Smith rides Nitro Fish Suzuki into Vegas semifinals

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2009 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 4 of 5 Countdown to 1 Playoffs events for Pro Stock Motorcycle class
Round 16 of 17 for season
Ninth annual NHRA Las Vegas Nationals
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Oct. 30-Nov. 1, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

SMITH RIDES NITRO FISH SUZUKI INTO VEGAS SEMIFINALS

LAS VEGAS (Nov. 1, 2009) - Riding the Nitro Fish Ultimate Gear Suzuki at the
ninth annual NHRA Las Vegas Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway, Matt Smith ended his race day in the semifinals for the seventh
time this season.

With renewed confidence and a consistent Pro Stock Motorcycle under him,
Smith defeated Larry Cook in the opening round of eliminations with a
7.073-second pass at 189.04 mph, then dismissed Shawn Gann using a .001
reaction time (.000 is perfect) and a 7.037/189.44 lap. He met his match in
the semifinals against the Harley V-Twin of Andrew Hines, who scored the
victory with the quickest run in eliminations of 6.992/191.62 to Smith's
7.044/189.90.

Smith is now officially without a chance of winning the PSM championship,
with one race remaining in Pomona, Calif., in two weeks. He stands fourth,
191 markers behind leader Hector Arana. The best he could finish the season
would be in third. He's 39 points behind third-place Andrew Hines.

"We ran good all weekend," said Smith. "It's just that these V-Twins are
eating up on us. We showed it again that we have the fastest Suzuki out
here. We have to go back, and Steve (Tartaglia, crew chief) agrees, and we
have to find some beans.

"I did all I could today. We got past first round. I took it easy on Larry
Cook and I almost took it too easy, because we spun the tires real bad out
there. But we came back next round and went .001 (reaction time) against
Gann, and then when we ran Andrew we went .017 to his .010.

"I wanted to win. I was hungry to win a race. We're trying to do it for
(team owner) Don Schumacher, we're trying to do it for Suzuki, and we're
trying to do it for Kenny (Koretsky, Nitro Fish owner). We just have to get
another little break."

As for the almost-red light in the quarterfinal: "I went up there the first
round and I was .080 and I was suppsed to be like .040 or .050, so I moved
the clutch lever a litlte bit more and it went .001. It was a little too
close. I left it alone because Andrew went .005 in the second round, and I
was like, We have to go after it. And we did. Both of us clicked a .01
light, but he was the winner.

"The consistency of this bike lately is spurring me on as a rider. It makes
you a whole lot confident when your bike is consistent. We found our problem
in Charlotte when we did that test with the carburetors.

"I truly believe that we've turned the corner. All year long we've been
trying to figure out why we go fast one run and not the next run. And now
we're consistently fast all the time and we just have to go find some more
power and go after this thing next year."

Next up is the 45th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., Nov.
12-15.

UNOFFICIAL PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE POINT STANDINGS, after 16 of 17 events:
1. Hector Arana, 2525 (runner-up today)
2. Eddie Krawiec, 2471
3. Andrew Hines, 2372 (winner today)
4. Matt Smith, 2334
5. Michael Phillips, 2288
6. Doug Horne, 2262
7. Karen Stoffer, 2213
8. Shawn Gann, 2209
9. Craig Treble, 2168
10. Matt Guidera, 2020

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