As far as NHRA’s Pro Stock Motorcycle class goes Matt Smith has proven he’s one of the best.

The King, N.C., native won world championships in 2007 and 2013, and those accomplishments have him thinking about going even faster – in a different class.

As far as NHRA’s Pro Stock Motorcycle class goes Matt Smith has proven he’s one of the best.

The King, N.C., native won world championships in 2007 and 2013, and those accomplishments have him thinking about going even faster – in a different class.

“My plan is to come back (to Pro Stock Motorcycles) unless my old man puts me in the car,” Smith, 41, said. “Regardless, my team will be back running the bikes, but my ultimate goal is to drive a Pro Mod or a (nitro) Funny Car. If I have a choice I will do one of those, but my team will still go on with the bikes.”

Smith’s father is Rickie Smith, the 2013 NHRA Pro Mod Series champion who is leading the season points again this season.

“It is all according to what he (Rickie) does,” Matt said. “He has been retiring for a couple of years and you just don’t ever know if he’s going to retire. I just want to do something different. I just want to go fast. I’m like Ricky Bobby (in Talladega Nights); I just want to go fast.”

Matt said he does not have a nitro Funny Car or Top Fuel license. He does have a Pro Mod license and tested in one as recently as three months ago.

While Matt ponders his next move in 2015, he is in the midst of the 2014 Countdown to the Championship with his four-bike team at Matt Smith Racing.

“Right now I’m on the fence of how many I’m going to do,” Matt said about 2015. “I don’t know whether I’m going to do two, three or four bikes. I’ve got people who want to do up to five or six bikes next year. I know I can only have four out of my trailer, but that’s not saying I can’t rent motors to other people and have five or six next year.”

Matt and his wife Angie each compete, and they are joined at MSR by John Hall and Scotty Pollacheck.

Heading into the NHRA Midwest Nationals Friday through Sunday at St. Louis, Matt (5th), Pollacheck (6th) and Angie (9th) are all still in contention to capture a world championship.It begs the question if having this many teammates helps or hurts Matt’s run at another world title.

“I don’t know if it hinders me,” Smith said. “It might not help me, but it doesn’t hinder me. Probably with four of them it is on the verge of being too much. Three is about perfect. The biggest thing is you just have to have the right amount of help from people to help you work on the stuff.”

According to Matt, Steve Nichols is expected to be in St. Louis Saturday and Sunday and will be helping with the tuning for his team. And, Matt admitted, having several teammates does have some benefits and that was evident for him at Dallas last weekend.

“At Dallas we were kind of lost with our tune-up,” Matt said. “After two qualifying passes our bikes were not running real good. I went one way with one bike and another way with another and I left the other two with what I thought I should do. Then all of a sudden, John Hall’s bike picked up and ran. Then we knew what to do in Q4 with mine and Scotty’s and they went the right way. That’s the benefit of having more than one bike, you can try stuff and if it works it’s great. Then you can apply it to the other ones and if it doesn’t then you don’t need to go that way.”

With that many teammates, Matt knows it is nearly inevitable he is going to have to race someone out of the MSR stable.

“I would rather meet up with my teammates than somebody else because I know one of us is going to the next round,” Matt said. “It’s all about getting one of our bikes to the finals or the semifinals and try and make a run for it.”

Although MSR has had plenty of success in 2014, Matt knows winning another world championship is going to be a challenge.

“We are back behind the 8-ball again to the Harleys,” Matt said. “The Harleys have an advantage again and nobody is going to be good until they slow them down again.”

Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson riders Andrew Hines and Eddie Krawiec are first and second in the point standings. They have combined for nine wins in 12 races – five by Hines and four by Krawiec.

“The Harley guys have to mess up a ton,” Matt said about what will have to happen for him to have an opportunity to repeat as a champion. “Just like you saw Eddie do last week in the first round (at Dallas). The problem is they both have to do that in the first round or we’re fighting a losing battle, and more than likely they both are not going to do it.”

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