Seattle Q2 Matt Smith Racing (1 Viewer)

[Fordie]

No MSR bikes in Q2 night session and no reference to their absence on NHRA.tv, so what happened?

 

[Scoe]

MSR mouthpiece Jack Korpela will have the scoop for sure.

 

[Paul]

They posted on Facebook that they were saving parts for the Western Swing. They do have 5 of the 12 bikes on the property this weekend so this seems reasonable.

 

[chop]

PSM is in a pickle. V&H dominating and teams dropping out like fly's. It doesn't look promising for the class. Hard to penalize a team for performance but NHRA let V&H dominate with Harley's nobody else could get. Maybe they want the class gone.

 

[scotty]

MSR always complaining unless they are a couple hundredths and a couple mph over the Suzuki's. There is 1 bike that has a slight advantage. You can't have Herrera put 10 lbs in his pocket. Matt has had a quicker bike on occasion and Gaige still wins. Not cool to have 5 bikes sit out in the Friday night session. Enough parts for the Western Swing....sure? MSR Representative Jack is causing unneeded controversy.

 

[Chili]

Unfortunately when one guy or team dominates it truly hurts the class. While I can’t speak for any of them, I’m assuming the reason Joey Gladstone, Ryan Oehler and others are dropping out of the tour is they aren’t competitive. V&H are smart, have top of the line equipment, possibly more funding and great riders. It’s a hard combo to beat.

 

[mikebcurve]

Is there any other teams, in PSB, that has had more aborted runs and parts failure? Consistency is their problem, not unfair competition.

 

[z28]

Is there any other teams, in PSB, that has had more aborted runs and parts failure? Consistency is their problem, not unfair competition.

I think MSR is stretched to thin. To many bikes to manage and sometimes things get missed. I guess that (the support money for those teams) keeps them going but also causes issues.

 

[Paul]

What happened to LE Tonglet?

 

[z28]

What happened to LE Tonglet?

word is he wasn't happy with the bike he leased

 

[Tony]

https://www.autoweek.com/racing/nhra/a61654279/without-parity-matt-smith-pull-nhra-motorcycle-class/

 

[mikebcurve]

Wow, I know I’m not on the inside, I’m nobody and my opinion doesn’t matter, but from a spectator standpoint, I just don’t see the consistent performance from MSR. He never seems to take ANY responsibility for their lack of success. That is a problem when so many cars/bikes in these classes are connected. They think they can do things like this to get their way. Matt and Angie qualified number 1 and 2 at the last race in Norwalk. I was there watching him take out the blocks in the final. Whose fault was that? I think the NHRA should apologize to Matt for Gaige being a machine and request the previous rider be put back on it!

 

[Chili]

Matt is like his dad Rickie. If the odds aren’t in their favor they don’t want to race. Matt has won 6 championships with what some would consider the odds in his favor. However he has the right to not race when he doesn’t want too. I’m not sure I would even bother showing up with a bike right now.

But I do agree with what Matt is saying. In the past when Matt is running up front there were constant changes to the class. In the last two seasons, Gaige has dominated but NHRA hasn’t done much to slow him down. Obviously if you make a rule change involving the V&H combo, it will also slow down all the other riders with that same combo. You can’t just add 20 pounds to just Gaige.

Now there is some deeper issues that isn’t brought up. Just a year or two ago, Terry Vance donated a large sum of money to the NHRA Yes program. Suzuki has a major presence in the manufacture midway. Previously it was Harley Davidson. Mission is also a associate sponsor on the V&H bikes. Is NHRA letting V&H dominate to keep all sponsors involved happy? So there are some deeper issues that are not talked about much in the public but is talked about a lot behind the scenes.

 

[Professional Fan]

What the article didn't mention was what changes should be made to make the class more competitive. Is V&H using parts that are not available to the rest of the class? Or are they just that good? I like Eddie and Drew (don't know Gaige) but it's not good for the class if no one else can compete. There are others than Matt like Arana and Johnson who are capable of winning but can't. What makes all the other Pro classes fun to watch is in any weekend you don't know who is going to win. NHRA doesn't need to close the entire gap-just close it enough to make it competitive. I have always liked watching the bikes but would hate to see the class go away or be reduced to a small field of Gaige and also rans every race.

 

[stitcherbob]

https://www.autoweek.com/racing/nhra/a61654279/without-parity-matt-smith-pull-nhra-motorcycle-class/

Gee, I seem to remember the NHRA putting pound after pound of weight on the Harleys, so much that we now see Suzukis instead…

 

[PiPPi]

If you want all the PSM stats from for example Seattle, go here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/eatmyink/posts/26364117433204229/

I do that work on a regular basis,

 

[Fordie]

If you want all the PSM stats from for example Seattle, go here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/eatmyink/posts/26364117433204229/

I do that work on a regular basis,

Thanks PiPPi, cool stats. I enjoy that stuff, was a Dragrace Central reporter before there was DRC, I.e. old

 

[you]

Is there any other teams, in PSB, that has had more aborted runs and parts failure? Consistency is their problem, not unfair competition.

Struck again on Sunday

 

[mick]

12 entered for sonoma and indy. the most affordable pro class with television exposure, and teams are leaving.
hypothetical: would nhra really run a 12 bike field at indy if no more enter?

 

[Paul]

12 entered for sonoma and indy. the most affordable pro class with television exposure, and teams are leaving.
hypothetical: would nhra really run a 12 bike field at indy if no more enter?

I wouldn't worry about Indy having a full field.