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ENNIS, Tex. -- Matt Smith is a happy man, despite losing in the semifinal round today at the NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex to Harley-Davidson rider Eddie Krawiec. With the Nitro Fish Ultimate Gear Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle performing well this weekend, Smith and crew chief Steve Tartaglia were pleased with the results. Before he reached the semifinal round, No. 4 qualifier Smith defeated Junior Pippin with a 7.071-second pass at 187.63 mph, then dismissed Douglas Horne in the quarterfinal with a 6.997/189.34 in ambient temperatures of over 90 degrees and a track temperature in the 110-plus range. He knew he had a tough draw in Krawiec, as the Harleys have been dominating the Pro Stock Motorcycle class all year. They took off at the starting lights handle to handle, but it was Krawiec first to the finish line with a 7.004/188.86 to Smith's losing 7.069/186.74. "Our team had a great weekend," said Smith, who moved up to fourth place in the Countdown to 1 playoffs. "We can't complain one bit. This Nitro Fish Suzuki ran good all weekend. It just looked like it went bad that time. We saw it coming last run. We didn't want to make a change because we ran pretty good. "We just wanted to go up there against Eddie and do our job. He left on me by six thou (of a second) and outran us. But, all in all, the team's confident, we're all happy, and we're back in fourth in points. "We just have to get the first and second guys (Hector Arana and Eddie Krawiec) to quit winning rounds, so we have a chance of catching them." Next up is the 22nd annual NHRA Mid-South Nationals in Memphis, Tenn., Oct. 2-4, 2009.
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