COUNTDOWN: ROUND 5/OCTOBER 27, 2013
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY/LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
DRAG RACING
P58
NHRA PRO STOCK SERIES
HIGH ROLLER
Matt Smith clinches second championship
with dramatic Las Vegas win
BY KEVIN MCKENNA
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARK REBILAS
V
iper Motorcycle Co. Buell's
Matt Smith clinched his
second-career NHRA Mello Yello Series Pro Stock Championship in style with a clutch win
at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway. After winning two of
the last three events, Smith held
a sizable lead in the standings
before entering the penultimate
event in Las Vegas and clinched
the title, and the $75,000 bonus
that accompanies it, after winning the final round against White
Alligator Suzuki's Jerry Savoie.
"With me winning the [Pro
Stock Motorcycle] championship
and dad winning the Pro Mod
championship it's been great,"
Smith said. "I don't know what
else I could ask for. This Viper
team has been awesome. I don't
want to sound too confident, but
we've almost been unstoppable.
We've been to 10 finals since Epping and have six wins. Those are
amazing numbers for our team."
En route to the 17th win of his
career, Smith opened eliminations with a 6.97 win over Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson's Andrew Hines and then padded his
points total with a 7.04 to 7.07 win
against 2010 NHRA champion
LE Tonglet's Nitro Fish Suzuki.
Smith reached the final round
