Victory's Matt Smith Finishes Second at Charlotte on Pro Stock Gunner, Moves To 4th in Championship
From a Victory press release:
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 great 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.
Troy's been riding motorcycles and writing about them since 2006, getting his start at Rider Magazine. From there, he moved to Sport Rider Magazine before finally landing at Motorcycle.com in 2011. A lifelong gearhead who didn't fully immerse himself in motorcycles until his teenage years, Troy's interests have always been in technology, performance, and going fast. Naturally, racing was the perfect avenue to combine all three. Troy has been racing nearly as long as he's been riding and has competed at the AMA national level. He's also won multiple club races throughout the country, culminating in a Utah Sport Bike Association championship in 2011. He has been invited as a guest instructor for the Yamaha Champions Riding School, and when he's not out riding, he's either wrenching on bikes or watching MotoGP.
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