[coverattach=1]INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 6, 2009) - With only one lap of qualifying run today - instead of two - because of a long rain delay, Matt Smith and the Nitro Fish Ultimate Gear Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle team made the best of it and landed themselves at the top of the roster at the 55th annual U.S. Nationals, earning Smith his third No. 1 at the U.S. Nationals.
Smith, the 2006 U.S. Nationals champion, recorded a stellar 6.918-second elapsed time at 192.38 mph to grab his second No. 1 of the season and the 16th of his career. He will face Junior Pippin in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday.
"We've had very good success here the last four years," said Smith, who is in his first season driving for Don Schumacher Racing. "This is our third No. 1 qualifier here in four years and we've been to three finals here, so I'm excited. This is where I made my very first debut riding Pro Stock Motorcycle. It was in 2003 and I ran one race that year and I came here to do it. I've had good success here at the track and I'm really looking forward to it.
"We hurt the motor yesterday when we ran Hector (Arana) in the second round of the Ringers Gloves Bike Battle. We lost oil pressure and we lost vacuum. So, Steve (Tartaglia, crew chief) took the motor out and he worked all night, until like 2 this morning and the credit goes to him, for going back to the shop right here in Brownsburg and fixing the motor. It was the same motor. We knew it was good. He just had to go tweak on a couple of things that were wrong and come back out and it was a rocket ship. He deserves all the credit.
"I thought we could run a 6.93. When I plugged into third gear I was still toting the tire and it felt so good in fourth and fifth and I told Steve that I held it longer in fifth than I should've because the light came on and told me to shift, but I just held on because it was still pulling and I put it in sixth gear and it picked the front tire back up, and you don't ever feel that on a Suzuki. I mean it ran big speed, it ran everything, so my hat's off to Steve, Don Schumacher, Nitro Fish and Suzuki for giving us a good bike. We're going to try to get a win on this thing tomorrow."
Smith, the 2006 U.S. Nationals champion, recorded a stellar 6.918-second elapsed time at 192.38 mph to grab his second No. 1 of the season and the 16th of his career. He will face Junior Pippin in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday.
"We've had very good success here the last four years," said Smith, who is in his first season driving for Don Schumacher Racing. "This is our third No. 1 qualifier here in four years and we've been to three finals here, so I'm excited. This is where I made my very first debut riding Pro Stock Motorcycle. It was in 2003 and I ran one race that year and I came here to do it. I've had good success here at the track and I'm really looking forward to it.
"We hurt the motor yesterday when we ran Hector (Arana) in the second round of the Ringers Gloves Bike Battle. We lost oil pressure and we lost vacuum. So, Steve (Tartaglia, crew chief) took the motor out and he worked all night, until like 2 this morning and the credit goes to him, for going back to the shop right here in Brownsburg and fixing the motor. It was the same motor. We knew it was good. He just had to go tweak on a couple of things that were wrong and come back out and it was a rocket ship. He deserves all the credit.
"I thought we could run a 6.93. When I plugged into third gear I was still toting the tire and it felt so good in fourth and fifth and I told Steve that I held it longer in fifth than I should've because the light came on and told me to shift, but I just held on because it was still pulling and I put it in sixth gear and it picked the front tire back up, and you don't ever feel that on a Suzuki. I mean it ran big speed, it ran everything, so my hat's off to Steve, Don Schumacher, Nitro Fish and Suzuki for giving us a good bike. We're going to try to get a win on this thing tomorrow."
