Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 3: Atlanta Dragway Drag Racing '- '- NHRA WINSTON DRAG RACING SERIES By Kevin McKenna COMMERCE, GA., MAY 13-16 his was supposed to be the race Where Matt Hines got even. After struggling to find the righ t set-up on his Vance & Hines Eagle One Suzuki GSX-R in the first two events of the 1999 season, the reigning and two-time Winston Pro Stock Bike champion headed to Atlanta Dragway intent on scoring his first win of the season. One thing that Hines didn't count on, however, was a final-rowld red-light against Team Winston's Angelle Seeling, who scored her econd win of the season and the sixth win of her career at the Advance Auto Parts Southe'rn Nationals in Atlanta. "I've had so much bad luck at this race track, I can't believe I finally won a race here," said Seeling, who was a firstround casualty at the Atlanta event in 1997 and 1998. "It's always tough to run against Matt, especially in the final round, but just before we raced, I was tlUnlcing about the final round in Topeka in 1997, where I beat him on a holeshot, and that gave me the confidence to do it." For the third straight race, Seeling put her Team Winston Suzuki GSX-R on the pole, with a 7.28, just a tick ahead of defending event champ Hines, who rode his Vance & Hines Eagle One Suzuki to a 7.29. John Smith rode the Anoka-Ramsey Sport Center entry to a 7.31 for the third spot, and Greg Underdalll got back on track after a slow start to secure the fourth spot with a 7.34 on his Vance & Hines-powered Suzuki. Seeling continued to set the pace in e1imjnations, wjth back-to-back 7.28s in her first two round wins over Chris Reuter and Steve Johnson, respectively. Hines was the only other rider able to keep pace, wjth a 7.29 win over rookie Fred Camarena in roWld one and a 7.32 in the second against the SWlOCO Suzuki of six-time Winston champ Dave Schultz. "We had an ignition problem, and it has taken us a while to find it," ffines T (Above) Team Winston's Angelle Seeling (far lane) won for the second time in three starts and extended her lead in the points standings 'at Atlanta Dragway when her archrival Matt Hines (near lane) redlighted on his Vance & Hines Eagle One Suzuki. (Right) Seeling and her Team Winston crew celebrated her sixth career NHRA national-event title. The former beautypageant contestant also qualified on the pole for the third straight race, with a 7.28. said. "We were down on power at the first two races. We have also spent a lot of time finding the right setup on this new bike. The bike is great, and it run 'straight down the track, but it likes a totally different setup than our old one did. We're running more wheelie-bar height on this bike than we've ever TUn before, as much as an inch rugher. When I made my first run in qualifying trus weekend, I could feel that the bike had a lot more power than it had at the first two races." ffines advanced to his first final of the season with a 7.29 win over Smith, who slowed to a 7.35 on rus Dave Harlander-tuned entry. Smith considered himself luck just to be in the semis afte~ his bike nearly stalled during the burnout in round two against Team 23 rider Antron Brown. Smith's problem was traced to a rev limiter that had reset itself to 2000 rpm, and in a gesture of good sportsmanship, Brown wa i ted for him to get the problem fixed before staging. Ultimately, Smith won the round, with a 7.38 to Brown's 7.42. "I have to give Antron a lot of credit for waiting for us, because he certainly didn't have to," Smith said. "The starter (NHRA official Rick Stewart) was waving rum up to the line, telling him to stage, but he wouldn't go in until 1 was ready. That says a lot for their team." Smith ultimately could do nothing with ffines, who won their semifinal match wjth a 7.29. In the other half of the semis, Seeling defeated Team 23's Tony Mullen, 7.30 to 7.39, but in the process she made a crucial riding error that cost her lane choice for the final. "I short-srufted third gear by more than 1000 rpm, and that just killed my elapsed time," Seeling said. '1 ran a 7.30, but I should have run a 7.27 or 7.28. There was a big difference between lanes, and once I saw that Matt was going to put me in the left lane for the final, I nearly blew up. I didn't think 1 had much of a chance, and it was all my fault." Ultimately, Seeling didn't need to worry, as ffines left the starting line one hundred th of a second too soon and turned on the red light. He would have been hard pressed to rna tch Seeling regardless, as she ma tched her quickest rWl of the weekend with a 7.28 to seal the victory. "I was surprised that we ran a 7.28 in that lane, especially since I saw Matt's red light, and that tends to affect your concentration," Seeling said. "Putting up a number like that is important to me, because 1 really wanted to show Matt ilia! I was going to beat him anyway." After reaching ilie final round in her first tlrree starts of the year and setting low elapsed time of the meet at all iliree, the prospect of Seeling becoming the 1999 NHRA Winston champ suddenly doesn't seem so remote. "I don't like to get carried away talking about the championship because there is still a long way to go," Seeling said. "I was doing an interview with Motoworld recently, and they asked me if I'd rather be behind or ahead in the points battle. Now iliat I've been in both positions, I can say for sure that I'd rather be the one being chased. Right now, if I make a mistake and get beat early, I know I'm not going to fall way behind like 1 did last year. "We have a new engine that we're going to run next weekend in Englishtown (New Jersey), and my team owner, George Bryce, feels like it is stronger than the one that's in the bike now," Seeling continued. "The bikes usually run real good at that race, and there's a possibility that someone could set the national record there. If that happens, obviously CIII I'd like to be the one to do it." Atlanta Dragway Commerce, Georgia Results: May 13-16 (Round 3) FINAL: 1. Angelle Seeling (Suz); Matt l-lines (Suz) Foul. Upcoming Rounds: Round 4 - Englishtown, New Jersey, May 20-23 Round 5 - Joliet, Illinois, June 3-6 25

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