Englishtown: Matt Smith Saturday notes

SUZUKI RIDER SMITH TAKES NO. 10 IN E-TOWN QUALIFYING

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 13, 2009) - It's been a less-than-perfect weekend so far for Matt Smith, the rider of the Nitro Fish Ultimate Gear Suzuki in the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle class. He ended up qualifying No. 10 for the NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.

The best the 2006 Englishtown champion could pull out was a 7.065-second lap at 181.23 mph in the Friday night session (No. 7), which was preceded by a 7.077/184.98 (No. 4) and followed by a 7.246/148.43 today. The fourth and final round was cancelled because of rain.

"Man, we've had a horrible weekend," said Smith, who joined Don Schumacher Racing this season. "We just haven't gotten anything together. It looks like a tire broke a cord on us in the Q3 pass and it about put us in the wall.

"We were quick at 60 foot and quickest at 330 feet and then just about hit the wall.

"We didn't think we were running right, so we stuck in a good motor this morning and it looked like it was going to run good, but I had to shut if off. It's not been a good weekend.

"We'll wait and see what tomorrow brings and hopefully we can go some rounds."

Smith faces Michael Phillips in the opening round of Sunday's eliminations.

-credit: dsr