NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Matt Smith is a lot of things but shy isn’t one of them. Whether he’s playing a staging game with the intention of throwing his opponents out of rhythm or publicly calling most of his Pro Stock Motorcycle rivals “hobby racers”, he often boldly goes where few other racers a willing to go. It’s easy to see where that win-at-all-costs mentality comes from; it was ingrained in him by his father Rickie, the three-time Pro Mod champ.

Lately, Smith has been front and center in a very public feud with fellow rider Steve Johnson following NHRA’s recent move to add 15-pounds to all of the V-twin powered bikes in the class. Smith viewed the move as a personal attack. In the process, he accused the Suzuki teams of being hobby racers because the majority of them derive their income from other sources. That’s something that Johnson, the class’ longest tenured rider, took exception to. Smith's rebuttal to Johnson was aired in public on the Facebook pages he shares with his wife, Angie.

Undeterred, Smith hasn't let off-the track drama affect his mentality towards defending his 2018 title.

“There are only a couple of people out here that I don’t get along with in this Motorcycle camp, one of them [Johnson] is on Facebook,” said Smith. “Not a lot of people get along with that guy anyway. I’d say 85-percent of the people out here I’m fine with. When you get up to that starting line, you want to win. That’s my mentality. I was raised up under my dad, and we do whatever it takes to win that round and win that race. I’ll go to whatever extreme I need to do that. If I lose, I’m fine with it, if I win, I know the tactic worked.”

Smith one the first-ever four-wide race in Charlotte in 2010, and he was a runner-up three weeks ago when the Pro Stock Motorcycle class made their first appearance at the four-wide event in Las Vegas.

 “This [zMax Dragway] is my home track and I’d love to win here again,” said Smith. “I used to do a lot of testing here, and I think that’s why I was so good here in the beginning. As for four-wide racing, I love it. A lot of people don’t get it. I love the challenge. I love new things. NASCAR has a couple of road races each year. That’s their oddball. This [four-wide] stuff is our oddball. I go up there and try to go do my job. Maybe I’ll play game a little bit and mess one person up or two. You only need two win lights to get to the final so it might be a big help. I’m not afraid to try it.”