Matt Smith believed the time had come for a new version of the Buell in the NHRA’s Pro Stock Motorcycle division. The defending POWERade champion said that he sought permission from the NHRA first, then the manufacturer, and said upon receiving blessings from both, undertook the financial and physical investment to bring a new Buell motorcycle configuration project to fruition.

There’s only one problem with Smith’s scenario: The approving parties involved say there was never a “deal” in place. A beleaguered Smith is left with a partially developed motorcycle, and no place to race it, at least not under NHRA auspices.

“We got the approval to do everything and once we got finished, the project got shot down,” Smith explained. “We are sitting on it right now.”

“It” for Smith is a brand new 1125R Buell body style he had hoped would provide an alternative to the current XB-9. The lure for this change, according to Smith, was a larger frontal area.

Pro Stock Motorcycle champion alleges rule makers reneged on approval of new Buell

Matt Smith said he undertook the financial task of building a different Buell body style only to have the project axed by the NHRA. The NHRA said no such approval was given.

There’s only one problem with Smith’s scenario: The approving parties involved say there was never a “deal” in place. A beleaguered Smith is left with a partially developed motorcycle, and no place to race it, at least not under NHRA auspices.

“We got the approval to do everything and once we got finished, the project got shot down,” Smith explained. “We are sitting on it right now.”

“It” for Smith is a brand new 1125R Buell body style he had hoped would provide an alternative to the current XB-9. The lure for this change, according to Smith, was a larger frontal area.

Smith stated that he went through the proper channels to get the 1125R approved. He alleges the scenario began at the Performance Racing Industry trade show last December in Orlando, FL.

“I brought pictures and a computer rendering (of the new Buell) to Don Taylor at the NHRA and their (tech) committee and (told them) what I wanted to do. They looked at everything and told me they would discuss it with Graham Light or whoever they needed to talk to and get back to me within a week.

“Don Taylor called me back and gave me total approval to do it. He said everything was good because Suzuki has three different body styles out there. You can run a Hyabusa or a GSXR-1000 or a GL,”

Unless something is in writing from us, it is not official. - Don Taylor, NHRA Senior Director National Technical Operation

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The new Buell 1125R that Smith wanted to build for Pro Stock Motorcycle. (Buell.com Photo)

Smith said he knew what needed to be done on his behalf to ensure legality. He was prepared to follow the regulations he said were handed down to him from the NHRA. However, Smith also acknowledges that all of his communications with NHRA on this subject were verbal rather than in writing.  Such regulations reportedly mandated that Smith couldn’t run the 1125R until the bike had been displayed for one event, which was expected to be the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals in Atlanta, GA. He would also be required to have at least four bodies available for sale.

“Within two weeks of presenting my case to the NHRA, I took a bike to welder Kelly Campbell so he could copy the chassis and make a chassis like we have,” Smith added. “We would take the old bodywork and totally destroy it and get everything converted to the 1125R. Through the process of making the molds and everything, [NHRA tech official] Bob Blackwell saw the bike as it was being built. Every time we did something dramatic, we invited him over to look at it. He said everything was fine and reported back to Don Taylor. We got the approval and everything was good.”

Smith believes protests from fellow competitors and at least one other Buell team eventually led to the demise of the project, although he declines to name the team he suspects had a hand in getting the project stopped.

“When it was all said and done, and I have an idea of who did the complaining to the NHRA, a week after the Gators, one of the teams went and complained to the NHRA. For some reason, the project was stopped (by NHRA) after that.

“The NHRA then came to us and told us that we had to get approval from Buell. At the beginning, we didn’t have to get approval from Buell because they don’t have any programs with the NHRA. We just had the option to use bodywork. They don’t sponsor anyone, they don’t help – they don’t put any money into anything. We were told we could make it all and that’s what we did.

“Well, they [NHRA] said we had to have approval from Buell and they are, of course, owned by Harley-Davidson. This new body work would have been probably better than what we have now. Harley is (allegedly) telling Buell that we can’t build that.”

Taylor told CompetitionPlus.com in an interview that no such approval from the NHRA was granted, or would have been granted, without the blessings of Buell.

“Any design is subject to approval by the manufacturer because they own the design,” Taylor said. “They own the name and the intellectual rights around that.”

If they’ve given us permission and won’t let us run the bike, they ought to pay us for what we’ve got invested. It’s not fair for us independents to get permission and not be able to run this. - Matt Smith

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“Before anyone can do another body style in Pro Stock, they must have the approval of the manufacturer to run a particular body style,” Taylor added.  (In the past General Motors reps have stated that they’ll “allow” almost any GM-built body style to be used in Funny Car, but a finished body must to shown the manufacturer prior to approval.  Since this puts a considerable financial burden on an individual team it’s seldom done. – Ed.)

Smith’s allegations that Harley-Davidson had a hand in squelching the project is something Taylor said is well within their rights as a manufacturer to do since they own the Buell product line. Such a final decision, Taylor said, would be similar to GM squelching anyone from bringing out a brand they don’t market within drag racing such as Buick, Saturn or Cadillac.

“That’s why you only see certain body styles in Pro Stock or Funny Car,” Taylor said. “The manufacturers make those decisions.”

Henry Duca, who works in Motorsports Support at Buell, said no such approval was given to Smith.

“That was absolutely false, he didn’t get approval from us,” Duca said.

Duca said that Smith spoke with Eric Buell, who reportedly told him they didn’t wish to have the 1125R in competition.

Smith tells a different story.

“The word came from Henry Duca,” Smith contended. “He is supposed to be second or third in charge at Buell Motorsports. When I actually talked to him the first time about this, he said, ‘No problem. I’ll get you a letter to get this approved. We would love to have that bike out there. It won’t cost us any money and it will help us sell the bike.’”

“I told him that I was putting forth the money and the effort and I just needed their approval. Two weeks later, he called me and said the people who own Buell, which is Harley-Davidson, told them we were already too fast and they couldn’t approve the body to run in NHRA.”

While some might draw parallels to the recent “approval” and then refusal of a Suzuki cylinder head designed and built by Shawn Gann, Taylor cautioned that one cannot draw the conclusion that a letter of consideration doesn’t necessarily constitute approval of a part or design.

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The Buell XB-9 is the only Buell design approved by the factory for NHRA competition.

The rulebook reads as follows, Participants may request official opinions on technical issues from NHRA. This type of opinion may be requested, for example, on the acceptability of certain items or equipment or body designs. Any request for an official opinion on technical issues must be made in writing and submitted to the Technical Department. No opinion on technical issues is binding on NHRA unless published in National Dragster or, if deemed too length for publication in National DRAGSTER, then referred to in National DRAGSTER and published on NHRA.com.

“Unless something is in writing from us, it is not official,” Taylor concluded.

And for Smith, that approval is not in writing. Smith said he knows what he was told.

“I told Don Taylor they shouldn’t have to have approval from anyone to run that body style,” Smith said. “Years ago, and it doesn’t matter if it was professional or sportsman, if a manufacturer says you can’t run that body style in a sportsman class – you wouldn’t tell the racer they couldn’t run it. There’s never been this to happen. (To our knowledge no Detroit-based or even foreign OEM manufacturer has ever interfered with or tried to influence the types of body styles and engine combinations used in the Sportsman classes.  For example, Mazda has never been officially involved in drag racing, yet Rotary-powered cars have competed.  Other examples include Buddy Ingersoll’s turbocharged Buick in Competition eliminator, although that GM division did ultimately support the car to some extent. – Ed.)

“They just can’t tell a person they can’t run something because they [the manufacturer] won’t allow a body style. If a chassis or body is unsafe, that’s one thing. If the NHRA is their own place, they ought to approve it and be done with it. I reminded Don Taylor that he gave us permission to do this. If they’ve given us permission and won’t let us run the bike, they ought to pay us for what we’ve got invested. It’s not fair for us independents to get permission and not be able to run this.”

The lesson to be learned here is that verbal conversations with NHRA officials don’t count, and only written confirmation constitutes real permission to develop a new combination for the professional classes.  The NHRA appears increasingly reluctant to grant such permission for fear of the possible repercussions.  For example, after having provided team owner Joe Amato and crew chief Wayne Dupuy written permission to build a new intake manifold for their Top Fuel car in 2005, this after the duo had submitted detailed technical drawings, Ray Alley, then NHRA’s Director of Top Fuel and Funny Car Racing, and Graham Light, Senior VP Competition, refused to allow the manifold to be used after they saw it bolted on the car at Columbus.  Despite Dupuy’s showing them the letter under Light’s signature, they wouldn’t budge.  Amato threatened legal action, which resulted in a meeting at NHRA headquarters that included Light, Alley, Dupuy, Amato’s lawyer and others.  According to Dupuy, and later confirmed by Amato, the settlement included the team being granted free hospitality space at all POWERade Series national events for an 18 month period, which amounted to a considerable financial savings for Amato.