Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

N HRA P o w e r a d e D r a g Racing Serie s Round 14 : The Strip at Las V e gas Motor Spe edway ~------------- • tYJ S T O RY KEV IN M cK E N N A P H OTO S B Y MIKE B A SSO LAS VEGAS, NV, OCT, 23-26 T h e 2003 seaso n h as b e e n t h e most exciti ng a n d c omp et iti v e year in the h istory of the NHR A Pro St o c k B ik e cl ass , an d Cr a ig Treb l e has been a bysta nd er for m ost of it. A c ha m pio n shi p c ha llen ger wh o won four rac es and fi nished sec ond in th e p o ints in 2 00 3, the Mateo Too ls rid er has struggled thi s season, failin g to win even one of the first 13 race s. "It has been a tough season ," Treb l e sa id. " A t t he begin ning of the year, a lot of people predicted that I wou ld win the cham pionship, espe cially afte r wh at we d id la st yea r, bu t it di dn' t happen . Ev erybod y stepped up . We d idn ' t. W e had c o nsiste ncy probl ems a ll y ear. I don' t att ri b ute any thi ng to it bec au se we have tried ev erything we can think of to fi x it. " Well , al most everythi ng . D esp erat e to get b a ck o n t r ac k before the end of the season , T reble made a franti c call to his engine sup p lie r, Vance [, Hin es. A t th e sugges tion of the Vance [, Hines team, Tre b le arrived in Las Vegas armed with a new bike, the 2002 Su zuki GSX -R that was last r idden b y three-time NHRA Pro Stock B ike champ Matt Hines. Hines won th e 2002 seasonending event in Pom ona on the Suzu k i , but it had bee n mothball ed for nine months whil e he worked on the t eam 's S cr e am in ' Eag le Harle y Davidson proj ect. In Las Vega s, it d idn 't take long for Tr ebl e t o ge t u se d t o th e n e w ma chine as he pa ced the field with a 7 .24 in qu al ifying. O n race day , Trebl e wa s even m ore intimidating as he ran a 7 .23 in his ro und tw o win over G .T. T on gl et ' s S cr eamin' E agle Harl ey and then lo we re d t he b oom w ith a track -record 7 .16 in th e sem ifin al s o p p os ite Ton get 's Sc ream in ' Eagle teammate , Andrew Hines. (Above) After stumbling for most of the season, Craig Treble borrowed a b ike from Matt Hines and cleaned house at the ACDe ico Nationals i n Las Vegas. Treble q ualifie d No . 1 and ran low E.T . of the race with a 7.1 6 o n his way to h is first win of the season. "This bike is j ust plain bad," Treble said . "When they told me it ran 7 .16, I was pretty shocked . I k new t hat I was maki ng a de ce nt pa s s , bu t I nev er wo ul d have believed a 7 .16 . I tho ug ht m ayb e a 7 .1 9 or a 7 .20 at b est. Yo u 've g ot to re member, th is tra ck is at 2500 feet abo ve sea level, an d tha t j ust k ills ou r little four-cylinder eng ines. If I had t his b ik e at a sea- le vel tra ck like Read in g or Chi cago, someone would be giving me a $10,000 bonus right now, because I could ju st about guarantee that I'd be the first one to run in the sixes." For T reb le , the only downsid e to the new bik e was the magenta -andyellow pa int scheme that was appli ed as part of a new sponsorship agree ment with the Nitrofish ap parel com pany. Th e bright pa int was the topic of d iscussion among m an y Pro St oc k B ike riders , incl udi ng T re b le 's fin al roun d opponent, U.S. Arm y 's A ngell e Sav o ie, wh o c o ul dn 't resist taki ng a shot at her riv al. " In the fina l rou nd , you 're go ing to have a g irl in o ne la ne and a guy rid ing a girl's b ik e in the other," Sav o ie tol d the Las Vegas c ro wd . "I used t o thin k m y bik es were lou d." With thre e st raight run s in t h e 7 .2s, Sav o ie fi gu red to be a w orth y o p pone nt fo r Treble , but he quickl y dis m issed the reignin g cham p with a 7.17 in th e final, ev en though Savo ie m ade he r q uick est run of the we ek en d with a 7 .23. With Treble 's w in , t he re hav e now been n ine different wi n ners in th e fi rst 14 rac es of t he 2 003 season , an oth er sig n of th e par ity th at no w exi sts in t he class . In pa st y ea rs , t h e r e had n ev er b een more t han six w inn er s in a sin gl e season. "I hat e to harp on it, bu t that Suzu ki of Matt' s is a wic ked machine," Treble said . "It was a pleasure to ri de that bik e. It fit me well , and it's fast. To think that this b ik e sat in the corner of their sho p for nine months just kills m e. I can only imagine where I' d be if I had it all season." For Savoie, the runner-up finish kept alive her slim hopes to secure a fourth straight championship. However , she w ill ne ed a m ira c l e to p as s current leader Geno Scali. Reali stically , all Scali need s to do to clinch th e titl e is qualify fo r th e season -en ding Pomon a race in tw o week s. "I know it is still po ssibl e to win th e c h ampio ns hip, but it 's a longsho t ," Savoie said. " I' ve co m e to te rms w it h it, and n ow I'm shoot ing for second pla ce. After all I'v e been th rough this yea r , w ith a n ew tea m , a new c rew c hi ef , an d now a n ew spo nso r, I'm okay w ith th at. " W in ni n g t h i s ra c e would hav e h elp ed, but Craig w as j u st t o o c ue I e n strong ," Savoie continued . " O bv ious Iy t hat new b ik e c u red a lot of th problem s he was havin g th is yea r. I' sure h e'll be a ha n dfu l at Po mona to o." A s for Sc ali , a second round red li ght in Las V eg a s p r ev en t ed hi fro m cl i nching the t itl e , but h remains o ptimistic tha t he can c om p let e th e job at the seaso n fin al e. "T he drama goes on to Pomona , Scali sa id. "It ai n't over yet. I stil have to q ualify, and tha t's nev er guar anteed. Right now, people as sum e it over, but people thought the Chicag Cub s were going to the Wo rl d Serie too , and yo u know what happened I'm feel ing the pressure a little b i Actually , it' s th e people around m e. c an 't sens e that they're nervous, an th at 's ma k ing me a littl e nervous Once this th ing is set tl ed , I'm su r we' ll have a huge c elebration , but no until it's officiall y do ne. I'm no t takin anything for grant ed ." The Strip at LasVegas Motur Speedway Las Vegas, Nevada Results : October 23-26, 2003 I Round 14 of 151 PRO STOCK FINA L: I . Craig Treble (Suz) 7. 1 185 .33 2. Angelie Savoie (Suz) 7.23 . 188.78. NHRA POWERADE PRO STOCK MOTORCYCL POINTS STANDINGS ( Afte r 14 of 15 even's) : 1 Gena Scali ( 107 9/3 wins); 2. Angelle Savoie (962/ w in s ) ; 3 . S h a w n Ga n n ( 92 4 { 1 win ); 4 . Re gg i Sho wers (873/2 wins); 5 . An tran Bro wn (7 78/1 win ). Upcoming Round: Round 15 - Pomona, California , Nov. 6-9 e _ S • N OVEMBER 12, 2003 4

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