Results for the 2024 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle in Sonoma
A week following the loss of Gaige Herrera’s incredible 11-race winning run in Seattle, Matt Smith of Denso Buell emerged victorious in the most recent NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle event held at Sonoma Raceway on July 26–28.
Smith, who has not won a game this season, controlled the entire time. With a career-long best score of 6.655, he qualified first and defeated MSR colleague John Hall in the final round on Sunday. Between, Smith also triumphed in Saturday’s GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle All-Star Callout, a bonus race with a $25,000 prize that pits the best eight riders in the class according to their qualifying performances from the previous year.
Although Smith may still believe that the Suzuki brand benefits from the current NHRA regulations package, his performance over the weekend shows otherwise, as he was never really pushed. Smith handily defeated Hall in the final round, outscoring Hall with a 6.700 to 6.746. Smith regularly achieved speeds beyond 200 mph, including a
“When I couldn’t get my bike to sixty-foot [the first 60 feet of the quarter-mile], they all talked trash about me, but after we got it fixed and went to work, they [the Vance & Hines team] seemed to have lost it,” Smith recalled. “Perhaps they should return to work in order to improve their performance.
“This doesn’t wipe away the first half of the season,” said Smith. “They [the Vance & Hines team] say it’s Gaige, but it’s not. He’s a great rider, but it’s that bike. I blame [V&H crew chief] Andrew Hines for throwing the whole class under the bus. When Angelle [Sampey] rode that bike, she was stupid fast. It’s got nothing to do with Gaige. He’s not better than me or Chase Van Sant or Richard Gadson. Andrew and Eddie [Krawiec] couldn’t do their jobs anymore and that’s why they got off the bikes. If I get that seventh title this year, I promise I’ll get off the bike and put some young kid on it who can do the job.”
Smith opened eliminations with a win over Japan’s Eiji Kawakami and then claimed a tough win against Trick Tools Suzuki’s Chase Van Sant. That was perhaps Smith’s closest brush with defeat, as his 6.711 effort held off Van Sant’s 6.767. With a short field of just 12 bikes, Smith was rewarded with a bye run into the final round.
Hall had the exact result he hoped for when he rejoined the MSR team earlier this season. A past winner of the U.S. Nationals, Hall was the number-nine qualifier but made a bit of improvement in eliminations when he defeated Smiths’ wife, Angie, Herrera, and GETTRX Buell’s Hector Arana Jr.
It goes without saying that Hall’s victory over Herrera was the talk of the pits. Herrera was clearly not riding the same dominant bike that he had since last September as he labored during qualifying and finished in third place. With a 6.847, Herrera had dropped from his earlier pace, leaving him easy pickings for Hall, who had a 6.746.
Smith also won the GETTRX Callout event on Saturday, defeating Jianna Evaristo, a colleague, in the last round with a score of 6.655, which was also his best run of the competition.
“I’m really thrilled. This is my first win in the GETTRX Callout but my third win in a specialty race,” Smith said. “We’ve had a tough year. We haven’t won a race, but we’ve been good on Saturdays. This is a big payday, and it means a lot, so I have to say thanks to Steve Bryson and GETTRX for putting this deal on.
“[Jianna] is going to be an excellent rider and I’m proud of what she’s doing. Before the final, I didn’t cut her any slack. We’ve both struggled to cut a light here, but I still told her I was going to spank her.”
The Pro Stock Motorcycle class will now take a monthlong break in preparation for the largest and most important event on the calendar, the NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on August 28-September 2.
