Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128238
NHRA P o w e r a d e D rag R a ci n g S e ri e s Round 1 2 : Maple Grove R a cew a y Eight is Enough M ichael Ph illips won the Lucas Oil Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway by riding his Calmes Motorsports Suzuki to a 7.13 to 7.16 win over U.S. Army's Angelle Savoie in the final round. more tha n 1200 m iles from Read ing. " I wasn't going t o c o m e back. " Phillips said . "None of my crew guys c o ul d make it, and I didn 't want t o drive th e truck by mysel f. My team ow ner, Kev in Calmes , c a lle d a n d asked me why I wa sn 't on the road, and I to ld him I wasn't going. Fin all y , o ne o f m y budd ie s c a me b y . He closed up his ba rb er sho p , jumped in th e tru ck and we hit th e ro ad . In fact , if i t h a dn't ra in ed o n S aturd a y , I wou ld have m issed th e second qu ali fy ing session." On c e he arrived in Re adin g , Ph illip s went t o work . Riding th e Suzuki formerly owned and ridden by current Scream in ' Eagle Harley rid er Andrew Hin es, Phillips qu alified fi ft h i n th e fa st fi e ld , w it h a 7.17 . He cr uise d through th e first tw o round s of eliminatio ns w ith win s over Steve J ohn son and D en v er c ha m p Bl a in e Hal e. th en m ad e the best run of h is c aree r w ith a 7 .1 2 in th e sem ifina ls aga inst Fred Colli s, who red -l ighted. " Earlie r this yea r, o ur t ra il er and m y b ik e we re stole n ," Ph illips sa id. " T he p olice fina ll y c au gh t th e gu ys wh o did it , but in th e m eantime , we bought this bike fr om Van ce £, Hin es. That ha s made a big d iffer en c e. M y o l d bik e was good , bu t th i s on e i s better. T here 's no way I could hav e run th ese kinds of number s with my old bik e." Heading into th e fina l round, Phillips also ben efited from the tuning help of Vance £, Hin es crew chief Joe Va nderb ri nk and his old bo ss , La r tig ue, who was offeri ng his assistance via c e l l phone . The c o m b i n a ti o n S T O RY AN D P H OTOS BY K E VI N M cKE NN A READING, PA, OCT. 3-5 he talent of Michael Phillips ha s never been questioned. When he sig n ed w ith H a r r y Lartigue 's Bell Additives Suzuk i te am prior to the 1994 season , it d idn 't take l ong for Phill ips to fu lfi ll his promise , ea rning a run ner-up finish in hi s first season b ef ore w inning th e 1995 H ouston ra ce . Phillips appeared des tined for stardom , but after splitting with Lartigue in 1996, his stock dropped , and h e co m pe te d on ly part time unt i l 2002, wh en h e jo ined th e K evin Calmes' Calmes Motorsports sq uad. Now Phillips is back - all the wa y back , after winning his sec ond ca ree r titl e at the Lu cas Oil Nation al s. E ight year s rem ov ed from hi s first victory , Phillips still ha s ta lent, and he put it t o g o od u se in Reading , wh er e he defe ate d four of th e class' t op rid ers , in c lu d ing rei gnin g Powerade cha m p Angelle Sav oi e in th e fin al. "Eight ye ars has been a long time, but 1 nev er gave up," Phillips said . " I knew I could still win ra c es, I just had to have the rig ht si tu atio n , and I've got that with Kevin Calmes . All yea r lo ng, I 've b een sa y ing that I wa s go nna win a race, and I finally did it ." Operating on a tight budg et , Phillips actually c ontemp lated not ret urning to Maple Grove Raceway for the rerun of th e Lucas Oil Nationals, which was postponed tw o weeks due t o ra in . The day before th e race re sum e d , Phil l i p s was s till at h is home in B at o n Ro uge , Louisia na, T 52 OCTOBER 29.2003· cu e I e n e vv s worked. as Phi lli ps ga ined a starting line holes ho t agains t S a v oi e a nd never looked back . posting a 7 .13 t o 7.16 vic to ry . " M y d eal with Harry d i d n 't work out, but I st ill love him like a fathe r, and we sta y in touch, " Phill ips sa id . " He was a b ig help to me to day. I knew th at all the pressur e was going to be on her in the fin al. -Ang elle and I go way back, and she k now s how I race. I ju st went up there and tr ied to d o my be st , and this tim e, i t w a s good eno ugh." By all ri g ht s, Savo ie should have crushed Phillips in th e final ro und . Her U.S. A rmy Suzuki was th e quick est bike in the fie ld on rac e day with a best of 7 .05, just a hundredth of a sec o nd slo wer than the current NHRA n ati ona l rec o r d . Sa voi e would h ave won , but a t u ni n g er ro r b efore th e fina l co st her dearly in the fina l. "M y rpm select o r ma lfun ctioned," Sa v o ie sai d . "I n th e se m ifi na ls the bik e bogged a little bit off the sta rt ing lin e, so we decided t o raise the st artin g lin e rp m up by I 00 . What hap pened is that we som eho w wound up ra is ing the rpm by I 000, so when I du mped the clutch. the eng ine was at I 0 ,000 rpm instead of 9000, and the bike spun th e rea r tire . I should have rea li zed that som et hing was n't right , but even if I had, there was nothi ng I c o ul d do about it. It' s not li k e I'm going to roll off the throttle. T he bike j ust sat th ere and spun, and there was no way I could catch Michael. "T he real shame is that with the air and track conditions we had , th e bi k e was going t o ma k e a ki ller r u n ," Savoie co nti nued . " I might have eve n been ab le to set the nat ion al record. I hate it any time I lo se, but I do n't feel so bad this time becaus e it wasn't m y fa ult. O nce we started th e bike , th ere was nothing I co uld have done." Ju s t as Sa voi e cou ldn 't cat ch Phil lips, it ap pea rs tha t no on e wi ll c at ch Gen o Sc al i in th e rac e for the Powerade Pr o St o ck Bik e champ i ons hip . Sc al i lost th e battle in Reading wh en he was beaten by Savo ie in t he se m ifi n al ro un d , but h e cl early has won the wa r as he heads into the final two events of the seas o n holding a c o m m andi ng lS I -poi nt lead o ver second plac e Shawn Gan n in th e st andings. " O u r f ocu s is defini t el y on t he cham p io nship at th is point in the sea so n," sa i d S c al i , w ho h as l o st in round o n e ju st o nce th is seaso n . " I feel good that we made it to th e semi fi na ls. Our wh ol e t eam has a re ally goo d at tit ude, and we j ust can't wait to see how this season ends. Th is is someth ing I've wo rke d my who le li fe for. I'm enj oy ing it. Obvi ous ly, I would lik e to have won the ra ce, but we 're looking at the bigger picture." eN Maple Grove Raceway Reading, Pennsylvania Results: October 3-5, 2003 [Round 12 of 151 PRO STOCK FI NAL: 1. M ichael Phillips (5 uz) 7.13/ 189.07: 2. Anqetle Sevole (Suz) 7.16/1 88.07. N HRA PO WERA DE PRO STO CK MO TOR CYCLE POIN T STANDI NGS ( Aft er 13 of 15 events) : 1. Gena Scali (1023 / 3 wins); 2. S ha wn Gann (87 2/1 win ) ; 3 . Ange lle Sav oie (865/ 3 wins) ; 4 . Reg gie Showers (839/ 2 wins); 5. Antra" Brown.(747 / 1 win). Upcom ing Roun ds: Round 14 - Las Vegas, Nevada . Octob er 23-26 Round 15 - Pomona. Califomia, Novemb er 6-9