clermont, Ind. Sun, Sep 04, 2011 Matt Smith Enters Monday at Indy in P2 064.jpgFor two of the three days of qualifying for the 57th Annual Mac Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway, former NHRA Full Throttle Series Pro Stock Motorcycle champion and 2006 event winner Matt Smith was atop the charts. A 6.954 second ET run in Q1 Friday was good enough for three sessions of blistering summer heat.

A cold front on Sunday changed that, though, and Andrew Hines made a pass in 6.909 seconds, earning top qualifier honors. Smith was still able to improve his team and keep the second spot with a 6.936 second ET. He was able to do this while also tuning the Buells for his wife, Angie, and Michael Bay, who was racing a third Matt Smith Racing bike this weekend, and while attempting to qualify one of his father’s Pro Mods into the show for the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Series. Unfortunately, Bay was bumped in PSM and Matt was unable to make a full pull in the Pro Mod. His dad, “Tricky” Rickie Smith, driving a brand-new 2012 Jerry Bickel-built Camaro Pro Mod, qualified fourth and won his first round of eliminations, run Sunday night. At the end of the weekend, Matt looked at his weekend at Indy as a success. “The Big Go is going to be a pretty good day for us, I think,” he said. “We’ve got a good bike, we found our tune up again. We were trying some stuff and we thought we hurt the motor. We stayed up until 5 o’clock in the morning (Sunday) rebuilding the motor and putting a new crank and all that in it. As it turned out, it ran good today. We got the No. 2 spot back and we’ll see what happens tomorrow.” Smith faces No. 15 qualifier Jim Underdahl in the first round of Big Go eliminations on Monday. Eliminations will start Monday at 11 a.m. For more information on the Mac Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals or for tickets, visit NHRA.com. Sponsor Matt:Matt is providing a unique opportunity to be a sponsor for his Matt Smith Racing Buell for the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at zMAX Dragway, his home track. Sponsoring Matt Smith for the Sept. 15-19, 2011, NHRA Full Throttle Series event at zMAX Dragway gives fans an invitation to the MSR Pit Party Sept. 15, 2011, at the track, the opportunity to sign the bike, an autograph from Matt & Angie Smith, and the opportunity to participate in a group picture with Matt, Angie, the MSR Buell, and other sponsors. If fans are unable to attend the MSR Pit Party, Matt or Angie can personally sign the bike for them. Fans of Matt Smith can find updates and photos of Matt Smith Racing at MattSmithRacing.com, Facebook.com/MattSmithRacing, and Twitter.com/MattSmithRacing. Videos of Matt and Matt Smith Racing can be found at YouTube.com/MattSmithNHRA. For information regarding sponsorship opportunities with Matt Smith Racing, please e-mail MattSmithRacing@yahoo.com. About HighSide Media Founded in 2007, HighSide Media has represented some of the top drivers, teams, facilities, sponsors, and sanctions in American motorsports. HighSide Media provides public and media relations for racers at every level with tailor-made programs for every budget. Pass YOUR Competition on the HighSide. For more information on HighSide Media, its programs, and its clients, visit HighSideMedia.com. You can also follow HSM at Twitter.com/HighSideMedia and on its official page on Facebook.