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/128352
Hot Rod Angel(le) t e r lo s ing th e 1999 NHRA Winston Pro Stoc k Bike Championsh ip in the se ries finale at Pomona , Californi a, Ang ell e ee ling (sh e was n't Ange lle Savoie yet) bro ke do wn and cried like a girl. The sobbing marked the culmination of a pr e ssur e -pac ked season full of mood swings, tem pe r tantrums and e motio nal outbursts that pun ctu at ed he r defe ats and some time s even he r wins - in a yea r w he re Seel ing was e xpected to take th e title from two -t ime and defending class ch ampion Matt Hines. W ith top tuner George Bryce giving her on e of the two fastest scoote rs the class had eve r see n (the Vance & Hines-bac ked Hines had th e other on e), and with W inston w riting big, big ch ec ks (big en o ugh that Seeling's team actually pitted w ith the Winston's fue l dragster in the car paddock and not w ith th e bikes , thu s alienating Se eling fro m the A re st of the Pro Stock Bike continge nt), she had failed by falling asleep at the Christmas Tree in rou nd two of the '99 World Finals, a ll but handing Hines his th ird straight title . Seeling was devastated and considered quitting the sport altogether. Good riddan ce, so said man y of he r competitors, and not only be cause t hey we re most ce rtain ly tired of getting th eir asse s kicked by th e hot chick on the hot bike , but simply because , des pite the conside ra ble positive attent ion that See ling had brought to th e class since joining it in 1996 , the ego and afo rementioned emotion al baggage that came alo ng w ith he r rising stardom was br inging t he class down from the inside . To he r credit, Seeling had a good re ad on th e sce ne , and she knew th at if she re tu rn e d in 2000, she w ou ld have to change he r outlook. "Wh e n I lost the championship last ye ar, I thought I was go ing to die ," Seeling told Cycle News in 2000. " I don 't wa nt to say th at I gave up , but I didn't eve n w ant to come out and try. I really had no de sire to eve r race again... Afte r a month, I sta rted to miss it. I realized t hat giving up just becau se I wasn't the ch am p ion w as st upid be cause I rea lly enjoy w hat I do. I realize d t hat it re ally doe sn't matte r bec au se I have th e oppo rtunity t o race a mot o rcycle for a living, w hich is all I eve r wa nte d to do . Once I focus ed on th at an d st o ppe d worrying a bo ut t he c hampiAfter a devastating defeat in 19 9 9 , Angelle Seeling came back to w in th e NHRA Pro Stock Bike Championship by a landslide in 2000. 102 DECEMBER 1,2004 • CYCLE NEWS o nship, I fe lt a lot better. Th at 's when things start ed to come togethe r." Seeling came into the 2000 season w ith a renewed confidence but a more humble attitude, vowing to "just have fun" and let the chips fall w he re they may. With Winston still on board, the team knew that it would need to be competitive, but eve n w it h the ho rsepower that Bryce was ma king, Se eling had her do ubts as to how the team would fare. In the ultra -sophi sticat ed sport of drag racing, t he Vance & Hines tea ms had ra ised the ba r w ith the add ition a ne w six-speed transm iss io n, a part that it made available only to its customers, leaving Bryce and Seeling to fe nd for themse lves w ith a five- spe e d. " Matt [Hines) had run fast w ith a sixspeed , and everyone else had on e, a nd w e d idn't ," Savioe told Cycle News back t hen . "To be honest, I didn't even th ink that we w o uld be running for se con d place ... If we got ou trun , it w as because th ey were supposed to ou tru n us. If it ha ppened , I didn't th ink it w ould be my fau lt ." T he Gainesville , Florida, seas on opene r turned out to be quite d ifferent t han See ling anticipated. Inste ad of getting ou tr un, she qualified num ber four and reached the sem ifinals. At the ve ry next round, in Las Vegas , she w o n. 'Mer the first tw o races , we didn't get run ove r as bad as I thought," Seeling said. "It was e ngraved into my heart and soul that I could win the championsh ip, but I still was n't going to let it devastate me li ke I did last year." With an icy cool attitude that w o uld se nd shivers up the spine of Val Kilme r's characte r in Top Gun or Arn o ld Schw arzengger's charact er in Botmon & Robin, Seeling w e nt on to win in Atlanta; Columbus, O hio; Denve r a nd Englishto w n, New Jer sey. Eve n after a scary brush with the wall in Brainerd, Minnesota, w hen he r re ar tire blew out at I7S mph, Seeling w as unflappable . She piled on t he wins, piled on the point s and watched as her competition se lf-destructed. Whe n it w as over, See ling jo ine d lege nd ary Top Fuel drag rac er Shirley Muldo wn ey to become the o nly other woman ever to win a n N HRAWorld Ch ampion sh ip. Seeling w o uld go on to match Muldo wn ey 's reco rd of th ree title s by w inning two mo re consecutive Pro Stoc k Bike crowns in 200 I and 2002 . Today, See ling, now Angelle Savoie, is still racing and still as popu lar as ever. Having parted ways w ith Bryce two years ago , she is now a member of Do n Shumache r's U.S. Army racing team, wh ere has neve r fallen out of th e hun t for another World title. Better yet, Savoie 's riding skills and attitude have mature d to the point that she is re cognized and res pe cted as one of the top co mpeti tors in all of the NHRA categories. Hell hat h no fury like a n Angelle sco rn ed . Seon RO USSEAU 40th Anniversary 3D YEARS AGO••• D ecember 3, 19 7 4 '.. " ~ to "' ·.'hl"t-l We tested the new Yama . motocross ha YZIt 80 bike. .;fJ~~~ ~ was a great choice for kids and had excellent power delivery... Roger DeCoster and Kent Howerton clinched thei r Trans-AMA Championsh ips w ith wins at the second to last round of the series ... We took a closer look at w hat was thought to be the futur e of moto cross: four-strokes? Back then, they we re just beginning to be used by racers. Today they are taking over, and nat iona l motocross races are dom inated by four-strokes... The "Lates t Poop " sect io n m ent ion ed that th er e st ill was no venue for the 1975 ISDT chose n, an d if it was n't , the re wou ld be no ISDT. A ve nue was chose n, however, and ther e was an ISDT. 20 YEARS AGO. .• December 5 , 19B4 Ricky Johnson won the Japan Super cross and appeared on the cover for it . 2'-=:,=~ Ch ris Crandall joined l:fI:j ---=--:J Johnson on the cover as th e winner of the Barstow to Vegas desert race. Finishing U'......C!'!!!!""""""""'..... second to Cranda ll . was Scott Harden . Today, Harden is still involv ed in desert racing and is planning on compet ing in the Dakar Rally this yea r... Mike Bell wo n the 2S0cc Pro class at a local CMC mot ocro ss race held at Indian Dunes... We took a look at the 1985 BMW Twins . They wer e goo d bikes, and we couldn't wait until we got to ride the m. 10 YEARS AGO••. November 3D. 1994 Danny Hamel ~rf.l!:r.~.~. appeared on the cover for his v ictory at the Baja 1000. He and his teammates Ty Davis and Larry Roeseier took the w in, ahead of another Kawasaki team of Paul Krause, Ted Hunnicutt and Craig Smith... Mike laRocco took top hono rs at the Bercy Supe rcross in Paris. France. Finishing behind him in secon d was Supercr oss Champ ion Jere my McGrath... We interviewed a young Kevin Windham . Back then, he was a rising mo toc ross sta rt hat was just beginning to make his jump to the big leagues from the amateur ranks... O ur staff took a test ride aboa rd the new Honda CR500. It was a beast but work ed we ll on a mo tocross tra ck. Today, SOOcc bikes are not be ing made anymo re, but it sure was good while it lasted .