Matt Smith raced his way from third place to first in the standings and collected his fifth win of the season at the Texas NHRA Fall Nationals.
"It was a great weekend for this Denso team," Smith said. "We were pretty flawless all weekend. Qualifying No. 2, just a tick behind Steve Johnson, and we were low et every round today, so hats off to my guys. We've got a pretty awesome team and to get that cowboy hat, 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.
"The weather played into our hands, the weather threw everybody a curveball, and I know how to run into these conditions. 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 and two of our bikes in the semi's, you can't ask for much more than that. It was a good weekend for MSR."
RPM Round By Round:
Round 1 - Michael Ray was suppose to face Smith in round number one but did not make a run. Smith made a blistering solo run at 6.798 at 201.37 MPH.
Round 2 - Smith faced Chris Bostick in the quarterfinals and started off trailing after Bostick had a reaction time that was half of Smith's. Smith quickly caught up and took a commanding lead and made it to the stripe first with a run of 6.828 at 199.40 MPH.
Round 3 - The semi's was a family matter as Matt faced his wife and teammate Angie. While Angie had the faster reaction time, it was Matt who got the win with a run of 6.882 at 198.12 MPH.
Round 4 - The final brought Hector Arana Jr looking for a win and to prevent Smith from collecting another Wally and a cowboy hat. A competitive race but Arana Jr was a little excited at the launch and red lighted giving Smith the automatic win. Smith ran 6.839 at 199.08 MPH to collect his fifth wally of 2021.
See the full Pro Stock Motorcycle recap by Phil Burgess: