Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DRAG RACING Round 14: Pomona Raceway NHRA WINSTON DRAG RACINGSERIES o Matt Hines (Iar lane) clai med his 10th NHRA Pro Stock Bike Nati onal vi ctory 01the season during the l inal round 01 the Winston Drag Racing Series at Pomona Raceway. Hines downed Ron Ayers (near lane) in the linal l or the victory• By Kevin McKenna Photos by Mike Basso POMONA, CAL, NOV. 12-15 ead ing into th e se ason-e ndi ng Winston Finals at Pom on a Raceway, the final even t on the 14race NHRA Pro Stock Bike tour, Matt Hines di dn' t look or feel like so meone who'd wo n nine of the p revio us 13 races and already had a lock on his second Winst on title. After lo sing h is la st th ree s ta r ts, including two red-light losses in Memph is a n d Houston , H in e s was m ore d et ermin ed than e ve r to wi n th e Pomon a event and end his dream sea so n on a high not e. " It wo u ld have been a long w inter if we ha dn't w on th is race," said Hines, w h o claimed the 20 th nat ion al- ev ent title of his three-yea r career when he downed Ron Ayers' Mac Too ls Suzuki in the final rou nd , 7.32 to a game 7.39. "1 do n' t know w hy we've struggled so bad the last few races , bu t it was beginning to wear on me. I still consider Pomona to be mv ho me track and we had a lot of employees and customers here from Vance & Hines, so it was important to win this one for them. " Prio r to the start of the eve nt, Hi nes believed th e weather a nd track conditions we re good eno ug h for him to better the 7.245-seco nd elapsed -time record he s e t at th e se aso n-op e n ing Gatorn at ion a ls in Florida , a n d Hines did co me clo se with a 7.251 run on hi s Vance & Hin es /Eagle O ne Suz u ki GSXR. H owever, he d idn 't clai m hi s 11th pol e of th e season, as Team Win st on rid er Angell e Seeling post ed a careerbest 7.250 to earn the 51000 low-qualifier bonus by just .001 of a second . Seeling, ~ 00 0\ 0\ ,...... ('oJ ' ;..., IJ) ,.Q E IJ) u IJ) c 26 .winner of the Mopar Parts Nationals in Englis htown, ew Jers ey; the Keystone Nationals in Read ing, Pennsylvania; and th e Penn zo i! Na tiona ls in Mem phis, Tennessee, ha s been stead ily chi pp ing away at Hi nes' performance advantage for most of the season, bu t she never go t a chance to better Hi nes' record in eliminations after red-lighti ng in round two aga inst Ayers . " I hon estl y beli ev e we hav e th e power to set the record," Seeling's team ow ner, George Bryce, sa id . "We had the po we r to set it two weeks ago in Houston, but An gell e red-lighted there as w ell. She's come a lon g way thi s yea r, but ob viously we still hav e so me work to d o . Sh e's got th e a bili ty to be th e World Champ ion - we just have to find a way to get it done." With Seeling on the sidelines, Hin es had virtually clear path to the winner 's circle, and he mad e the mos t of it wi th three s traig h t 7.2-secon d ru n s in his wins over Bryan Ayers, Larry Cook and Tony Mu llen. "It was definitelv a relief w hen Angelle wen t out," Hines adm itted . "She's been a thorn in mv side a lot this year, and when I saw her red -light, I felt a lot better about our chances to win the race." Several othe r riders who could have potentially posed a threat to Hines also we nt out in the early rounds, includ ing Hou sto n winner John Sm i th (w ho fouled in round one ag ains t Pro Stock Bike rookie Craig Treb le), Greg Underd ahl (w ho was upset by Mullen ), and six-time NHRA cham pion Dave Schultz (who qu alified his Sunoco Suzuki in the third spot with a near-car eer-best 7.33, but slowed to a 7.47 in ro und tw o and lo st to Mull en , wh o ro de Harry Lar- a tig ue 's Bell Additives Suzuki to a 7.41 for the win). "We tried some new thi ngs a t th is race, and I was p re tty encou raged by the resu lts," said Schultz , who failed to w in a race for th e firs t time in m ore than a d ecad e and finished a caree r-low fifth in the points stand ings. "Las t win ter, we spent more time wo rking on our customers' p ro gra m s than we d id o n o u r ow n , a nd it showed. La te in th e year, I felt like we finally got a ha nd le on a few thi ngs, but really, we've ju st tried to test for 1999. I probably could have won that race aga inst Tony, but I tri ed a new combination and th e bike slo w ed. Fortunat ely , I learned w ha t I ne ed ed to know on the run. We can a n d will - compet e with Ma t t and A nge lle . We just need to know how high the bar is." Ayers enjoyed his finest outing since his lon e NHRA victory at the 1993 Slick 50 Na tionals in Hou ston , when he rod e his Mac Tools Suzuki to the final. After qualifying eigh th in the To -bike field with a 7.37 , the 52-year-old r et ir ed m otorcvcle d e a le r fro m G ree nville, No rth Carolina, downed ProStar champ Paul Gast, Seeling, and Team 23 rider Brown to make it to th e fina l agai nst Hines . "I had a littl e luck when Ange lle red lighted against me, bu t ot he rwise th e bike ran really good this weekend," said Ayers, who se son, Brian , fini shed 10th in the points battle. "We 'v e had so mu ch pad luck this year, it was ab out time we h ad so me good things happen ." Ayers ac tua lly left off the s ta r ting li ne b y a hun dredt h o f a se co n d on Hines in the final and was ahead until la te in the race, whe n the black Vanc e & Hines bike rolled by for a 7.32-7.39 win that was much closer tha n man y expected it to be. . "I knew I was.ahead at half- track but 1 co uld hea r Matt co m ing, a nd if he 's tha t close, it isn 't a good sig n," Aye rs sa id . "I kep t h op in g th at he' d m iss a shift or hit the rev limiter, but he d idn 't, and by the time we go t to the finis h line, he was alm ost a full bike length ahea d of me," Hines figu red he had one last sho t to set the record in the final , but when he spun th e tire off the sta rti ng li ne, he knew it wasn't going to happen. "I don't know whether 1 staged in a bald spot on the track or got into some oil or what, but as soon as I dumped the clu tch, it boiled th e tire," said Hines, who finished the season wit h a remarkable 47-4 w in / loss record in elimination rounds. "The bike also mad e a little bit of a bobble in the midd le of the track , but by that tim e, I think I was already ahead of Ron . I wanted to win this race bad, but Ron is one of our engi ne custome rs, so it was great to see him make it to the final. "I know Angelle is going to be tou gh next yea r, and there are other guys like Johnn y Sm ith, Dave Schultz, A nt ro n Brown and Tony Mull en that could win so me races, so w e' re go ing to have to get to work th is w in ter," Hines said . "We ' re go ing to have a new bik e, and since our new shop is do ne, we can put a lot of time in on our engine program, so I think we'll be read y for Gainesville l~ in Mar ch." Pomona Raceway Pomona, Calilornia Results: November 12-15 (Roun d 14 0114) PRO STOCK FINAL : 1. Matt Hin es (Suz) 7.32.. 184.23; 2. Ron AyPrS (Suz ) 73Q, 180.07

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