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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128005
Round 8: Bandimere Speedway
NHRA WINSTON DRAG RACING SERIES
By Kevin McKenna
DENVER, CO. JULY 15-1
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ave Schu ltz has called it one of the
toughest decisions he's made in
his pro fessional career, but when
he looks back at his rece nt commitment
to lease an engine from one-time rival
Byron Hines, he may also vi ew it as one
of his shrewdes t maneuvers.
Schul tz, who was once so dominant
on the NHRA tour tha t he won nine of
11 events in a sing le season, has la te ly
been m ired in a slu mp tha t has lasted
for m ore than tw o yea rs. Sens ing a need
for drasti c cha nges, the six-time NHRA
Winston Pr o Stoc k Bike cham p turned
to his old friend Hi nes for a competitive
pow erpl ant, and was quickly able to put
his p rogram back on the wi nning track
with a victory at th e Mopar Parts MileHigh ationals in Den ver, the 43r d trio
um ph of his storied caree r.
'The Vance & Hin es engi ne isn't the
only change to our program, bu t it is the
most sig nifica nt one," Schu ltz sai d, not
long af ter do wning his former protege,
T eam 23 rid er A n tron Bro wn, in the
fina l to wi n his firs t eve nt since the seaso n-openi ng Mac Tool s Ga tornationals
in 1997 . " I have a new bike this yea r,
and we d es igned a n a ll -new G SX- R
b od y , b u t m y e ngi ne build er, (G reg
Cope) and I d idn't have the fire we once
d id as a team. We mutu ally agreed tha t .
we sho uld do ou r own things, and that
led m e ba ck to Va n ce & H in es , a n d
obviously it w as a wise move. Early in
m y ca re e r, I e njoyed a lot of su ccess
w ith th e Vance & H ines team , so th is
w as so rt of like a hom ecoming for me.
"T wo-and-a -ha lf years is wa y too lon g
to go between wins," Sch ultz continued.
" It has been so long that I wa s beginning
to doubt myself. Last year wa s horrible
for me. For the first time in my career, I
didn't win a race. I also turned SO, which
made me think abou t where I was go ing.
The fans knew w e wer e strugg ling , and
I'v e heard th em say things like 'I'm too
old ' or 'I've lost it: and after a w hile, that
stu ff works on yo u ."
A reju venated Schultz gave a preview
of thin g s to co me w h e n h e rod e h is
Sunoco Suzuki to the final of the Pontiac
(Above) At this point, Dave Schultz has
already broken his 2'" year victory drought as
his final round opponent, Antran Brown, redlights on Troy Vincent's Team 23 Suzuki. In
the final, Schultz matched the quickest run of
the event with a 7.65 on his Vance & Hinespowered Sunoco SuzukI.
(Right) After the final, Schultz celebrated his
third title at Bandimere Speedway. The s ixtime NHRA Pro Stock Bike champion remains
eighth on NHRA's all-time win list with 43
nat ional event victories.
Exciteme nt Natio na ls in Col u mb us
shortly after striking his deal w ith Hin es,
but a crucial rid ing erro r gave the wi n to
Brow n. It was a mist ake Schultz was no t
likely to ma ke again. In fact, many of his
opponents self-destructed in Denver, but
Sc hul tz re m ain ed ro ck-s t ea d v, a nd
through a com bination of savvy ' tuning
and consistent riding, he scored his third
career victory at Bandim ere.
In qualifying, Schultz ran a 7.70, but
trailed Matt H in es' Eag le O ne Suzuki
and Team Winsto n's A ngelle Seeling,
w ho were firs t and second, respectively,
with matching 7.65 efforts. Amazingly,
Hines an d Seeling qualified a tenth-anda-half more quickly tha n the previous
track record, which H ines set last year
with a 7.80. However, neithe r r id e r
hung arou nd lon g on race day. Seeling,
w ho entered the eve nt wit h a command ing lead in the poi nts sta ndings, d id the
unthin kable when she red -lighted in the
open ing ro u nd agains t the field ' s lone
Kawa saki, th e Pete Briggs-owned Lake
Mortgage entry, rid den by C.]. Smith.
Seeli ng o u t- q u alifi ed Smit h by m ore
th an three tenths of a second, so th er e
wa s no need to ga mble on the Tree, but
she left too soon, and suffered her first
opening round loss in more than a yea r.
"I had a bad red-light in qualifying
yes terday, but tha t wa s bec aus e th e
clutch dragged m e through th e lights: '
Seeling said . "I can 't believe 1red-li ghted
today. This is really the first big mista ke
I'v e mad e all year, and I think this is the
hardest I've eve r take n a loss . I reall y feel
bad for my crew beca use th ey gave me
the best motorcycle ou t there. We w ere
certainly ca pable of winning th is race."
Seeling's loss was Hines' gain, and
the reigning two-time champ, who had
never lost a ro u nd in th re e yea rs at
Bandimere Speedway, appeared ready
to ta ke fu ll adva ntage of it. However,
Hi nes also triggered a red -light w he n he
dumped the clutch too soon in the semis
against Brown.
"I just blew it, I never S