Brainerd: Matt Smith final report

SMITH EXITS IN BRAINERD FIRST ROUND

BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 16, 2009) - After a long rain delay today at the 28th annual NHRA Nationals at Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway, racing finally took place under partly cloudy skies and cooler temperatures, and Matt Smith was facing Pro Stock Motorcycle points leader and Harley-Davidson rider Eddie Krawiec in the opening round.

Riding the Nitro Fish Ultimate Gear Suzuki, Smith nailed him at the starting lights, recording a .069 reaction time (.000 is perfect) to Krawiec's .123. But a repeat of the hiccup Smith experienced at the hit of the throttle during the final round of qualifying slowed him to an 8.091-second elapsed time at 126.20 mph to Krawiec's winning 7.048/189.28.

"The same thing happened," said a disappointed Smith. "I left on him by six hundredths of a second, but the bike just didn't perform. We need to test, test and test. We're not going to get better unless we test. Hopefully we'll get this sorted out, because if we don't we're going to look bad again in Reading, and we don't need to keep doing that.

"I played with him a little bit," added Smith. "I blinked the light and I put both of them on and rolled out when he staged. I was trying to get in his head because I knew I wanted to do that and I did what I was supposed to do."

Smith holds on to third place in the point standings, and had clinched a berth in the Countdown to 1 playoffs during qualifying on Saturday.

Next up is the 25th annual NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa., Aug. 14-16.

-credit: dsr