Suzuki rider Smith's Concord day ends in first round

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2009 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 1 of Countdown to 1 Playoffs (five in total for PSM class)
Round 13 of 17 for season - Pro Stock Motorcycle
NHRA CAROLINA NATIONALS
zMAX Dragway
Concord, N.C.
Sept. 18-20, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

SUZUKI RIDER SMITH'S CONCORD DAY ENDS IN FIRST ROUND

CONCORD, N.C. (Sept. 20, 2009) - Riding the Nitro Fish Suzuki Pro Stock
Motorcycle for Don Schumacher Racing, Matt Smith, of nearby King, N.C.,
exited early today at the NHRA Carolina Nationals in his first-round
match-up against Steve Johnson.

Johnson came out the victor with a 7.088-second pass at 186.02 mph to
Smith's quicker but losing 7.072/184.95.

With the new points system in place for the Countdown to 1 playoffs for the
top 10 in the rankings, which began at this event, Smith is now in sixth
place.

"The only positive thing that came out of today is we didn't crash the bike
and we didn't blow the motor up," said a disappointed Smith, who entered
this event fourth in the standings. "Red-lighting just kills you and being
late kills you, but it's part of our sport. It's so disappointing. And it's
been a challenge to get the Suzuki to perform consistently.

"We're going to check to see if we can test here tomorrow," added Smith. "If
we can, we'll test. We don't want to give up this championship just because
we can't get the bike to run and I can't do my job. I need to work on the
tree and Steve (Tartaglia, crew chief) needs to work on the bike. The only
way to fix that is to test. That's what we're going to do."

Next up is the NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex in Dallas, Sept.
25-27.

UNOFFICIAL PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Countdown to 1 playoffs point standings,
after first of five events:
1. Hector Arana, 2194 (winner today)
2. Eddie Krawieck, 2185
3. Andrew Hines, 2125
4. Douglas Horne, 2101
5. Karen Stoffer, 2094 (runner-up today)
6. Matt Smith, 2093
7. Shawn Gann, 2092
8. Michael Phillips, 2085
9. Craig Treble, 2072
10. Matt Guidera, 2020

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