NHRA Southern Nationals
South Georgia Motorsports Park
May 1-3, 2026

Matt Smith Wins Pro Stock Motorcycle

Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Matt Smith finished off a picture-perfect weekend on Sunday with his first victory of the 2026 season, defeating Richard Gadson in the final round with a run of 6.724 at 202.06 on his Denso Auto Parts Buell.

Smith and his team had qualified No. 1 at each of the first three races this season, but Sunday had been a different story until today, as Smith enjoyed a stellar day, including a run of 6.685 at 203.06 in a second-round victory against Chase Van Sant. He got past his wife, Angie, a round later to set up the matchup with the reigning world champion.

Gadson left first, but Smith, who was named to NHRA’s Top 75 Driver list before the season, tracked him down, showcasing a motorcycle that has been a step ahead of everyone in NHRA’s debut at South Georgia Motorsports Park. It led to Smith’s 43rd career win as he seeks a class-record seventh world championship this season.

“This is not only rewarding for me, but it’s just rewarding for our team, because we worked so hard this winter to find a little bit of power,” Smith said. “We found some power and we’re showing it. We’ve been No. 1 qualifier for three races in a row now. We just hadn’t shown up on Sunday and I’m glad we showed up today.

“We got our lucky break in the first round. I had a bye and as soon as I brought the engine up, the toggle switch on the fuel pump went out so we lost lane choice. As soon as I saw this [75th anniversary NHRA Wally trophy] I knew I wanted one. I’m glad we didn’t have to wait long to get it.”

Gadson, who remained in the points lead, advanced to his second final round this season after defeating Geno Scali, Clayton Howey and two-time world champion Gaige Herrera.

The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action May 14-17 with the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK at Route 66 Raceway in Chicago.

ELIMINATIONS ROUND 2

SEMI-FINAL

FINAL

SATURDAY QUALIFYING

Matt Smith’s 6.669 at 203.03 on his Denso Auto Parts Buell held up from Friday, as the six-time world champion continues to be the only rider in Pro Stock Motorcycle to reach the 6.60s this season. He earned his second straight No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 61st in his career.

Smith made a strong run to close out Saturday during the lone qualifying session, going 6.728 at 199.29 and takes plenty of momentum into Sunday, where he’ll attempt to pick up his first victory of the season.

“I am looking forward to raceday tomorrow,” Smith said. “I like my chances in the first round (with a bye). You know, this is the South, and I’ve run so many races down here in Georgia and there’s a lot of motorcycle racing fans down here, and they stuck around to watch us today. We put on a good show. This is a great facility, a fast facility and hopefully there’ll be a good fanbase turnout tomorrow.”

Charlotte winner Gaige Herrera qualified second with a run of 6.705 at 202.30 and reigning world champ Richard Gadson took third after going 6.730 at 201.37.

1. Matt Smith, 6.699, 203.03
2. Gaige Herrera, 6.705, 202.30
3. Richard Gadson, 6.730, 201.61
4. John Hall, Beull, 6.734, 202.88
5. Angie Smith, 6.757, 200.65
6. Clayton Howey, 6.775, 200.53
7. Jianna Evaristo, 6.778, 200.29
8. Chase Van Sant, 6.778, 199.70
9. Marc Ingwersen, 6.806, 198.58
10. Kelly Clontz, 6.815, 199.32
11. Ryan Oehler, 6.828, 197.19
12. Brayden Davis, 6.830, 198.93
13. Steve Johnson, 6.837, 193.90
14. Geno Scali, 6.842, 198.82
15. Charles Poskey, 7.005, 194.13

FRIDAY QUALIFYING

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Matt Smith made his NHRA debut at SGMP on his Denso Auto Parts Buell a good one, making the first run in the 6.60s in 2026 with a standout pass of 6.669 at 203.03. It’s the quickest run of the season in the category and puts Smith on track for his second straight No. 1 qualifier.

This comes a race after he became Pro Stock Motorcycle’s all-time leader in No. 1 qualifiers with 60. Smith, a six-time world champion is now looking to make it 61 and he had a consistent Friday with the quickest run in each session. Next on the to-do list for Smith is finishing the job and he hopes Friday’s strong start at a new track leads to his first victory of the 2026 campaign.

“You know, we tested a lot, even when we left Charlotte, we went and tested again in Rockingham, so, I mean, we’re out here trying to be better and it’s showing every day. We’re getting better and better, and that’s the name of the game,” Smith said.

“Looking at the weather I said we should run 6.69 to 6.70, and it went 6.699, so it was as close to a 70 as you can get. On the second run, we had a headwind, so we knew we were going to slow down a little bit.”

Charlotte winner Gaige Herrera is currently second with a run of 6.723 at 200.23 and reigning world champ Richard Gadson is right behind after going 6.730 at 201.37.

1. Matt Smith, 6.699, 203.03
2. Gaige Herrera, 6.723, 200.23
3. Richard Gadson, 6.730, 201.37
4. Angie Smith, 6.757, 200.65
5. Jianna Evaristo, 6.778, 200.29
6. Chase Van Sant, 6.778, 199.35
7. Clayton Howey, 6.795, 200.53
8. Marc Ingwersen, 6.806, 198.58
9. Kelly Clontz, 6.815, 199.32
10. Ryan Oehler, 6.828, 197.19
11. Brayden Davis, 6.830, 198.93
12. Steve Johnson, 6.837, 193.90
13. John Hall, 6.841, 198.82
14. Geno Scali, 6.842, 198.82
15. Charles Poskey, 7.005, 193.18

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