A Victory for Matt Smith in Chicago as he claims No. 1 qualifying spot
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Contact: Rob Geiger (832) 971-9345 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Victory for Matt Smith in Chicago as he claims No. 1 qualifying spot ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CHICAGO (July 9) -- Matt Smith rode his Victory Motorcycles Gunner to the No. 1 qualifying spot for the K&N Filters Route 66 NHRA Nationals on Saturday at Route 66 Raceway. The No. 1 qualifier is Smith's first of the season and 24th of his career. It's also the second for the Victory Motorcycles team and the first since Gainesville, Fla., last season. "It feels good to get back up top," Smith said. "We know we have a good bike. We've known we had a good top-four or top-five bike -- maybe not a No. 1 bike. Luckily we got the run in (Friday) and got the No. 1 spot. "All in all the bike is running good, it's consistent. We've been the quickest at the 60-foot (mark) about every time, and hopefully we can turn on some win lights on Sunday and try to get in the semi's and the final. If we can get in the winner's circle, that would be great for Victory. That's what we are here for. "We need to get Victory their first win and for all of the people that help me, with Lucas Oil, Mark Stockseth, Elite Performance, and Nitro Fish." Smith took the top spot with a 6.842 at 195.51 mph, run in the second qualifying session on Friday. He made another good pass in Q3 on Saturday and was on a good run in Q4 before having a mechanical issue. "We were on as good a run as Eddie (Krawiec) or our .84 pass from the previous day, but the top of the fuel injector broke off," Smith said. "It just starting spraying fuel out, and I immediately shut the bike off and just tried to get the fuel pump off as quick as I could so I didn't catch the bike on fire." His Gunner was fine, and his Matt Smith Racing team went to work preparing it for Sunday's eliminations. Smith starts race day against No. 16 qualifier Michael Ray, whose best pass was a 6.968 at 192.69 mph. Smith has two No. 1 qualifiers in Chicago and has raced to the final round here three times, the last of which came in 2014, but he's still looking for his first victory here. "I like this place," Smith said. "This track has a lot of teeth to it. The air is never really good here because of the altitude, but the facility is just awesome. This track needs to be a sea level track, and you would see a lot of .70s out of our bikes. All in all we have always done well here, and hopefully we can parlay that into a final round tomorrow." While he was in the No. 1 spot, wife/teammate Angie Smith failed to qualify after an unfortunate mishap in the final qualifying session. She ran the first three sessions with a new rear tire, but the Gunner didn't respond with good 60-foot times, and she was outside the top 16 heading into Q4. With an older tire, Smith launched well and was on an excellent run when her Gunner picked up the tire after she shifted into 4th gear. Her hand bumped the shifter again, putting the transmission into 6th gear instead of 5th. That ruined her run, and she was left on the outside looking in. "Usually our bikes don't pull up like that," she said. "It can happen in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and we're used to it, but there's a bump on the track there, too, and it caught me by surprise when the front end came up. "We were on a good run, too. I knew it was going to be good by the 60-foot mark, and the graph looked great all the way to the eighth-mile. It was really digging, and that's what is so frustrating. Plus, I'd been riding well all weekend, too. I guess we should've changed the tire earlier, but we didn't. "We know we have a great bike, so we'll go cheer for Matt to win tomorrow and get ready for the Western Swing." Eliminations start at noon, Sunday. FOX Sports 1 will carry qualifying action from 10 p.m. to midnight ET, Saturday, and eliminations live beginning at 2 p.m., Sunday. Matt Smith rode his Victory Motorcycles Gunner to the No. 1 qualifying spot for the K&N Filters Route 66 NHRA Nationals on Saturday at Route 66 Raceway in Chicago. Angie Smith failed to qualify after an unfortunate mishap in the final qualifying session. Her Gunner didn't respond with good 60-foot times, and she was outside the top 16 heading into Q4. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --30-- Visit VictoryMotorcycles.com [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001QPGU-uVRxgz9kt5oVwfshuW4XZKyefcJp6sli1EGwx97pk9aGk4Ipr8AmoFOVcB56K0fRn0a30xBnRfXrABpux6fwsAqFt1ojvDCBF2qYMnCxgMgNqhZj4QGcYcgbA18XFqMp2If-IxrPP_Ml3OFJNv2j01HcYZchsA6PRbR8T9WE1n-4xt7PMaVptY6NqGU&c=7C0TywbcziTMKM25BMDkZoYNJDDxlWtjzZ5qL_g4DFBye1Ms8SzBXA==&ch=cZfuFnqZj_snejvCouzK7IrmXhQhhFW6bLNiLdrn8oE5b0KkfDMhiA==], LucasOil.com [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001QPGU-uVRxgz9kt5oVwfshuW4XZKyefcJp6sli1EGwx97pk9aGk4Ipgja_zsiY-yIWf54-u7ciEFwCNmyMHRhBcXxVMlYL5ABMhrptR8RhwOj5Xu04SbGJpOl5c-DOvoqdgCU8QT87zkPkPzz6XHkwNBvk-vTsq3SYySiRR0HCgQ=&c=7C0TywbcziTMKM25BMDkZoYNJDDxlWtjzZ5qL_g4DFBye1Ms8SzBXA==&ch=cZfuFnqZj_snejvCouzK7IrmXhQhhFW6bLNiLdrn8oE5b0KkfDMhiA==], NitroFish.com [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001QPGU-uVRxgz9kt5oVwfshuW4XZKyefcJp6sli1EGwx97pk9aGk4Ipi941khxqm6vzsp1LoWtD0wXh2r8CLqSXDgue4pullu4MPnQbz9lBh4ua7nx3uj952Xp5cCBGRiALO3NMHLgonN59qBwsYBCHEA73sAAufG0Palm9gBVgM0=&c=7C0TywbcziTMKM25BMDkZoYNJDDxlWtjzZ5qL_g4DFBye1Ms8SzBXA==&ch=cZfuFnqZj_snejvCouzK7IrmXhQhhFW6bLNiLdrn8oE5b0KkfDMhiA==], and GeigerMediaGlobal.com [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001QPGU-uVRxgz9kt5oVwfshuW4XZKyefcJp6sli1EGwx97pk9aGk4IprfetFXRVr0Xa_9F8CITU3SVZDTzBPdgbqi5893ZckDtzCkP_x_1Od_ent96JDkDTIcVBlLeBm-j1OuABsgpX4_VINF-qK02iU4kWKGqXbsBXOcCOupP4j5bAbEN0w0D5g==&c=7C0TywbcziTMKM25BMDkZoYNJDDxlWtjzZ5qL_g4DFBye1Ms8SzBXA==&ch=cZfuFnqZj_snejvCouzK7IrmXhQhhFW6bLNiLdrn8oE5b0KkfDMhiA==] for more information. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forward this email http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?llr=uiezvfkab&m=1110439661844&ea=$submit@theautochannel.com$&a=1125246220286 This email was sent to submit@theautochannel.com by rob@geigermediaglobal.com. 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