Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Winston No .Bull S ow h down:BristolDragway By Kevin McKenna BRISTOL TN,JULY 8-11 , att Hines d id n't gam er a single p oint in h is u phill battl e to track down Angelle Seeling for the 1999 NHRA Pro Stock Bike Charnpionship, but in winning the Winston No Bull Showdo wn in Brist ol. Tenn essee, an inv ita tion-only spe cialty even t, he d id ga in so met hi ng that may ultimat el y prove mu ch more valuable: confidence. Hi nes ha sn't had many rea sons to celebrate in the firs t half of the season, as he has won just once in seven races and trails Team Winston 's Seeling by a w ide margi n in the p oint s ta nd ings. However, Hines has slowly regained the form that allowed him to win 10 events in 1998 an d claim his second straigh t championship. "We made a statement here," Hin es sa id s ho r tl y after downing Dav e Sch u ltz 's Su no co Su zuki in th e fin al round , 7.34 to 7.46. "I was 'actually su rprised that it ran a 7.34, because it spun the tire off th e line. Even though w e d idn 't mak e up an y g ro u n d in the points, this was a really good win for us. (Ab ove) In the $10,000 fin al of the Winston No Bu ll Sho wdown at Bristol, Matt Hines set low elapsed time of the event with a 7.34 to sto p six-time NHRA cham p' Dave Schultz, who trailed with a 7.4 6. (Left) Though he earned no points for his Bristol victory, Hines and his Vance & Hines Eagle One team were nevertheless elated fo llowing their vi ctory. We were able to put a lot of dis tractions out of our mind s and jusi concentrate on what we had to do. This gives us a lot of mo men tum going into the Den ver race, w he re ro u nd wins will start countin g for poin ts again." The Wins ton No Bull Showdown was conceiv ed as an all-star-type eve nt featurin g an eight-bike field. Racers qualified for the field by either winning a Nation al ch ampi onsh ip, as Hines a nd Sch ul tz hav e done, or by winnin g th e most rec ent NHRA National e ve n ts, which all owed Se eling, Joh n Smith, Antron Brown and Ron Ayers to make the show. The fina l two spo ts were filled by open qualifyi ng and were ultimately taken by Te am 23 rider Tony Mullen . and Tas Racing's Greg Underdahl. . La te ly, no Pro Stock Bik e e ve n t cO "" would be complete without a con troversy, and Bristol had its share. And, as .., usual, Seeling and Hines were right in 48 the middle of it. -S The latest war of words erupted during Friday qualifying when Seeling pos ted a 7.38 elapsed time , which was good for the provisional pole. The problem was that Seeling's ru n came with a 60-foot tim e of 1.05, a nu mber th a t would be ha rd for even the most optimistic fan to believe, since no Pro Stock Bike has eve r card ed a number quic ker than 1.09. Hi nes - an d th e res t of th e field - ar gu ed th at the run w as bogus and sho uld not count, but NHRA officials refused to ove rtu rn it. "We had hoped tha t Angelle wo u ld hav e go ne back ou t and made a .rerun on Thursday night, beca use a 1.05 60foot time for a bike under these cond itions is jus t rid iculous," Hines said . "We accepted NH RA's decision not to do so and just went to wo rk on ou r ow n combination . We ran in the 7.3s wit h 60-foot tim es b et ween 1.11, and 1.1 2, and Ange lle never got ba ck in th e LOs the rest of the weekend, so that speaks for itself." For her part, Seeling wa s qu ick to 'd efend herself. "If this had happened to an yone else, nobody would have said anything," she noted , "bu t when it happens to me, everybody makes a b ig deal about it, and it's bee n tha t way since I started racing. " Whether See ling's ru n was legit or not, Hines rendered the point moot by later running a 7.37 to take the numberone qualifying spot, bumping Seeling to second, jus t a he a d of Sc h u ltz, w h o checked in third with a 7.40. Hi nes breezed throug h the firs t two rounds of elimina tions for the eig ht-bi ke field w ith 7.36 and 7.37 effor ts agains t Tony Mu llen and Joh n Sm ith, respectively. On the other side of the lad de r, Seeling easily d isposed of Ron Aye rs' Mac Too ls Suzuki in rou nd one with a 7.37 but r e d- li gh ted i n r oun d two against Schultz. Addi ng insult to injury, Schu ltz's Vance & Hines-powered Suzu- ki never got off the sta rting line after the six-time N HRA Champion left the transmission in third gear for the second time this season. "Some body wa s reall y looking after me," Schultz said . "I came to the line in third gear. It was definitely pilot error. I knew what I had done as soon as it happened." Nobod v felt w orse about th e fo u l than Seeling, wh o would have made it to the fin al round just by keeping the light green. "I'm sorry abou t the red-li ght, but as close as th e co m pe tition is now , yOll almost have to be pe rfect to win," Seeling sai d. "My crew tried so me things t h is wee ke n d tha t t he y normally wo u ld n' t a ttempt a t a Na tiona l ev ent. Wha t we learned should help us in Denver." Hin e s saved hi s b e st s ho t of t h e w e ek e n d fo r th e final as h e se t lo w elapsed time and top speed of the event with a 7.34, 185.92 to cover Schultz's game 7.46, 183.32 effort a nd earn the $10,000 first-plac e check . "We didn't make an y changes to the bike beca use we were pretty happy with the way. it was ru nn in g," Hi nes sa id. "We know we have a lot of work to do. io get back in the po ints battle, bu t the next two races are in Denv er and Brainerd, and those are two tracks that have really been good to us." Indeed, in h is three-year Pro Stoc k Bike ca ree r, Hin es ha s n e v er lo st a r ound a t e it her facili ty - a s trea k h e eN ho pes to keep intact this year. Bristol Dragway Bristol, Tennessee Results: July 8-10, 1999 PR'O ST OCK FINA L: 1. Matt Hines (Su z) 7.34, 185.92; 2. Dave Schultz (Suz ) 7.46, 183.32. Upcoming Rounds: Round 8 - Denver. Colorado. July 15-18 Round ~ - Brainerd, Minnesota, August 19-22

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