FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Matt Smith Finishes Day 1 at Joliet 8^th

Contact:
Brandon W. Mudd
636.219.9676
PR@HighSideMedia.com

JOLIET, Ill.: With Day 1 of NHRA Full Throttle Series Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying in the books at Route 66 Raceway, former event runner-up Matt Smith finished the day eighth with an ET of 7.030 seconds at 186.67 mph. The 2007 class champion felt the change in weather prior to Q2 Friday at the 14^th Annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Route 66 Nationals may have played a part in his slower speed in the second round.
 
“We have a pretty good run on the first run, ran a (7.030 sec. ET),” said Smith, who fell in the finals here against Andrew Hines in 2007. “We just missed the tune up on the first hit and thought we’d get it right on the second one. But the weather changed too much, I think, and we overdid it and went the wrong way.
 
“We ran about the same ET (7038 sec.), but we should’ve been faster. We should’ve run a 6.97, 6.98 (ET) that time. All in all, we’ll take the data and see what the weather does tomorrow and try to do better tomorrow.”
 
Smith is looking for some redemption here after bowing out in the first round of eliminations last year, falling to two-time U.S. Nationals champion Steve Johnson.
 
Hector Arana III, son of former PSM champ Hector Arana Jr., took provisional P1 Friday with an ET of 6.950 seconds at 188.96 mph.
 
Fans of Matt Smith can find updates and photos of Matt Smith Racing at MattSmithRacing.com, Facebook.com/MattSmithRacing, and Twitter.com/MattSmithRacing. Videos of Matt and Matt Smith Racing can be found at YouTube.com/MattSmithNHRA. For information regarding sponsorship opportunities with Matt Smith Racing, please e-mail MattSmithRacing@yahoo.com.
 
Saturday’s two rounds of qualifying are set to run at 4 p.m. and again at 7 p.m. Eliminations start at 11 a.m. Sunday. For ticket information, call Route 66 Raceway at 888-629-RACE or visit them on the Web at Route66Raceway.com.

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-HSM-

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