2021 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Texas Results

| October 13, 2021

Denso Buell’s Matt Smith didn’t win four NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle World Championships by being timid so when he arrived at the Texas Nationals in Dallas in second place in the standings, he decided to do something about it. Smith entered the Dallas round in third place, 32 points behind leader Steve Johnson. He left with a slim eight-point lead after winning for the fifth time this season. Smith won the final round after Hector Arana Jr. red-lighted on his Lucas Oil Buell.

**Denso Buell’s Matt Smith moved back into the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Championship lead with a big win in Dallas.**

By Kevin McKenna | Photos by Matt Polito

“This was a great weekend for this Denso team,” said Smith. “We were pretty flawless all weekend, qualifying number two, just a tick by Steve Johnson, and we were low elapsed time of every round today, so hats off to my guys. We’ve got a pretty awesome team and to get that cowboy hat [symbolic of winning this event]; ever since I started my career, I’ve always wanted to win this race and never got it done and just glad to get it done.”

Smith and the rest of the Pro Stock Motorcycle field in Dallas faced unseasonably warm conditions including 90-degree temperatures on race day. That didn’t seem to faze Smith, who had the quickest motorcycle in all four rounds of eliminations including the first round where he unloaded a 6.79 to defeat his teammate, Michael Ray. Smith also clocked wins against Chris Bostick, and his wife Angie Smith, before finishing off the win with a 6.83 in the final against Arana Jr.

“The weather played into our hands; the weather threw everybody a curveball, and I know how to run into these conditions,” Smith said. “We ran these conditions in Norwalk earlier in the year we won that race, and I looked back in my notes. With Angie beating Angelle [Sampey] and two of our bikes in the semis, you can’t ask for much more than that. It was a good weekend for MSR.”

**Smith went up against Hector Arana Jr. in the final. Arana red-lighted, handing the win to Smith.**

Smith has led the standings after eight of 11 races this season, and now has a slim eight-point margin with three races remaining in Bristol, Tennessee, Las Vegas, Nevada and Pomona, California. The points picture took a dramatic turn when Sampey, the number-two rider entering the event, lost to Angie Smith in round two. Johnson, the incoming points leader on his MacRak Suzuki, was the top qualifier but suffered a potentially crippling blow when his bike would not start before his semifinal race against Arana.

Arana Jr. has taken a step back this season and was competing in just his fourth event of 2021, but he was very competitive with wins against Kelly Clontz, White Alligator Suzuki’s Jerry Savoie and Johnson. The final round was Arana’s first since he won the Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas in 2019. Ironically, he defeated Smith in the final round of that event. Arana had also beaten Smith in five-straight final rounds until his loss in Dallas.

There will be no rest for the Pro Stock Motorcycle class as they head to Bristol, Tennessee, next weekend to continue the fight for the Camping World NHRA world title. NHRA’s two-wheel racers have never raced in Bristol, except for a short-lived exhibition event held in 1999-2000.