Angie McBride wasn't impressed with Friday's first U.S. Nationals Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying
run at O'Reilly Raceway Park, but the quarter-mile time of 7.157 seconds at 184.22 mph was good
enough to put her in 12th place.
"It was a decent pass," said McBride of her quarter-mile run aboard the Nitro Fish Buell. "We went
down the track and I hit all the gears, but we drove through the clutch and it was the first pass
on our new tire. All-in-all, we got good data and we'll tune it up for Saturday's runs."
This is McBride's first race following a two-month hiatus. Her fiance, Matt Smith, put the Don
Schumacher Racing Nitro Fish Suzuki into the No. 3 slot with a time 7.018 seconds at 190.65 mph.
Matt Hartford was 15th after making his first competitive Pro Stock run in the Nitro Fish Pro Stock
Dodge, 6.696 at 205.98. He and crew chief Eddie Guarnaccia were pleased with the effort that
followed testing Tuesday and Wednesday at St. Louis.
"We were the first Pro Stock pair to go down the track and I'm pretty happy with our run," said
Hartford. "We got tune-up data and now we can get ready for Saturday's two qualifying runs.
"It's tough out there. There are 32 of the best Pro Stock cars trying" to get into the 16-car
field.
"I think it was a good start," added Guarnaccia. "That was the first run on a new motor and it ran
decent speed."
