| November 16, 2021
On a weekend when he apparently could do no wrong, Denso Buell’s Matt Smith won the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona and in the process, won his fifth NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Championship.
Matt Smith captured his fifth NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Championship at the final round at Pomona.
By Kevin McKenna | Photography by Matt Polito
Smith clinched the championship halfway through final eliminations when he beat Vance & Hines Suzuki’s Angelle Sampey and then finished the rout with a win over Big St. Charles Suzuki’s Karen Stoffer in the final round.
Smith didn’t have the quickest bike in the final, but his quick reflexes allowed him to get a starting line holeshot and ride to a 6.81 elapsed time for the win, covering Stoffer’s quicker 6.76.
“What a relief; this has been a tough year,” Smith said. “I’ve said all year long that those Suzuki bikes are fast but somehow we made it work. I managed to outperform them on the starting line and we needed it. My whole goal coming into this race was to make three quick qualifying runs in qualifying and then win all four rounds [of eliminations] on Sunday. We did that. To [sponsors] Denso, Mark Stockseth, and Glen Butcher Trucking, thanks for all you do.”
Winning the race was big for Smith, who now has 32 NHRA event wins, but his biggest priority coming into the season-ending event was securing his fifth championship. Coming into the race, Smith led Steve Johnson by 20 points and was 30 points ahead of Sampey. Under NHRA’s points system, Smith had what amounted to a one-round lead over both of his rivals.
Smith finished off the season with a win over Karen Stoffer but had already clinched the title after beating Angelle Sampey earlier in the day. In that race, Smith ended up in the sand trap.
During qualifying, Smith added bonus points that were crucial to his title pursuit. By the time Sunday’s final eliminations began, he’d pushed his advantage to two rounds.
Smith easily defeated Ryan Oehler in round one to set up an epic race against Sampey in the quarterfinals. Johnson lost to Vance & Hines rider Eddie Krawiec in the second round, meaning that Smith was very much in control of his own fate.
Once again, Smith’s riding saved the day as he left first against Sampey and won on another holeshot, with his 6.80 elapsed time finishing ahead of Sampey’s 6.77.
“I just want to be known as one of the greatest of all time,” Smith said. “You’ve got people like [NHRA icons] Dave Schultz, John Meyers, Angelle [Sampey], Eddie Krawiec and Andrew Hines, and I just want to be included with that group. We did it. We’ve now got five of them and that’s all I needed.”
For Smith, the drama of the championship didn’t end at the finish line. On his title-clinching run, Smith’s brakes failed, and he went for a trip into the sand trap at the end of the Pomona Raceway quarter mile. Smith managed to get his bike slowed down enough that it wasn’t severely damaged, but he also had little time to clean and service it before his next race against Krawiec.
“We’re doing all the championship celebrations and the trophy presentation and I’m thinking that we don’t have much time to get the bike fixed if we’ve got a problem. I thought about changing engines, but we had no time for that. We just got it cleaned up as much as we could and thankfully, nothing was wrong with it. When I went into the sand, my only goal was to keep the bike upright, so we didn’t tear up any bodywork.”
Stoffer finished out the year fifth in the championship.
Smith returned to easily top Krawiec and then went about the tough task of preparing to race Stoffer in the final round. On Saturday, Stoffer knocked Smith from the top spot in qualifying with a 6.751, and she returned on Sunday to record a career best 6.741 in her win against Kelly Clontz. Stoffer also topped 200-mph for the first time in her career.
Facing a performance deficit for one of the few times this season, Smith rose to the challenge in the final with a nearly perfect reaction time that put him well ahead of Stoffer. Smith was able to win with a 6.817 to Stoffer’s 6.766.
Stoffer, celebrating her 25th year in the class, finished the season on a strong note by reaching the final round of the last three races in Bristol, Tennessee, Las Vegas and Pomona. Stoffer has been on the leading edge of a performance resurgence by the Suzuki brand in NHRA competition thanks to a rules revision that permitted four-valve technology.
That performance increase hasn’t gone unnoticed by Smith, who plans to race a Suzuki next season. Smith has also announced a partnership with the Scrappers team including riders Jianna Salinas and Jimmy Underdahl.
“I’ve been saying all year that the Suzuki’s have an advantage and now I’m going to build one to see what I can do,” Smith said. “I’m really excited about working with Jianna, because I think I can help make her a better rider. This [Denso Buell] that I’ve been riding the last couple of years has been a great bike but it’s going into storage.
“I’ve never won a race on a Suzuki so that’s my goal for 2022,” Smith said. “Of course, I also want to come back and race for a sixth championship. The only guy who’s done that is Andrew [Hines] so it would be pretty special to join that club.”
Smith and his supporters celebrate the title.
At the conclusion of the 2021 season, Smith is the champion, followed by Sampey, Johnson, Krawiec, Stoffer, Scotty Pollacheck, Angie Smith, Joey Gladstone, Andrew Hines and Ryan Oehler.
The 2021 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle season is expected to kick off at the traditional opener in Gainesville, Florida in mid-March. CN
- Matt Smith (Bue)
- Karen Stoffer (Suz)
