Let this be a lesson to all in the Pro Stock Motorcycle ranks - don’t ever count out Matt Smith.

Smith stunned the PSM category on Saturday, surviving an upset-laden bracket featuring the top eight riders in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class from the previous season to win his very first Mickey Thompson Pro Bike Battle crown during the 31st annual Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway.

Smith bested Eddie Krawiec in the surprise final aboard his Victory Gunner-bodied V-twin, using a holeshot to upset number one overall seed in the invitation-only race with a 6.793-second pass at 196.93 mph. Smith’s .027 reaction time helped him overcome Krawiec’s quicker and faster 6.764 at 198.17 mph.

“This is huge for our team,” an elated Smith said following the win. “For us not having a sponsor and pulling this off against a major factory team like that is a pretty big deal. We are kind of the low man on the pole out here. We have a great bike, but we are still looking for sponsorship to finish the year. We have a bike that can win this championship and I am riding well, so hopefully something will come up and we will finish the year with some help.”

The Mickey Thompson Pro Bike Battle brings together the top eight riders in the Pro Stock Motorcycle category based on the previous year’s qualifying results. Featuring a field with a combined 13 championships and 152 NHRA national event victories, Smith came into the weekend as the No. 7 seed and survived a gauntlet of talented riders including Krawiec, LE Tonglet and Andrew Hines.

But in the final it came down to who was the better rider as Smith powered his underfunded machine to the win and the $25,000 top prize.

“I figured we could run a 77 or a 78 so I knew I needed two to three hundredths (in the final) on him,” Smith said. “We have been struggling with the bike going left all weekend and when we got down to the eighth-mile we were totally out of the groove and I was trying to keep it where it wouldn’t spin so bad. I could feel it spinning so I was just trying to stay as tucked as i could and watched for my win light.

“I have been bitten before. Last year I got bit in the finals. I was just hoping it wasn’t going to happen again and when I saw my win light come on, man was I excited.”

In a bracket that featured little breathing room, Smith began the afternoon with an upset of Krawiec’s teammate and No. 2 overall seed Andrew Hines as Smith got the jump and never trailed in the win with a 6.783 at 197.33 mph pass.

He then added a win in another very close race as No. 6 seed Tonglet pushed the two-time champion with a margin of victory of just five-thousandths at the stripe. Smith ran a 6.803 at 198.12 mph in the semifinal matchup, just edging Tonglet’s 6.806 at 197.57 mph.

Krawiec had wins over Scotty Pollacheck and Angie Smith to reach the final as the top overall seed, the only higher-seeded driver to advance in round one.

With the win, Smith adds $25,000 to his team budget and the notoriety of having one of the top bikes in the field as he continues to chase down funds to put together a championship-contending team.

During a tumultuous 2018 season, Smith began the year with backing from Suzuki before the deal dissolved and Smith was forced back to last year’s bike. Smith does have a win, earning the victory at Chicago earlier this year, but the team is far from where they hoped to be when the season began and Saturday’s exhibition victory may just go a long way in helping the team turn the corner.

“It really is huge for us. Angie got a big sponsor from Denso this year and everybody knows what happened to me at the first race. For me to run out of my own pocket this year, this is big for me,” Smith said. “I can’t say enough for everybody helping me out. Lucas Oil, Denso, all of the guys helping with the bike. If you look at our last three years we brought Victory into the sport and that was a big deal, but the problem was we had a good budget, but we didn’t have the aerodynamics and the body work. Then last year we developed a new motor.

“So I have always been behind the eight ball when I have had some money behind me. I just really wish we could get some funding that would let us run the way we need to run. I think if we could do that we could really show what we have. We’ve got a good piece right now, we just need the backing to show what it can really do.”

As for the race itself, Smith qualified third for Sunday’s Sonoma Nationals with a weekend-best 6.783 at 197.33 mph, just behind top qualifier Krawiec and Hector Arana Jr. Kaweic nabbed the No. 1 spot with a 6.757 at 199.94 mph, while Arana earned the track speed record in qualifying second with a 6.775 at 199.88 mph.