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Matt Smith and Chris Rivas survive a crazy weekend in Englishtown at the 38th annual ProCare Rx NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.
The gremlins started Friday afternoon during the first qualifying session. With Smith’s bike spinning and shaking as he left the line, he would only run a pass good enough for the 12th position. Swapping tires, Smith would go into Friday night’s session with higher hopes. However, with his bike missing and popping during the burnout, Smith would be forced to shut the bike off and forfeit his pass. Later on, finding out that the wire had broke in his fuel injection system.
Working through the night, Smith and his crew were very optimistic about Saturday morning’s run. The problems however just kept on coming. With Smith’s bike this time not coming out of third gear, Smith would be forced on the bump going into the final qualifying session.
Swapping motors between sessions, Smith and his crew worked incredibly fast to get his bike ready for the last session. Finally getting his Torco Buell from A to B, Smith would run a 6.962 elapse time, good enough for the sixth place position for the start of Sunday’s eliminations.
“We have definitely struggled here this weekend,” said Smith. “This last pass was the first time we actually made it down the track without something going wrong. Hopefully we have got things worked out and can go some rounds on raceday.”
Going into first round on Sunday, Smith had to face off against a very quick Michael Phillips. Cutting a good light and running the third quickest winning time of the round, Smith would race his way into the second round.
Lining up against former U.S. Nationals Champ Steve Johnson, Smith knew he had to be good on the tree. Cutting another great light, Smith would pull ahead until the 1000 foot mark when his bike would shut off and start putting out smoke. Smith would eventually lose the race.
“This weekend has been just awful,” said Smith. “I can’t tell you the last time I had this many problems at the track. I thought things were going good and then bam, it’s over. We went back to the pits and found that the lash cap broke during second round, so we have got a lot of work to do before Norwalk next week.”
Rivas on the other hand didn’t struggle as much as Smith did during qualifying. Rivas did manage to put up four six second passes during Friday and Saturday’s qualifying sessions, which put him in the ninth position going into Sunday’s race.
Facing off against Craig Treble first round, Rivas knew he needed to get off the line first. Cutting an incredible light, but slowing on the racetrack, Rivas would end up losing the round and his position in the points.
“This weekend was definitely not a good one for our team,” said Rivas. “Sometimes you have these problems at a race though. You can’t win them all. We will work through everything and be back and ready to go rounds with these Torco Buells at Norwalk.”
Smith remains the PSM point’s leader and Rivas moves down a spot into the seventh position. Both will race in Norwalk, OH next week as the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycles head to the Ohio track for the first time.
Smith and Rivas Battle Their Way Through a Crazy Weekend in Englishtown
Matt Smith and Chris Rivas survive a crazy weekend in Englishtown at the 38th annual ProCare Rx NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.
The gremlins started Friday afternoon during the first qualifying session. With Smith’s bike spinning and shaking as he left the line, he would only run a pass good enough for the 12th position. Swapping tires, Smith would go into Friday night’s session with higher hopes. However, with his bike missing and popping during the burnout, Smith would be forced to shut the bike off and forfeit his pass. Later on, finding out that the wire had broke in his fuel injection system.
Working through the night, Smith and his crew were very optimistic about Saturday morning’s run. The problems however just kept on coming. With Smith’s bike this time not coming out of third gear, Smith would be forced on the bump going into the final qualifying session.
Swapping motors between sessions, Smith and his crew worked incredibly fast to get his bike ready for the last session. Finally getting his Torco Buell from A to B, Smith would run a 6.962 elapse time, good enough for the sixth place position for the start of Sunday’s eliminations.
“We have definitely struggled here this weekend,” said Smith. “This last pass was the first time we actually made it down the track without something going wrong. Hopefully we have got things worked out and can go some rounds on raceday.”
Going into first round on Sunday, Smith had to face off against a very quick Michael Phillips. Cutting a good light and running the third quickest winning time of the round, Smith would race his way into the second round.
Lining up against former U.S. Nationals Champ Steve Johnson, Smith knew he had to be good on the tree. Cutting another great light, Smith would pull ahead until the 1000 foot mark when his bike would shut off and start putting out smoke. Smith would eventually lose the race.
“This weekend has been just awful,” said Smith. “I can’t tell you the last time I had this many problems at the track. I thought things were going good and then bam, it’s over. We went back to the pits and found that the lash cap broke during second round, so we have got a lot of work to do before Norwalk next week.”
Rivas on the other hand didn’t struggle as much as Smith did during qualifying. Rivas did manage to put up four six second passes during Friday and Saturday’s qualifying sessions, which put him in the ninth position going into Sunday’s race.
Facing off against Craig Treble first round, Rivas knew he needed to get off the line first. Cutting an incredible light, but slowing on the racetrack, Rivas would end up losing the round and his position in the points.
“This weekend was definitely not a good one for our team,” said Rivas. “Sometimes you have these problems at a race though. You can’t win them all. We will work through everything and be back and ready to go rounds with these Torco Buells at Norwalk.”
Smith remains the PSM point’s leader and Rivas moves down a spot into the seventh position. Both will race in Norwalk, OH next week as the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycles head to the Ohio track for the first time.
