Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 7: GatewayInternatio al Raceway n Drag Racing NHRA WINSTON DRAG RACING SERIES - -) For lust the second time In 1999, Angelle See ling and Matt Hines met in a final round , and this time, Seeling drove her Team Winston Suz uki to a convincing victory ove r the reigning two-time class champ at Gateway International Race way, 7.31 to 7.32. (Below) Team Winston's Ange lle Seeling has now won nine times in three full seasons on the NHRA Pro Stock Bike tour. By Kev in McKe nna MADISON, IL,JUNE 24-26 he iro ny of Angelle Seeling's sudd en a nd unexp ect ed rise to th e top of th e Pro Stock Bike class ha s been that during the first six events of th e season, w here she has ridd en her Team Win ston Su zuki GSX-R to three w in s and a runner-up fi nis h, she h as had the op portunity to butt heads with rival Matt Hines just on ce in co m petition . That encou nter, which came in th e final ro u nd of th e Southern Nationals in Atlanta, w as brief, as Hines left a red " light glowing on th e starti ng lin e. Seeli ng got her sho t to beat the Vance & Hi nes Eagle On e Suzuki once aga in in a head-to-head mat ch in the final of the Sears-Craftsman Nationals in Madison, Illinois, and she mad e the most of it by gaini ng a narro w lead off th e sta rting line a n d hold in g o n fo r a razor- thi n margi n of victory at the finis h line in a 7.31-t0-7.32 race. _ "We we re in a s lu m p th e re for a while, and I th ought m a ybe m y good luck had pa ssed and that was going to be it for the ye ar," Seeling said of her ea rly-ro u nd lo s s es in C h icago a n d Col umbus. "We p ro ved it wasn't lu ck, and w e ca rneback th is w eeke n d as strong as ever. Winni ng the wa y we did, by beating Matt off th e lin e and running a be tte r e.t., was the bes t way to d o it. " It's an awesome feeling to be able to beat Matt," Seel ing continued. "He is a two- time Winston cham p. I still res pect his power a nd the a bili ty to come o u t here and kick everyone's butt. We knew what w e w ere up a gainst out the re . Byron (H ines) is a n a wesome engine builder, and I kn ew I had to be on m y game. That's w hy I pushed the tree a little. To beat him fair and sq uare makes me so pr oud ." H ines qualified in the top spo t wi th a 7.29 a t over 187 mph, ah ead of Seeling's 7.31, and he extend ed the advantag e in elimi na tio ns . In round one, H ines put up a number that none of his competi- tf to rs co u ld ma tch as he d efea ted Dave Sch u lt z' s Sunoco Su zuki w ith a 7.30 . H ines ' cl o s es t co m pet ito r , Ant r on Brown, was six-hu nd red ths behind wi th a 7.36, and Seeling's Team Wins ton bike s lo wed to a 7.39 in her w in ove r Jo e DeSantis. "Fo r th ose air and track cond it io ns, tha t was nearly a perfect run," Hines said . " For the la st fe w ra ces, our bike has been workin g perfectly." Hi nes also made the best run of the second ro u nd, with a 7.33 w in over Greg Und erdahl. th ough Seeling closed th e perform an ce ga p with a 7.36 w in ove r Ga ry Ton glet's Plasti-Dip Su zuki. Th e second rou nd of the Sears C raft sman N ati on als also fea tu red one of the most bizarre races in th e history of th e Pro Stock Bike class - one in w hich th ere was no w in ner. As sophomore stand o uts Ton y Mu llen and Craig Treble prepared to do battle, a funny thi ng ha ppened . Jus t as the pair was begin ning their burnou ts, both bik es fell silent. NH RA rules allow com petitors to restart a bike that has los t fire , but neither rid er was a b le to, d espite th e fr a ntic efforts of th eir respect ive cre ws. With neither com p eti tor able to stage under hi s own p ow er , bo th race rs were d isq u a li fied . Iro n ic a ll y, bo t h p robl e m s w ere relatlvely m ino r, as a fuse shook loose o n T re b le 's b ike a nd M u ll en ' s Tea m 23 en try w as plagued by a loose ignitio n wi re . "1I's a good th in g I have a sense of h umo r about these things," Treble sa id . "We we re both sitting there on the starting lin e, a nd neither of us w as a ble to stage. It' s fru strating because all I had to d o w as get the bik e sta rted and I could have be en in the se m is, but th e who le d eal was so funny. Tony and I had to laugh about it." W ith n o oppon ent to run in th e se m is, Hin es earned a bye run into th e fin al roun d , and he and his fath er, Byron, used th e opportu nity to test several new ideas. "We went up there and tried a cou- pie of th in gs, because we knew there wou ld be nobody in the o ther lan e," Hi nes said, af ter his Suzuki slow ed to a 7.36. " O bv io u s ly , it d idn ' t work out quite like we had planned , and it cost us lane choice for the final, so we're go ing back to our old combination for the fina l round." In the meantim e, Seeling engag ed in a no the r wire- to -wi r e b a t tI e with Brown ' s Team 23 Su zu ki in th e o ther h alf of the se m is . Br own , wh o h a s a lrea d y won tw ice thi s yea r a n d has bea ten Seeling at both eve nts, ended the match ea rly when he red-lighted by jus t seven- tho usand ths of a second. Given a free run, Seeling ran a 7.36 to ad va nce to her fifth final of th e sea son. "Beli eve it or not, I was m ore concern ed about the race against Antron that the one against Matt," Seelin g said . "Antron is such an awesome ra cer , and his team is doing a g rea t job . I' ve told him that he needs to start qualifying on the o the r side of th e ladder, so if we d o race, it w ill be in th e final." Th e fina l w as on e of the best rac es of the yea r in Pro Stock Bike, as Seeling left on Hines by a little more than two-hund red ths of a seco nd an d maintained the advantage to ta ke a 7.31-t0-7.32 victory and extend her lead in the points stand ings. "Sh e did a g rea t job in the fina l," Hines ad mi tted. "I th ou ght I was go ing to catch her because I started pulling her in high gear, but th e bike started moving aro und, an d I knew I was d on e. We didn't lose that much ground o n her in the points. She has to kee p doing it for seven m ore ra ces to w in th e titl e, and we aren't going to let her ge t it that easy. A nd there a re a few o th er teams o u t her e w ho mi g ht have a say in w ho w ins th e cha m p io nsh ip . If w e are goin g to win the cham p io ns h ip , we had better get serious from here on ou t." eN Gateway International Raceway Madison , illinois Results: June 24-27, 1999 (Round 7 of 14) PRO STOCK FINAL: I. Angelle Seeling (Suz) 7.31, 182.45; 2. Matt Hines (Suz) 7.32.1 81.89. Upcoming Rounds: Round 8 - Denver, Colorado, July 15-18 Round 9 - Brainerd, Minnesota, August 19-22 35

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