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NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Round 2: Houston Raceway Park STORY AND PHOTOS BY KEVIN McKENNA BAYTOWN, TX, APRIL 11-14 '\(\ift' hile former champs Angelle W Savoie and Matt Hines are reeling, Craig Treble continues rolling. The Matco Tools rider won for the second time in as many races when he rode his Vance [,. Hines-powered Suzuki GSX-R to a win over Geno Scali in the final of the O'Reilly Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park. With the win, Treble has extended his record in elimination rounds to a perfect 8-0 on the young season and extended his lead in the points standings. At the root of Treble's sudden surge to the top is the new Sandy Kosman-built chassis he debuted in Gainesville. The frame features many new innovations, including an adjustable steering head, an aluminum belly pan and engine mount, and a unique rear-axle assembly that allows greater tuning flexibility. As was the case in Gainesville, the combination worked to perfection again in Houston as Treble made a string of consistent runs to capture his third career victory. "To come out here and win the first two races of the year is pretty awesome," Treble said. "I can't say enough good things about Sandy Kosman and Kenny Williams, who designed this new bike. This chassis is still new to us and we're still trying to figure out what it likes. The scary part is that I don't think we've even scratched the surface of its potential. I know we can run better." In qualifying, Treble was a disappointing sixth as he ran just a 7.26, well off the pace set by Shawn Gann, 70 MAY 1 , 2002' cue • • who qualified in the top spot for the first time in his career with a 7.18. Reigning champ Savoie, who recently signed a season sponsor for her Star Racing Suzuki, was the only other rider in the 7.1-second zone, with a 7.19 for the second spot. All 16 riders qualified quicker than Brian Delong's 7.357, making for one of the quickest .Pro Stock Bike fields in NHRA history. One rider who missed the cut was John Smith, who did not qualify for the first time in a decade. Smith's best of 7.40 was not among the quick 16 and he was on the sidelines on race day, ending his qualifying streak at 102-straight events. One other rider who was not present in Houston was G.T. Tonglet, the rider of the Screamin' Eagle Vance [,. Hines VRod Harley. Earlier in the week, the factory Harley team announced that they were skipping the Houston race in order to continue the development of their new bike. Treble overcame his early problems on race day when he threw down one of the quickest runs of the day with a 7.20 in the opening round against Tom Miceli, who red-lighted aboard Ben Hatcher's Suzuki, which is painted to honor the heroes of the New York City Fire Dept. A 7.23 run in round two was enough to get by Team 23's Antron Brown and land Treble in the semifinals, where he faced Savoie. "We tried some new things in qualifying and we struggled a bit," Treble said. "On race day, my crew chief, Calvin Aswege, decided to go back to the same combination we ran in Gainesville. Once we did that, it responded well. In fact, we ran better than we did in qualifying even though the air and track conditions weren't n • _ s nearly as good as they had been." After breaking two engines earlier in the weekend, Savoie installed her last bullet for the semifmals and she actually outran Treble, 7.25 to 7.28, but Treble's quick reaction time enabled him to get to the fmish line first. "That girl [Savoie] has whipped me so many times we're still not close to being even," Treble said. "I actually got lucky because my bike wouldn't shift into high gear. I kept waiting for her to pass me but it never happened. I just held my head down and looked for the finish line. luckily, I got there first." In the final, Treble faced Geno Scali, who was looking to become the first Kawasaki racer to win an NHRA national event since the late Dave Schultz won in Atlanta in 1992. Riding the lake Mortgage ZX-ll for team owner Pete Briggs, Scali qualified in the fifth spot with a 7.23. Like Treble, Scali was also turned in consistent 7.2-second runs on race day as he rode past Chris Reuter, Matt Hines, and Steve Johnson to reach his third career final. Scali's day nearly ended following his 7.25 to 7.36 win over Johnson in the semi's as his brakes faded and he wound up in the sand trap at the end of the track; however, the bike was not damaged and Scali was ready to go for the final less than an hour later. Treble led the final wire-to-wire as he gained a three hundredths of a second advantage over Scali off the starting line and extended it for a 7.24 to 7.32 victory. "I saw Geno briefly and I could hear his bike the whole way down the track, but I wasn't about to look over," Treble said. "I had no high gear in the semi's so I made sure to hit the air shifter button a couple of (Leftl Matco Tools rider Craig Treble (near lane) ran his record to a perfect 8·0 in elimination rounds this year with a 7.24 to 7.32 win over Geno Scali's Kawasaki (far lane) in the Pro Stock final. Scali was attempting to become the first Kawasaki racer In nearly a decade to win on the NHRA tour. !Above) Following his second consecutive win, Treble has built a substantial lead In the NHRA POWERade points standings. After two of 14 rounds, he leads reigning champ Angelle Savoie by 55 points. times, just to make sure. We still have less than 25 runs on this new bike and to think that it would still be undefeated is awesome." For Briggs, the final round served as a reward for his years of dedication to the Kawasaki brand. Briggs' loyalty has paid off as his bike is not just the quickest Kawasaki in Pro Stock, but it is also capable of running with the leaders, as he proved in Houston. "I've never had to run four rounds in a day," said Briggs. "And when the bike went into the sand, we had to work extra hard to get it cleaned up for the final. The bike shook the tire against Craig, and Geno short-shifted it a little, otherwise we might have had a chance. I'm still pretty happy though. We had a good weekend." Though he readily admits that it's way too early to start thinking about the NHRA POWERade championship, Treble has history on his side as no Pro Stock Bike rider who has won the season's first two races has ever failed to win the title. "At this point, I'm not even thinking about points," Treble continued. "I just want to keep winning rounds at every race. If I can do that, then the points will take care of themselves." eN Hous1an Raceway Psrt< 1Iaytawn, Teua Results: Aprl111-14, zaaz (Round Z of 141 PRO STOCK FINAL: I. Croig Treble (Suz) 7.24. 184.172. Angelle Sovoie (Kow) 7.32.184.52 NHRA POWERADE PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 2 of 14 events): 1. Craig Treble (229/2 wins); 2. Angelle S8voie (174); 3. Shawn a"nn (134); 4. Geno ScBIi (126): 5. Steve Johnson (113). Upcoming Rounds: Round 3 - Atlanta. Georgia. May 2-5 Round 4 - Englishtown, New Jersey, May 16-19