PSM rider Matt Smith set to make DSR debut at Gators

(EDITORS: Attached is a digital image of the Nitro Fish Ultimate Gear Suzuki
at the DSR shop in Brownsburg, Ind., as it was about to be put on the
transporter to travel to Valdosta, Ga., for testing today.)

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2009 Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
Round 3 of 24
NHRA Gatornationals
Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway
March 13-15, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Judy Stropus, 203-438-0501; cell 203-243-2438;
jstropus@earthlink.net

PSM RIDER MATT SMITH SET TO MAKE DSR DEBUT AT GATORS

KING, N.C. (March 9, 2009) - Matt Smith, who will ride the Nitro Fish
Ultimate Gear Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle for Don Schumacher Racing this
season in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, is eager to get
started this weekend at the class's season opener at the NHRA Gatornationals
in Gainesville, Fla. Gainesville Raceway is the site of his initial
appearance in the PSM class in 2004.

Smith's first opportunity to ride the new Suzuki comes today in Valdosta,
Ga., where he is testing the bike for the first time in preparation for the
Gatornationals. Testing won't stop there. "We'll probably use this first
race kind of as another test to help get the team to jell together," said
the 2007 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle champion. "We have the Countdown now, so
every race is not as critical as it used to be in the old format, with the
points now being reset for the last six races.

"Our main goal is to try to focus and work as a team, win races and
hopefully the championship."

While the three other NHRA pro classes prepare for their third national
event of the season, the Pro Stock Motorcycle riders have been anticipating
and preparing for their first of 17.

"I've just been keeping my head focused on racing," said Smith of his off
season. "I've been working on Angie's (his fiancee and fellow PSM rider
McBride) bike at my shop and I go to the gym every now and then. Going to
the gym and working on other bikes keeps me in the frame of mind that this
is my living and this is what I want to do, so I have to do the best I can.

"Don Schumacher basically wanted me to be a fly-in and fly-out rider," added
Smith, who has not made the move from King, N.C., to Brownsburg, Ind., where
DSR is located. "I guess the biggest reason is I'm 10 hours from the shop
and I have a 12-year-old son I take care of."

He has, however, provided and will continue to provide valuable input to the
team's efforts. "I went up to the DSR shop one time and Steve (Tartaglia,
crew chief) and I looked at clutch readings and the computer data from last
year. I gave him some input on what I thought was the direction we needed to
go toward, and I think we're going to try some of those things testing today
or Tuesday.

"I can give a lot of feedback by just riding the bike," added Smith. "Before
we even get back to the trailer after a run, 95 percent of the time I can
tell Steve what the bike did going down the race track without even looking
at the computer. Sometimes the computer doesn't even show what the bike
does. As a rider I can feel it, so I think that's where I'll really be able
to help Steve."

How is he adjusting to being a hired rider after running his own team the
last few years? "It's kind of hard," he admitted, "but I'll be fine. I'm
just like Don and everyone else in this sport. That's why I formed my own
team two years ago. I wanted to win. And the only way I saw that I could
win, with where I was going, was to have my own stuff. And we did that. We
won eight races in two years and the championship.

"I'm hoping that I can bring to the DSR table my ability to be a good,
consistent rider, win a lot of races and have a chance to win DSR its first
Pro Stock Motorcycle championship.

"Gainesville is one of our biggest races of the year," added Smith. "I know
it's our first race of the season, but that's one of the races in my book
that I would love to win. I've won Indy, I've won a lot of the other big
races, but Gainesville is probably THE biggest race I haven't won yet. I
would like to win Gainesville because that place means a lot to me."

MATT SMITH QUICK FACTS:
* Won 2007 PSM championship, winning four races in nine final rounds
* Was No. 1 seed in 2008 NHRA PSM playoffs, earning 20-point bonus
* No. 3 in 2008 PSM point standings
* Came close to claiming his second straight PSM crown in 2008 after leading
the standings for the last six of seven events in the playoffs. A mechanical
problem in the final event of the season dropped him to third
* Collected a career-high seven No. 1 qualifiers in 2008
* Qualified No. 2 in 2008 Gatornationals, lost semifinal round to Andrew
Hines
* Debuted in the PSM class at Gatornationals in 2004
* Was Gators runner-up in 2007 (Karen Stoffer)
* Is the son of NHRA Pro Stock racer Rickie Smith
* Has 10 career national-event wins in 20 final rounds, and was low
qualifier 14 times since joining the class on a limited basis in 2003
* Became a full-time competitor in the class in 2005
* Career round win-loss record is 103-64 in 81 national events
* Career-best elapsed time: 6.882 seconds (St. Louis 2008)
* Career-best seed: 194.04 mph (Houston 2006)
* Lives in King, N.C. - single
* Born Nov. 11, 1972
* Son Tristan (9/12/96)

SCHEDULE:   
FRIDAY, March 13 - PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 11:30 a.m. & 2:30
p.m.
SATURDAY, March 14 - PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30
p.m.
SUNDAY, March 15 - Pre-race ceremonies, 10 a.m. FINAL ELIMINATIONS begin at
11 a.m.

TELEVISION:    
Sunday, March 15, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of
qualifying highlights at 2 a.m. (ET).
Sunday, March 15, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will re-air 90 minutes of
qualifying highlights at 10 a.m. (ET).
Sunday, March 15, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise NHRA Race Day, a
30-minute news magazine show, at 11:30 a.m. (ET)
Sunday, March 15, ESPN and ESPN HD will televise three hours of coverage
starting at 3 p.m. (ET).
    
SATELLITE (Analog feed):
Friday, March 13, 9 - 9:30 p.m. (ET), AMC 15 / Transponder 8K (11860
MHz, horizontal)
Saturday, March 14, 7:30 - 8 p.m. (ET), AMC 15 / Transponder 7K (11840
MHz, vertical)
Sunday, March 15, 6:30 - 7 p.m. (ET), AMC 15 / Transponder 7K (11840
MHz, vertical)
Video news release contains race action highlights each day and winners'
interviews on Sunday.

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