Chip Ellis to Ride Denso Buell for Angie Smith Nhra Weekend
Chip Ellis will ride Matt Smith’s Denso Buell this weekend after the Pro Stock Motorcycle rider was admitted to a local hospital with a gallstone flare-up. The move leaves Matt Smith Racing adjusting around a four-bike fleet while Smith stays out and Ellis handles the points duty under NHRA’s Driver Replacement Policy.
Matt Smith Racing Adjusts
Angie Smith said Matt started feeling bad on Thursday morning, and the pain grew after he woke her up at 2 o'clock in the morning. She said they first thought it might be kidney stones because of his history, but the tests pointed elsewhere.
“He woke me up at 2 o'clock in the morning; he has a history of kidney stones, so we really thought that it was probably going to be that.”
By the time they reached the emergency room at about 12:30 yesterday, the trip had already turned into a long haul. Angie Smith said she drove about 75% of the way, and Matt was admitted last night about 9 o'clock.
Chip Ellis On The Denso
Ellis takes over the team’s two-race-winning Denso entry and will also race for Smith in Saturday’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge. Former MSR rider Michael Ray will assist from Smith’s hospital bed, while Angie Smith said Matt made the call for her to run all the bikes.
“They are giving him fluids, and rest is the protocol, but he made the decision for me to run all the bikes; he is truly the backbone of this team.”
Smith was able to provide tuning maps for the bikes for their Q1 passes, and he will get after-pass FaceTime calls to confer on tuning. That keeps the team connected even as the rider who owns it sits out this weekend, with Ellis carrying the Denso points assignment and the rest of the lineup absorbing the workload.
Matt Smith’s 2026 Push
The absence cuts into a season Smith had already framed around 2026 and an unprecedented seventh Pro Stock Motorcycle world championship. For this weekend, though, the practical change is simpler: Ellis rides, Smith stays in the hospital, and the Matt Smith Racing operation keeps moving with the bikes that remain in play.
