Victory Motorcycles rider Matt Smith qualifies No. 5, will race wife Angie in first round

DENVER – For Victory Motorcycles rider Matt Smith, the Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying results from the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals on Saturday at Bandimere Speedway were a case of good news, bad news.

First, the good news: Smith qualified No. 5 in Denver, the third time in the last three races he has been fifth or better. And his Victory Gunner teammate and wife Angie Smith also qualified for the Denver field.

Now, the bad news: Angie qualified No. 12, meaning she races Matt in the first round.

“It’s always bad news when you gotta run your wife,” Matt Smith said. “But the only plus side to that is that we’re both in the show, so we know one Victory Gunner is going to go to the second run. I just hope it’s me tomorrow.”

Smith has shown plenty of speed in 2016, as he has qualified fifth or better in four of the seven races, but luck has yet to be on his side, as the two-time Pro Stock Motorcycle champion has run into all sorts of misfortune on race day.

“I’m ready to get this bad luck off my side on Sunday,” Smith said. “All I can say is if I lose first round tomorrow, the bad luck is still there and I’m not going to be happy.”

Smith made four solid passes in qualifying, all within .034-second of each other despite wide variations in weather and conditions. His best run was 7.209 seconds at 186.25 mph.

“The bike’s been running good,” Smith said. “We came out of the gate and went a .20. We cannot get enough clutch in this thing. If we can get the clutch to lock up, it’s going to be really, really fast. Hopefully we can get that tomorrow against Angie and put our best time up and see what happens.”

One thing is for sure, there will be no team orders in the first round.

“We race heads up,” Smith said. “I just told my guys to be sure that pillowcase (that covers the engine) is not in there. The last time we ran each other was Gainesville, Fla., last year and that’s what happened. I was No. 1 qualifier then. As long as there’s no pillowcase in, I can do the burnout and we’ll see what happens.”

Pro Stock Motorcycle eliminations start at noon, Sunday, and will be broadcast live on FOX from 1 to 4 p.m. (All times listed in MDT).