The New Year is here and I am sad to say that our sponsorship process is still going. Nothing has appeared yet. We are hoping something comes about so we both can race this season. The plan as of right now is for me to sit out the 2012 season. Something I am not looking forward to at all. I am hoping and praying something comes up whether its last minute or not because as all of you know I want to race. We will see what happens. I will be helping Matt and Michael Ray at the track this year. I think my duties will increase on the race team but I am OK with that.

We had a fabulous Christmas as always. It’s one of the only times of year we get to spend time with both of our families. It’s also a time for us to spend time with each other and relax and that is what I have been doing. I bought Matt a new game for Christmas called iRacing. It is like a mini NASCAR cockpit with a steering wheel, screen and all kinds of different controls. Ever since he has got this he has been consumed with it. I know some fellow NHRA racers have them as well. I am glad he loved his Christmas present. Matt got me something very special to me. I have wanted these canvas wraps of my bridal portraits. They are expensive so I had not ordered them just yet. Well he got them for me and I was super excited. Now we have to hang them in our house and that will be another challenge in itself.

If you guys are followers of our Facebook page I know you guys have heard about the new dog and cat beds my sister and I are making. They are fun to make and it gives me an opportunity to get creative. We made a few beds for our dogs and they loved them so much that we decided to start making them for the public. We call them Cozy Critter Beds. So far it has been a hit for us. We started a page for the beds on Facebook. Go like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CozyCritterBeds . We are making everything from cat and dog prints, professional team prints, college prints, to almost anything you want. If we don’t have it we will order it. Check them out and if you like them put an order in today.

Thanks again for everyone for supporting Matt Smith Racing in the past years. Please continue to support us and pray for us to get funding to race NHRA in 2012.
 

Pomona has come and gone for us. It was a great time. Again we had all three bikes in the show on Sunday. Matt is getting pretty good at this. We missed having all three bikes in the top half of the field by one position. I was 9th and Michael Ray was 8th. Bum deal for us because we had to race each other on Sunday. It was a good race but I just hate running my teammates unless it was the final round.  I want to say thank you to Michael Ray and Jenn, Paul Ray, Uncle Hal, Rugger, and Mark Connor. We have such an awesome team with them now and its really fun going to the racetrack.

On Monday we traveled to Hollywood for the banquet. Matt, Michael, and I took a stroll down Hollywood Blvd. where all the stars have their names on the sidewalk. Pretty cool experience. Then it was time for me to get my hair and makeup done while the guys took a nap. After getting dressed we all went down to Karen Stoffer's room for a toast for ending the year. The banquet was great but the after party was even more fun. We enjoyed hanging out with our friends then we called it an evening. We had a long drive ahead of us. 40 hours to North Carolina.

We arrived home on Thursday around 10 a.m. Then we hopped in the car again to drive another four hours to Emerald Isle, N.C. Many of you probably do not know this about me but I love to go fishing. I practically grew up on Lake Norman going fishing with my grandpa. Tyler and Stacy Wilson had rented a house and wanted all of us to come down. We got up Friday morning and started fishing. We caught a few but nothing like we did on Saturday. On Saturday alone we caught over 75 fish in a five-hour span. We were catching Speckled Trout. It was a blast. We stayed down there two more days and then came home.

Thursday was Thanksgiving and I always start my day off by watching the Macy’s Parade. One day I would like to go up and see it live. We headed over to my sister's house for Thanksgiving lunch and then over to Nancy’s for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a great time. I love spending time with our families. We don’t get to do that a lot during the year so it’s very important to me to at least do it during the holidays.

This past weekend we headed down to PRI show in Orlando. We spent three whole days talking with new people and checking in with our product sponsors as well. We found some new ideas and things that hopefully will help us in the performance department next season. So the funniest thing about going to PRI show is that I didn’t want to leave my dogs at home. They are my children. So we had to figure out a way to get them in the hotel. We came up with this. We have a pretty big laundry bag so every time they would need to go out to the bathroom I would put them in the laundry bag and hit the stairs. We were only staying on the 3rd floor so I was out of the hotel in less than two minutes. I bet the security people at the hotel thought I had a lot of laundry considering I took them out several times a day. It was so funny because sometimes one of the dogs would bark a little and people would just look at me. Not sure if they heard a dog or not. It was hilarious. The dogs would hop right in the bag because they knew what was going on.

Rickie wanted us to come down to Bradenton to test with him for two days since we were already in Florida for the show. We had a great day of testing yesterday and we are going to test for 1 more day, which is today. After today we are headed home to work on finding some more horsepower.

As of right now we have not got anything as far as sponsorship to go racing in 2012. It's really depressing but we are pushing forward every day. We are trying every day. I am on the phone and sending emails everyday just hoping that I will strike someone’s interest in our race team. We have a great team and I don’t want any of us to be sidelined in 2012. I am hoping and praying that something will come through so we can start on some research and development so we can be a little more competitive for next season. Michael Ray will be with us racing next year regardless if we find funding or not. So glad he and his team decided to join us for 2012. Again they are such an awesome group of people and a lot of fun to be with at the racetrack.

Thanks again to all the folks that supported us in 2011. We are hoping 2012 funding will come through and we can race once again.
 

We are one race away from completing our season this year. I will say I am ready for a small break. The last couple of races have been pretty good for us. In Reading Matt ran an amazing 6.795 at 194. It was the quickest side-by-side race in history. That’s an honor if you ask me. We lost in the finals but we have nothing to hang our head about at that race.

With the West Coast races approaching we had a lot of work to do. It was our first and only time we will race at Phoenix. We were pretty excited because Matt has a pretty good record at new racetracks. With another semifinal appearance in Phoenix we were looking al right for the Championship. Some good things would have to happen for us, and bad luck to others. While we were having fun racing at the track some others were having fun in Las Vegas. That was Michael Ray and Jenn. They got married on October 16, which is ironically our anniversary as well. I guess we will be celebrating anniversaries together in the future. Congrats to Michael and Jenn Ray.

We headed over to Las Vegas. It was only a five-hour drive. Matt and I decided to stay out west between the Phoenix and Las Vegas races. Matt decided to test on Tuesday and Wednesday in Las Vegas. Well with all of our crew at home in North Carolina I served as the crew girl. We made five passes on Tuesday and five passes on Wednesday with two motor swaps. Let me just tell you I was tired. Matt was mainly inside doing tune-ups and maps on the computer so I was solely responsible for the bike. We didn’t have any mistakes or mishaps so all was good. Matt took me out to a very nice dinner after testing at Shibuya in the MGM Grand. It is an amazing Japanese restaurant. After testing we spent several days working on the bikes to get them prepared for the Las Vegas event.

While staying in Las Vegas we got to tour the Nellis Air Force Base. That was really fun and a learning experience. I absolutely love those jets and my dream is to fly in a jet. Hopefully that will come true. Thank you to all the folks that got us hooked up to go over to Nellis Air Force Base.

Las Vegas was a pretty great event, not only at the track, but at the Aliante Casino and Hotel as well. Aliante Casino stepped up and sponsored Matt for the event. Aliante Hotel sponsored us with the nicest room in the facility, the Presidential Suite. Let me just say we felt like a king and queen staying there. With two bedrooms, three bathrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, an amazing view of the pool, and 72-inch TV. What is not to love about that. Thank you so much to Linda Bowers and everyone at Aliante Casino and Hotel who made it happen for us.

Matt and Steve Nichols did an awesome job of tuning our bikes because we had three bikes in the show on Sunday. That is a huge accomplishment. None of us had to race each other first round and that was great too. Matt’s bike spun really bad when he dropped the clutch so he didn’t get the win. Michael did an awesome job on the starting line with a .007 light and a VERY close race at the finish line. All in all Michael still has nothing to hang his head about. He did awesome all weekend long. I have been struggling with the starting line the last couple of races. I have been very frustrated with myself. I have improved and I think it showed. Not a very good light first round but it was enough to take the win light. Round 2 was going to be a tough match up. I had the No. 1 qualifier. I knew I had to do my job on the starting line. That is exactly what I did. I had an .021 light and took the win light on a hole shot. A 7.04 beat a 6.97. I was very happy. I helped Eddie Kraweic out so he is taking Matt and I to dinner in California along with Anne Marie. I know some folks are upset with me for the second-round win but I show up at the racetrack with the same mentality as everyone else: TO WIN!!! Every time I have to go out and do my best. I wasn’t to win a Wally.

Well we are home for a few days to relax before heading back out to Pomona. I love Pomona and the banquet. We will have some fun after all the pressure is done. For Pomona we are hoping for a win out of one of our teammates. Let’s do this.
 

Over the last couple of weeks things have been pretty crazy here. With three races back to back we have not had a lot of time to even breathe. We don’t have any full time people working in the shop so that leaves me to help out everyday. Thank goodness we have managed to get everything done in time to leave for the races.

Matt has had several good outings in the countdown. With two semifinal appearances and one final round appearance he has moved up to third in points. We feel like the Championship is within reach. After the Charlotte race we found some power and I think it is showing. Currently we are four rounds out of first so each race from now until Pomona has to be stellar to say the least. Matt and I will be racing Phoenix and Michael Ray will join us again for the last two events in Las Vegas and Pomona. Michael is doing an excellent job of riding the bike and we are enjoying him being a part of our team.

The sponsorship hunt still remains the same. We are currently seeking sponsors for the 2012 season. Right now neither one of us has funding to race next year. We are trying to be optimistic because our team is running strong right now. I think we have a lot to offer a company that wants to get involved in a family oriented team and sport as NHRA drag racing.

Even though this is probably the most stressful time of year as far as racing it is still my favorite time of the year. All of the girls are getting their dresses for the banquet. It reminds me of being in high school and going to the prom. We always have so much fun at the banquet because the stress is over for the night and it is all about having a little bit of fun with the people you spend the most time with and that is our racing family.

We have a new member in the Smith family. Her name is Miss Juliet Leigh Speed. Amanda had her baby on October 4 after being two weeks over due. Juliet weighed 9lbs 4oz and was 21 inches long. She is so beautiful. Amanda and Juliet are home from the hospital and are doing very well.

So to say the least the 2011 season has been a very challenging year for us with both of our sponsors pulling out on us in the middle of the year. We have managed to make it this far and we both feel like we can’t quit now. We have to contend for this championship and try to win it. We really could use the money. I would like to say thank you to Haltech, Steve Nichols, Red Line Oil, PJ1, Mark and Marshall Stockseth, Tyler and Stacy Wilson for supporting us in a much needed time. Its been very hard but we have kept the faith and God will get us through this. A special thank-you to all the fans that have supported us.