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NHRA W in s t o n D r a g Racing S e r ie s R o un d 5 : R o ute S S R a c ewa y -- STORY BY KEVIN McK ENNA PH OTOS BY NHRA 'IF here il d ra g is a s e ldom used rule in raci ng known as "first or worst" tha t states simply , that whe n two com petitors each commit similar infra ctions on the sa m e run , the d river who com mits the first or the wo rst infraction will be disqualified and his o r her oppo nent will be decla red the winner. That rule came into pla y during the final round o f th e lucas Oil Produ cts Na tionals as Antron Brown and Angelle Savoie both left the st a rt ing line before th e gr e en light flashed. S inc e Savo ie le ft tw o th ousandths of a seco nd befor e Brown , the red- light app eared in h e r lane , a n d Bro wn c lai me d his s e cond win of th e season . T h e final numb ers were a 7 .18 elapsed time fo r Brown to S avoi e 's qui cker 7 .15. On the reaction tim er, which measures a rider's reaction to th e green light, Brown had a .392 light to Savo ie 's .390. In other words, if she ha dn ' t red- lighted , he would hav e. "T he wa y An g ell e wa s running , I knew I had to do m y job on the sta rting line ; I had to get the ho lesh ot if I was go ing to win," Brown said . "Earlie r in the ra ce , I had a couple of bad re a ction tim es and I kne w I co uldn 't ha ve an o th er o ne in th e fina l. We a djusted the bike in orde r to s peed up the rea ction tim e and we sped it up too mu c h . It's too bad th a t it was decid ed on a red -ligh t beca use otherwise , it would have been a g reat d ra g race . We both m ade pretty good run s . I do n't want a ny g im me wins, but this was one of them we just both wanted rea lly bad." Bro wn , who a lso won the 2 0 0 0 J oliet round, didn 't have the q uickest b ik e at th e ra c e , but his T e am 2 3 -------- (Above) Both Antron Brown and Angelle Savoie left before the green light i n the Pro Stock B ike final, but Savoie's red -l ight w as w o rse by .002se c ond, a llowing B row n t o tak e h is second-straight w in In J olie t. (Right) Brown ga ined g rou nd on po ints le ad er Matt Hines with hi s second win of the season, which was al so the eighth Pro Stock Bik e title of his career. Suzuki was one of t he most co ns istent. Brown qual ified third in th e reco rd field with a 7 .14 e la ps ed time a nd used runs of 7.17, 7 .19 , and a 7 .16 to re ac h th e final. His c lose s t ra ce ca me in ro und two a ga ins t Gen o Scali 's J on co Motor sports Hay abus a . Scali left the starting line s e ven h un dr edths of a seco n d b efore Br o wn , but could n't m ainta in the adv antage , los ing with a 7 .29 . Brown , who is normally one of the quick est starting -line racers, had one of his worst reaction times of the year; a .496. " I red - lig ht e d a t t h e last ra c e in Englis htown and I wanted to mak e s u re it di dn 't happen again ," Bro wn said. " I was tryi ng to ho ld back a little, bu t not th at much. lu c kil y , m y bike c a rried m e through." Brown ha d a s imila r ra c e agai nst Reg g ie Showers in the s emifinals , bu t he wa s a ga in a ble to overpowe r his o ppone nt for a 7.1 6 to 7 .29 victo ry. For Savoie , th e loss put a da mper on wha t was othe rwise an inc redi ble we e ke nd. The reig ning NHRA c ham p ion str uggled du ring the first da y of qua lifyin g b ut her Star Rac ing tea m assem bled a s pare e ng ine late Friday nig ht , and on Satur day , sh e q ualified in the top spot with a stunning 7 .10 run . Th e run not o nly was the best of S avoie's ca reer, but it also tied Brown for the quickest ru n in th e histo ry of the class. "We 've struggled at the last couple of races , so it's good to be back on top ," S avoi e s aid. "I knew that run was fast because it was really straight and smooth. The wind pushed me towards the centerline a little a nd I wa s worried a bout getting into th e other la ne , but ot he rwise, it wa s a re ally aweso me run . We put th is e ngine in the bike a nd never had a cha nce to test it. We just wanted to see wh at it wou ld do, bu t obviou s ly , it' s fa s t. Matt [Hin es ] and Antr on ha ve had th is big battl e go ing about who was going to be the first o ne to run in th e 7 .0s. I've kept my m outh shut until now , but I want it to be m e , and now I kn ow we ha ve the power to do it." On ra c e day, Savoie 's T eam Win ston Suzu k i wa sn' t ser iou sl y cha lle nged a s she b eat Bri an Delong , S hawn Gann , and Cr a ig Trebl e , with runs of 7 . 14, 7.16, a nd 7 . 14 , res pec t ively . "The ba d th in g about th e fina l is that I had a fee ling th at Ant ro n was going to red -light," S a vo ie con tinued . "I had a perfect .4 00 reaction time in cue I e th e second round an d we m a d e a n adjustment to the c lutc h in or der to s low the bike down before the semi's . Once we got to the final, I told [c re w ch ief George Br yce] to ch ange it ba ck. I sh ould hav e known better be cause it was sta rting to get dark, and my re a ction tim es are a lways a litt le quic k er in final rounds just be cau s e I get wor ke d up . I'll know better next tim e ." l e ss of a fa cto r in th e race was Matt Hin e s , wh o re ach ed th e fin a l round o f th e se a s o n 's f irs t fo u r events , but fe ll short in Joliet whe n he d ou ble -clutch e d h is Van ce [, Hin es Ea g le O ne Suzu ki on the starting line a nd los t t o Sh o we rs in ro u n d two . Hine s h ad q ual ified s e con d wit h a strong 7 . 14 and be a t Mike Berry in round o ne with a 7 . 18 before his mi s c ue in th e second rou nd . De spite the lo s s , Hin es c ont in ues t o lead the points standings , though Brown, who is sec o nd , and Savoie , who is cur rently ran ked third , were ab le to m a ke up a lot of grou nd . "O ve ra ll it wasn 't a ba d weekend," Hin es said . "T h e b ik e wa s work ing really well , I jus t d oubl e -clutch e d it agains t Reggie and made a bad run . Th e goo d thing is that I've still got the po int s lead , so hopefull y , I can get ba c k to th e final of the next race and get ba ck what we lost he re ." On e oth e r rid er wh o is rapidl y be c oming a fa cto r in th e Pro Stock Bik e c lass is S how ers . A do u b le a m putee who los t both leg s be lo w the knee after he was electrocuted on a high-vo ltage railroad tra c k d uring his ch ildho od, Showers defines perseverance . With the help of crew ch ief Brian Schu ltz, son of the late s ix-t im e NHRA champ Dave Schultz, Showers has re a c he d th e s emifinals of the last two events on his PDI Suzuki and is c urre ntly seeded in fifth place in the points standings. In Joliet, he m ade the best run of his career with a 7.22 in round o ne, but fell off the pa c e in the semis aga inst Brown . "This is my first ra c e with a six -s peed transmis sio n in th e bike , a nd I'm pretty happy with th e wa y the b ike ran, " Showers said. "Ha ving Brian aroun d to m a ke all the tun ing ca lls has really boosted m y confidence. We just need to ke e p it up and I kn ow the wins will come. My persona l go al is to fin ish in the top five in the points , and so far we 're o n ta rget for that." CN Route 66 Raceway Joliet, Illinois Results : Junl 1-3, 2DDl lRound 5 of 141 PRO STOCK FINAL: I . Antron Brown (S Ul ) Angelle Savoie (SUl) 7.15. 184 .88 (FOUL). NH RA WINSTON PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE SERIES POINTS STANINGS (After 5 or 14 events); 7.18. 185.64 ; 2. 1. Matt Hine s (484 ); 2. Antron Brown (4 47 ) ; 3. A nge lle Savoie (421 ): 4 . Craig Tre bl e (35 4) ; 5 . Reggie Showers (305 ). Upcoming Rounds: Round 6 - Columbus, Ohio, June 14-17 Round 7 - Madi son, Illinois, June 21-24 n e _ S • JUNE 20, 2001 47