Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

AMA ProStar event in Gainesville, Florida, where stte ran a 7.20 during her final-round win over Antron Brown's Team 23 Suzuki. "We could have run even quicker than we did, but I short-shifted the bike in the final; otherwise we might have run 7.17 or 7.18," said Seeling, who spent the off-season training and spending time with her family in New Orleans. "We made a lot of changes to the bike, and now it goes down the track a lot easier than it used to. I used to have to fight the bike a lot, and that hurt my concentration. We went to one test session this winter and it started out terrible. The bike was creeping on the starting line, and we were st:1>J.ggling to run 7.40s. Then (crew chief) George Bryce made a few changes and fixed the problem. That's when things started happening, and thab; why we ran so good at the ProStar race. It wasn't a horsepower thing as much as it was fixing problems with 'the bike. I have learned a lot since last year, and I really think I can win even more races than I did last season." Seeling hopes to end Hines' reign, not just for herself, but for the good of the class. Seeling and John Smith were the only racers other than Hines to win an event last year, and less than a third of the way through the season, nearly everyone conceded the title to Hines. "When Matt goes out and dominates every race, it's no fun for anyone but Matt - and I'm not so sure it's that much fun for him," Seeling said. ''!' d like to win 10 races in a year, too, but I'd also like to see some of the other guys like John Smith, Greg Underdahl, Antron Brown and Tony MuUen get a shot. They work as hard as the rest of us do, but lately, they haven't had a lot to show for it." Seeling isn't the only one who has tired of Hines' dominant performances. Six-time Winston Pro Stock Bike champ Dave Schultz is the class's all-time winningest rider with 41 victories, and he hasn't visited the winner's circle since early in the 1997 season. Schultz did manage to appear in three final rounds in 1998, but he finished fifth in the points chase, the first time in his career he has finished lower than third. Schultz has worked feverishly to finish his new Sunoco Suzuki in time for the season-opening Gatornationals in Gainesville, and he has promised that it will be the nicest - and quickest - bike he has ever owned. "I've made a lot of changes to the chassis design, and I believe we've come up with a better mousetrap," said Schultz, who has renewed his sponsorship with longtime backer Sunoco and has recently signed an associate sponsorship agreement with Kendall. "I don't normally bring out a new bike to start the year, but under the new rules (which require thicker-walled chassis tubing) myoid bike wasn't legal. We got a 'I ittle behind schedule, but I still hope to test before going to Gainesville. I believe we're going to have a better season this year tha t we did las It would be hard to imagine it getting any worse." Of course, no one expected'Hines to hiberna te this win ter, and the reigning champ, and his father and crew chief, Byron, are more determined than ever to keep the number-one plate on the Vance & Hines/Eagle One Suzuki. "Last year, I found out how hard it is to keep a championship," said Hines, who has won 20 of the 40 races that he has entered in his career. "And I don't expect it to get any easier this year. My dad and [ have stayed busy this winter, putting together a new bike and work- ing on our engine program. Last year, . we lost a lot of research-and-development time because we were building a new shop, but now that it is done, we've had a chance to strengthen our whole program. When we get to Gainesville, we'll see how much it paid off." Hines finished his new bike in early January and made an appearance at the John Myers Memorial Tuneup event in Tucson but abandoned that test session after just two runs after breaking his only 'engine. "I would like to have, made a couple more runs that weekend, but we found out what we needed to know," Hines said. "All I really wanted to do was see if the bike would go straight and if it would be comfortable to ride. I'm sure ['II test again before we go to Gainesville, and then we can really get after it." Several of Vance & Hines' engine customers, including John Smith, Underdahl, Brown, Mullen, G'lry Ton- (Above) Former champion Dave Schultz will'be looking to get back on the winning track after a disappointing '98 campaign. (Right) Artist's conception of the new Harley pro stocker. glet, and Ron and Brian Ayers, are also primed for big seasons. Mullen and team owner Harry Lartigue have joined forces with Brown and his team owner, NFL star Troy Vincent. The two-bike Team 23 effort debuted at the ProStar season opener in Gainesville, where Brown reached the final round, and Mullen ran a careerbest 7.29 in NHRA legal trim. Steve Johnson, last year's ninth-place finisher, has joined forces with former u.s. Nationals champion Rick Ward and will use one of Ward's engines in 1999. Johnson had earlier announced that he was joining forces with Pro Stock racer Shawn Collins, but that ended before it began when Collins annoUJ:lced that he had sold his team to fellow Pro Stock driver Richie Stevens. Look for the Harley-Davidson contingent to have an increased presence in 1999 as several teams, including the two-bike Screarnin' Eagle team of Rob Korn and Lori Francis, take advantage of a 1999 rules revision that allows Vtwins to have a maximum of 160 cubic inches, up from 140 in previous years. Korn, who along with Dan Baisley recorded NHRA's first seven-second Harley runs in 1998, will debut a new FLH Ultra glide-bodied bike in Gainesville, and his crew chief, Craig Walters, plans to run a four-valve engine combination later in the year. Korn's new teammate, three-time Harley racing champion Francis, will make her NHRA debut once she is licensed and her bike is finished, possibly at the Southern Nationals in Atlanta in early May. "We still have a long way to go, but we're making a lot of progress," Walters said. "I think Lori is going to surprise a few people. She is about 40 pounds lighter than Rob is, and I think that will make aII the difference in the world. She hash't raced in a few years, but once she gets back into it, she's going to do just fine." ell

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