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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128614
N HRA Winston Drag R a c in g Serie s Round 3 : Atlanta D ragway was going to work j ust fine . My first impression is th at it' s very q u ie t b ec aus e y o u d o n 't ge t an y of th e wi n d buff et ing th at we used to get with th e old bik e." Schu ltz , w ho estimated t h e new body design was responsible for a .0 3 to .04-second improvement in performanc e, w as consiste nt o n rac e da y with a pa ir o f 7 .27 wi ns ov er M ike Berry and Gena Sca li in th e first tw o round s, and a 7.28 in the semifinals top st o p Kawa sak i rac er Rob Sho rt, w ho won the fi r st two ro unds of hi s c areer in A tl anta. Schultz was planning o n a storyboo k ending f or th e Ha yabusa 's debut , but wh en h e d u mped t h e S TO RY AND P HOTO S B y KEVIN M cKENNA COMMERCE. GA. MAY 4·7 W h il e th e rest of the Pro St o c k B ike team stood gus hing at the sight of Dave Schul tz' s all new Suzuki Hayabusa Pro Sto ck Bike. Team Winsta n own er George Bryce stood in th e b a ck gr oun d . quietly shak ing h i s head. B r yc e is one of th e fe w t eam owners wh o has yet to place an orde r fo r o ne of th e super sl ippery n e w bodi es, and at least for the fo resee ab le future, do esn 't plan to . "I' m impressed wi th th e Ha yabusa, it's th e most aweso me bi k e I've ever seen, but I don 't think it 's any better tha n th e GSX -R 750 bod y we'r e usin g now : Br y ce sai d . "If I wasn 't happy wit h ou r bike, it wo uld be a di ff erent sto ry , but rig ht now it would be hard to c ha nge . In fact . I ha v e a n e w T LI 000 that's al most rea dy to go , but yo u p robab l y won't see i t anytime soon , either." If Bryce appears hesitant to make any ra dical changes, it is with good reason . His rider, Angelle Seeling , is currently the hottest bike rac er on th e N HRA tour, an d after a fi n al ro u nd victory o ve r Sc hu ltz at th e South ern Na t ion als at Atl an t a D rag wa y , she has now won tw o of the sea son's first thr e e ra c e s a n d l ead s th e po i n ts sta ndi ngs . S e eling ce le b ra te d h er r ec ent en ga ge me n t to fo rme r NFL p lay er N i ck y Sa v o i e b y w inning th e 12th rac e of her c aree r. After aborting her fi rst two qu al if ying run s due to a bad rear sli ck , she c ame o ut in the fin al sessi on and qualified on the pole with a 7.23, bumping Schultz to the sec ond p osition . On ra ce da y , it was more of the same as Seeling ran the Team Winston's Angelle Seeling took over the Pro Stock Bike points l e ad f or the first time this season after c laiming her second"straight v ictory at Atlanta Dragway. quickest elapsed tim es in th ree of th e four round s. Sh e made her slo west run of the day in the final with a 7.31 , but it matter ed not as Schultz , wh o w a s g unning f o r h i s nin th Atl an t a titl e, left to o soo n and ended the rac e on a red -li ght sta rt . " Winning tw o co nsecutive rac es is aw esom e beca use I didn 't ex pe ct to do it ." See li ng said . " T he way m y weekend started , missing th e first two runs , I di d n't k now wh at t o expect, but m y crew gav e m e a g reat bike to ride . As soon as I lo o k ed ove r a nd saw Da ve's red li ght o n , I d idn 't c are anym or e . I cou l d n ' t th in k , and I m issed all the shift po ints, wh ich is wh y it only ran 7.3 1." S e e li n g ' s f irs t two o pponents , Ka wasak i rider Blaine Hale and reigning AMA/ Pro Star champ F red Collis o ffe re d little resistance , but i n the semifin a ls, See ling had her work cut o ut fo r her against Matt Hines. Like Seeling , Hines struggled in qualifying and eventually wound up fifth on the ladd er ch art , th e fi rs t ti me i n h i s career he's been lower th an fo u rth . In elimin ati on s, Hin es found th e co m bi nati on as h e r od e h i s V an c e £, Hines /Eagl e O n e Su zu k i to a 7.26 win ove r Br ian Delong in round one , and th en set low E.T . of the eve nt in round two w ith a tra ck rec ord 7 .2 1 bl ast again st T eam 2 3's T on y Mull en in th e second. "I found it: Hin es sai d. "W e were exp er im enting with an all -new cl utch comb in at ion at th is rac e and it j ust wasn't work ing. On ce we w ent back to o ur reg u la r ba seline tun e -up, eve rythi ng ca me tog ether. I kn ew that ru n was go od , bu t I d id n' t ex pect a 7 .21. " Pair ed w ith Seel ing in th e semifinal s. Hin es doub le clu tc hed th e b ik e at th e st art ing li n e. and slo we d to a coasting 7 .5 6 as Seeling cruised in to the final with a 7 .23. B r y c e 's op in ion notw ithstanding , Sch ultz 's new Hayabusa was the ta lk of the pi t area in At l ant a . Sch u l t z. who spent nearly a ye ar des igning the b ike along wi th the help of aerod y namic engineer Tim Ha lsrn er, bro ugh t the bike to A tlanta after j ust one test ru n , b ut q uickly flexe d hi s mus cl e wi th a 7 .24 in qualifying. "T he first time I saw the Ha yabusa. I k ne w it would make th e perfect Pro St ock Bik e." Schul tz said . "Wh en I was b uilding t he b ody , m y ma in o bjective w as to ma k e a b od y th at w ould be functional f or Pro Sto c k B ike racing, but not to scr ew up th e good work t h at Suzuk i ha s already d on e. At f irst , I was afraid that i t m ight be too sl ic k and m ight tend to d art around on th e top end , but o nce I m ad e a c oup le of runs, I could tell it c ue I e Dave Schultz's all-new Suzuki Hayabusa was the talk of the Pro Stock Bi k e class in Atlanta. The s ix· time NHRA champ qualified second In the field and reached the final round, running a best of 7.24. cl utc h too soon in the fin al , he was forced to settle fo r a runner-up finish . " I was trying to cut a perfect light because I thought I had to m ake up a few hund redths: Schu lt z sa id . "I' m rea lly very ha p py to reach the fi nal , especi ally in the first ra ce w ith th is bike . It still needs a little work a nd there are some areas that I kn ow we ca n improve upo n, but at lea st now I know th at we' re m ov ing in the ri g ht direction . T he o nly way th at we c an eve r ex pec t th e f act o ries to get into thi s class is to run modern equipment and this was a b ig step in that direc tion ." eN Atlanta Dragway Commerce. Georgia Results: May 4-7, ZOOO (Round 3 of 141 PRO STOCK FINAL: 1. Angelle Seeling (Suz) 7 .3 1. 176 .4 2; 2. Da ve Sc hultz (S uz) fo ul. Upcoming Rounds Round 4 - Englishtown. NewJersey, May 18-21 Round 5 - Dallas. Texas. May25-28 n e VV S • MAY 24.2000 31