Matt Smith of Victory Racing made four straight outstanding runs on his Pro Stock Victory Gunner in the Sept. 20 elimination rounds and finished second at the NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte. With that performance, Matt moved up to fourth in NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle points after the opening round of the six-round NHRA Countdown to the Championship.
Matt qualified fifth-fastest for Sunday’s eliminations, then made three consistently fast runs to reach the final against Andrew Hines. Hines got the holeshot in the final and held on for the win as Matt ran 6.910 seconds with a speed of 192.49 mph. Matt had a reaction time of .150 of a second in the final, while Hines got off the line in .007 of a second.
Matt’s time in the final was his quickest of the day, and his best speed of the day was 192.52 mph in the second round.
Matt entered the Countdown slotted fifth in points, and by reaching the final for the second time this season, he moved up to fourth in the standings. The second round of the Countdown to the Championship will be Sept. 25-27 at Gateway Motorsports Park in St. Louis, Missouri.
Victory Racing’s Angie Smith also qualified for Sunday’s elimination rounds but jumped the light in the first round, leaving the line .011-seconds early and was eliminated. She made her run in 7.008 seconds at 187.50 mph. In Saturday’s qualifying, Angie had a weekend-best run of 6.984 seconds at 188.44 mph.
