MATT SMITH PLANS FOR HIS FUTURE IN PRO STOCK CAR

by Bobby Bennett    Tue, 2018-10-16 18:21


Matt Smith is adamant; he's not about to quit Pro Stock Motorcycle for a bid to race Pro Stock car. At least he's not right now.

"We’re not done with Pro Stock Bike at all," Smith said. "We plan to run for a championship again next year. We’re in the battle for the championship this year on the bike, and hopefully we can pull it off. Our goal is to run four to seven races next year in a Pro Stock car with Elite Motorsports and Mark Stockseth. Mark has been my partner since 2007 in the motorcycle, and he just wants me to run a car or something next year. So we’re going to field a Pro Stock car every now and then when I don’t run the bike."

One has to wonder how the son of a Pro Stock and Pro Modified legend ends up on a motorcycle when he comes from such a doorslammer centric pedigree.

"Our family doesn’t have big money," Smith said. "I’m sure if my dad was like Johnny Gray and had an unlimited budget I would have already been in one with no problem. But we just don’t have the budget to do that, and if somebody came along and wanted to put me in a car of his, I’m sure it would happen in a heartbeat. He’s said numerous times that he’d love to have me over there. But it’s just the simple fact of we’ve got to make a living, and he’s got to make a living, and he just doesn’t have the money for me to do that.

"So for me to run out here and be competitive I had to find something that was half the wheels and was half the price of what a car was, and that’s how I’ve made a living, and I’ve been successful at it."

Smith makes no bones about, his dad was and remains his drag racing hero.

"I still just want to be just like my dad," Smith said with a smile. "He is 65-years-old, and he’s still out here winning races. I’m 45 [years old], and if I can make it to 65 and still be winning races in the NHRA, I’ll be as successful as he has been. He’s 11-time world champ, and I want to be just like him. He’s still my hero. Yes, he’s my father, but in my eyes, he’s my hero."

Don't think for a moment the kid wasn't thinking about how he could grow up and find a place in racing.

"Back in the Winston days, going to the winner’s circle with him. Standing with, at the time, I think it was Missy with Winston, wearing bib overalls and having decals all over me because these sponsors back in the day would just give decals out galore," Smith said of his fondest memories. "I’d put them all my body, all over my outfit and I’d just walk around with stickers. Just being around my dad and being around my family growing up. That’s the big memories for me."

Smith welcomes the challenge to make his own memories, but even if pro Stock car turns into something bigger, he's not about to let go of his involvement with the bikes.

"It’s a money thing. We’ve got people that want to rent from us, and I’ve kind of put that on the back burner the past couple years just trying to focus on my own program," Smith explained. "If I went Pro Stock or Pro Mod car in the future, I’d still like to have my bike team running with Angie and somebody else renting from us and keep it competitive because we have a top ten team and I think we’ll have a top five team with two bikes."

 

 

 
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