Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

_~ NHRA Powerade Pro Stock Bike Champion Geno Scali A part· time ra cer and fu ll·time car salesman Just one year ago, Geno Scali made his leap int o the fu lltime professional ranks payoff by eaming the NHRA Powerade Pro Stock Cha m pionship. • III • Ko enig 's co m pany. Trirn -Tex , and sponsors Crafts man T ools and Hot Cams , th e nedg ling team purchased a new Suzuki TL- 1000 from Precision Metal Fab , recruit ed Vance £, Hin es as an engi ne supplier, and hired veteran c rew chief Earl Deglopper t o complete the package. Now, following the most competitive and inte nse seaso n in the hi st ory o f m otorc y cl e dra g racing , Scal i has emerged as the 2003 NHRA Powerade Pro Stock B ik e Cha m pion. "It truly was a big lea p for me to start my ow n team , and there were times when I won dered if I was doing the right thing, but it was something I've always wanted to do ," Scali said. "I'll always be grateful to Pete [Br iggs] for lett ing me ride his bike, and I'm glad I was able to win on a Kawasak i, but when this oppo rtun ity came up, I just co uld n' t turn it down. "In my hea rt. I k new it was the right thin g to do, and look in g ba ck . I th in k it w as one of the smartest decis ions I'v e ever mad e." Scal i and th e hast il y asse m bled Trim -Tex team had modes t expectatio ns when they a rrive d in Ga inesville in March for the traditiona l Pro Stock Bi ke season opener. " Reali st ically . I had no pressure on me," Sca li said. "T he first year with a new team, I figured that we might be able to finish in th e top five and hopefully win a race or two. I thought we might even finish in the top three, as long as eve ry th ing went just perfect. Before th e sea son started. we tested and we re as fast anyone else in the class , but I also k new how to ugh it was going to be th is year." In the face of sti ff com petition that inclu ded a p air of co m pe titive Harl ey -D a v i d so n s fro m t he Screamin ' Ea gle/Vance £, Hin es tea m, a new part n ersh ip be t we en rei gn ing NH RA champ An g ell e Sa v o i e a n d T eam 23 , a nd th e ar ri val o f AMA/ Prostar ace Fred Colli s, Scali reached the final rou nd in Gai nesville. Two races later in Atlanta , he scored his first win of the year and t ook ove r th e po ints lead for the first time in his career. " Whe n I got to the final in Gainesville, I was pret ty happy beca use I knew how far we had com e in Sel:IJlllls How Geno Scali went fro m being a nobo dy to NHRA Champio n B y K EVIN M cKENNA PH OT OS B y M IKE B ASSO n the summer of 2002, Gen o Scali was on to p of the wo rld . After st ru g glin g to ma ke it a s an NHR A Pro St o ck B ik e racer, the part -t im e racer, part-time Lexu s salesma n fulfill ed a life-l on g dream by winning hi s first N HRA natio nal event in Brain erd . Sca li 's wi n also mark ed th e first career victory fo r hard -wor king t eam owner Pet e Briggs , an d pe rhaps more im po rta ntly, it was also Kawa saki 's fi rst NHRA Pro Stoc k B ik e title in m ore than a decade. A fter yea rs of struggling to make it on his own, working long ho urs and m ak ing many sacrifices, Scali sat back and th oug ht to him self, "I' ve finally made it. " Scali had ind eed made it , and he even back ed up his wi n in Bra in erd with a runn er -up fin ish at th e seaso n fin al e in Pomona , but th e little voice in his head also told him th at a grea ter des tiny lay ahead . At th e end of th e 2002 season, he abruptly resigned from Bri ggs' tea m , A short time later, he announce d that he was forming his own te am with th e help of form er r ider Jo e K o en ig . W i th th e ba cking of I nevvs such a short time, " Scali said . "Then I won Atla nta and took over the lead; that's when w e started to really beli eve th at we could win a c ham p ionshi p. We sort of looked around at eve ry one else in th e cl ass and thought, ' Well , why no t us?' We p retty much figured that we were as good as anyone out here, and I al so k ne w that we would co nti n ue to im prove as the seaso n wen t on and we go t more co mfortable with each other. " Scali struggled at ti m es foll owing his Atla nta win and watched as Savoie to ok over the points le ad, but by midseason, he wa s back in the dri ver's seat with a win under the lights in St. Lou is and another vic to ry two races lat er in Sonoma. He would never trail ag ain . "We trie d some th ings at midseaso n in an effort to m ak e the b ik e quicke r, and it w ork ed aga in st us," Scali said . "We bl ew up a co uple of engi nes , and th at set us back a little. We al most shot our selves in th e foot, but then we fina lly decided to go back to the ba sics, and it worked . A fter I won in St. Louis and Sonoma , we kn ew the cham pionship was ours to lose; we just had to k eep do ing the things that go t us th ere in th e first pla ce."

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