Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 9: Brainerd Intern ational Raceway By Kevin McKenna 'JiM[ B RAINERD, MN, AUG. 21 -23 a t t Hine s wo n agai n, b ut unli ke m any o f h is sev en previ ous wi ns in th e 1998 NHRA Win st on Pro Stoc k Bike Series, there was no wild postrace celeb ration, and the traditional winner's circle ceremon y was far mor e subd ued than usual. From the time he arriv ed at Brainerd Inte rna tiona l Raceway until he crossed the finis h line ,028 of a seco nd ahead of Angelle Seeling in the final roun d three da ys lat er, Hine' s thoughts - and those of virtua lly eve ry othe r co mpe titor at the VisionA ire NorthStar Natio na ls w ere wi th three-time Winston Pro Stock cha mpio n John Myers, who was killed Au gust 9 following a high way accident on his street bike near his hom e in Birmingham, Alabama. A s a s how o f s upport fo r M yers' widow, Kerry, and their 22-m onth-old d aughte r, Ch ris tina, a ll 16 Pro St ock Bike q ualifie rs in Bra in erd agreed to d onate th eir winnings from the event, which to tal m or e than $20,000 , to th e John Mye rs Mem orial Fun d, which was established to help Myers' family. "We were messed up pre tt y good this wee kend," said Hines , who d efeated Myers in his last-ever race last month in Denver . "Between losing John and the month layoff between Denver a nd this race, it was hard to get my mind on racing , John Myers has been racing in this class for as long as I can reme mber, and it d idn't fee l rig ht to be here w itho ut him. It definitely too k me a few runs to get myself back in the groove." Hines' struggles we re evident as he failed to make a clean run in any of the fi rst three qualify in g a ttemp ts, a n d when the fourth qualifying session was los t due to rain, the ru na w a y p oints leade r finished four th in the field of 16 the first time he has not taken the $1000 N HRA low-qualifier bonus this season. Only one o the r time in hi s career has Hin es failed to qu alify in the top thr ee, the first being the third race of his rookie campaign in 1996. , "I double-clutch ed th e bike on tw o ru ns, and then we missed the luneup on the othe r," Hines noted. "There' s nothing wrong w it h the b ik e - we' re n ot down on power or anything - but we just didn't make a clean run when it cou nted . If we ha d go tte n th at las t session in, I think we could have run qu ick enough to se t the track record, or a t least tak e ove r the number-one spo t, but there was not hing we could d o abo u t that ." Hin es' miscue gave local favorite John Smith an op portu nity to take his first p ole p osition with a 7.46 ab oard John Noard 's An oka-Ramsey Sport Center Suzuki GSX-R. Smith, however, couldn't capitalize on the favo rable starling spot , as he w as bea ten by rookie contend er Tony Mullen in round two in one of the closest races of the day, 7,48 to 7.48. "We los t a nd we ' re frustrated rig ht now," Smith said , "No maller w ha t we d o, it see ms like someo ne always step s u p and makes a great run against us, or we shoot ou rselves in the foot and make a bad ru n, Either way, we haven 't been able to win rounds like we are used to." Followi ng an unspectacular 7.48-7.73 w in ove r Craig Treble in round one, the sleeping giant awakened in round two, as Hines pu t up a 7.39 to stop six- time Winston Pro Bike cha mp Dave Schultz and pu t near ly a tenth on the field . " It ' s abo ut t im e we go t our act together," Hine s said . "We slipped the clutch bad in the first rou nd, and the n the bike wo uldn't go into high gear, but DRAG RACING NHRAWIN STONDRAG RACINGSERIES (Above) Angelle Seeling (near lane) made a great run on her Team Winston Suzuki, but It was n't eno ugh to keep Matt Hines (far lane) from winning his eighth race in nine attempts this year. (Left) Seeling, the only rider other than Hines to win an event this year, solidified . her hold on second place In the points standi ngs with her fourth runner-up finis h of the season. luckily we got it right against Dave." Hin es ma intained h is performance edge in the semis and routed Mu llen ' s Bell Addi tives Suzuki, 7.40-7.48, to earn a spo t in his 24th career final round. Af te r a s ing le run in th e o pe n in g round w hen C} , Smith could n' t repair the engine in the field 's lone Kaw asaki , Seeling d owned St eve Johnson, 7.537.70, and moved in to th e fina l w it h a 7.51-7.71 win over Gary Ton glet' s Plasti Dip Suz u ki. Headi ng into th e final, See ling a nd her Team Winston crew we re faced with the familiar problem of find ing the perfo rma nce to keep up with Hin es. In additio n to th eir routine main ten an ce, tea m owne r Geo rge Bryce and cr ew chief Ken Johnson replaced a set of tires a n d h oped for th e b est as Seeli ng allempted to break a zero-for-four slu mp against the Vance & Hin es Suzuki. Seeling improved by six-hun d red ths of a second over her se mifinal performa nce with a 7.44, but it wasn' t enough as Hines surged ahead in the last few feet of the track to take the win with a 7.42. "I have blinders on the sides of my helmet so I couldn't see her, but I could hear her all the way, and that wasn 't a goo d sign," sa id Hines. "I was so conce rn ed about her pa ssing m e th at I almost forgot to hit high gea r. I thou ght I was ahead, but you 're never sure until the win light com es on in your lane. " "Thi s time, I really thought 1 had him," said Seeling, wh o al so cou ld n' t see her opponent, but she knew the race w a s cl ose. 'Tm proud o f m y te a m beca use the y chan ged every thing on the bike and w e managed to pick up six hundredths of a second in the bad lane. II just w asn't enoug h. It's frus tra ting wh en you get that close and then don 't w in , but a t leas t I'm ge t ti n g close. I do n' t really care how close to him I am in th e points, bec au se' none of us can catch him now. I jus t want to mak e sure I stay in second." 1'X Brainerd International Raceway Brainerd, Minneso ta Results: August 21-23 (Round 9 of 14) PRO STO CK FIN AL: 1. Matt Hines (Suz ) 7.42. 180 .79; 2. Angelle Seeling (Su z) 7.4-4. 1M2.55. Upcoming Rounds: Round 10 - Indianapolis. IN, September 2-7 Round 11 - Reading, PA, September 17-20 19

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