Savoie Hunts Down Texas NHRA Win
J
erry Savoie (Suzuki) cut An-
drew Hines' (Harley-Davidson)
NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle
Championship lead to just 94
points after taking the victory at
the Texas Motorplex in Dallas,
Texas, October 18-20.
Savoie's victory means he's
the only rider in the 2019 Count-
down with more than one victory,
this one coming after his previ-
ous round victory in Reading. It
was Savoie's fifth straight final in
Texas, but only his second victory
following his 2015 championship.
Savoie battled past rookie
Jianna Salinas in round one with
a 6.827 pass, then disposed of
WAR teammate Karen Stoffer by
a scant 0.003 of a second.
It was a neck-and-neck semi
with Hines initially getting the
jump with a 0.009-second light,
but Savoie had the speed in the
Tim Kulungian-tuned Suzuki to
hunt down the five-time NHRA
Pro Stock Champion, running
6.87 to Hines' 6.91.
In the final, Savoie faced off
against Eddie Krawiec and ran
6.881 to Krawiec's 6.901 to take
the overall win.
"It was a great day," Savoie
said. "We knew we had a good
bike. The last two races we had a
good bike, too, but some misfor-
tune, but we said if we can hold
our composure we could win
this race. We've been blessed at
this track in the past; it's a great
place and today was a great day.
The win gives us hope [for the
championship]. We knew Andrew
[Hines, points leader] had to go
out early and give us the window
to win the championship. Those
guys are struggling; look at the
times they ran today. I feel for
them but we're not the ones to
help them, even though they do
build our engines I try not to get
caught up in the [points scenari-
os] too much; I try to be as calm
and collected as I can."
IN
THE
WIND
P52
Jerry Savoie
scored a narrow
win over Eddie
Kraweic in the
final round in
Dallas. (FILE PHOTO)
