Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

NHRA W inston O,..ag Racing S e ,..ie s Round 5 : T e xas M ono r-pte x By K EVIN M cK EN N A DALLAS, TX, MAY 25-28 n y t im e Ma t t Hines and Angell e Se eling m eet , esp ecially i n a fi nal ro und, there is always the poten t ia l for fireworks . Pro Stock Bike ' s two most intense rivals enjoy nothing more than racing (and beati ng) one another, and thei r frequent matchups have often led to less- than -civil c on front ati on s. This ye ar, however, those o p portun ities ha ve been few and far be t we en . T hrough out th e first fou r ra ces of the 2000 se aso n, t he p air, w ho f in i she d f i r st and se c ond las t sea so n in th e c losest N HRA p o ints ba t tl e i n hi st o ry , h ave ra ced ju st once, in the sem ifina l round of th e recent Southern Na tionals in A tl ant a, whe re Tea m W i ns t o n 's Se elin g claimed her 12th ca reer vict o ry and t ook o ver t he lead i n t he p o int s st and ings . At th e Castrol Nationa ls in Dallas, Hines got back in the w inner's circle for the first time sin c e th e Read ing , Pennsylvania, event last Septembe r, with a c onvinc ing fi nal round victory over Seel ing. In th e final , Hines made the quickest pass of the even t , a 7 .2 8, o ut- m uscli ng Seeling, w ho trailed with a solid 7.31. F o r t h e three- time class champ, w ho bega n hi s ca reer by w in n ing 20 of the first 40 races he atten de d , th e win co uld n' t have come at a better time. "If somebody tol d m e last Sep tem be r th at it was goin g to take ei g ht mon th s to w in an o th er race, I don't thi nk I'd ha ve beli ev ed them ," Hines sai d. " O ur bike was ru nn ing goo d at A the ti me an d we had j ust set a [7 . 15 ] nat ion al record. Un fortunately , we got behi nd the eig ht- ball earlie r this year , an d tha t was compounded by some mistakes on m y own , both in ri d ing and making the tuni ng ca lls o n rac e da y . H a v i n g my d a d [B y r on ] and [t ea m co -owner] Terry Vance h ere th is week end made a big d iffe rence. It gave us a lot of confidenc e." Hines ha s been fast at each ev ent t his y ear , including the most recent ra ce in Eng lishto w n , New Jers ey . T hat eve nt wa s rain ed o u t and has been re sch eduled fo r early Sept em ber , but not before Hines m a de th e qui cke st Pr o St o c k B i k e r u n of a ll ti m e with a 7 . 13 and b a c k ed it u p within the required one pe rce nt for an official NHRA nation al record . He mainta ined his adv an ta ge over th e field in Da llas, with a 7 .31 to lead the 16- bi ke fi eld . Seeli ng wa s not far behi nd , w ith a sec ond -best 7 .3 5 3 , just two tho usan dth s ahead of D av e Schu ltz , who rec orded a 7.355 on hi s new Sunoco Hay abusa . Through out qualifying, Pro Stock Bi k e riders had to dea l with a severe crosswi nd that h ampe red p er f o rm a nc e and , w ors e ye t, m ade the negotiating the second ha lf of th e tr ack a treach erou s pro position . " W e c o m pensat e fo r the w in d by maki n g a r ear - a x l e adj u s tmen t , " Hin es said . " If you pu ll back o n the axle's left si de , that will make it go right, whi ch is when yo u wa nt wh en the wi nd is com ing from th at side . O n the 7 . 31 r un, we h ad al m os t too mu ch ax l e ad justment be ca u se th e wind w asn 't that strong . In f ac t , the (Left) For the first time In the 2000 season, archrivals Matt Hines (far lane) and Angelle Seeling (near lane) met In a fin al round. This tim e, Hines took the win with the quickest run of the event, a 7 .28 to Seeling's close 7.31. (Above) Hines broke an eight-month winless draught In Dallas with his first vi ctory since the 1999 Keystone Nationals in Reading. Despite the dry spell, the three-time class champ has 24 national event victories In his career. wind di ed down quit e a bit o n Satur day and it was n't nearl y so bad ." Hin es m aintain ed hi s ad vantag e by run ni ng the quickest ela pse d time in each round of eliminations . His 7.31 in ro und one easily outd ista nced Ron Ayers, who was two t enths back with a 7.51 on his Mac Tools Suzuk i. A 7.30 in round two wa s eno ugh to ho ld off Bl ain e Ha le , who q ualified h is Kawasaki ZX - 11 in th e top ha lf of the fi eld, but cou ldn 't match Hines' pa ce with a 7 .5 2. T eam 2 3 's Antron Bro wn got off t o a slow st art this ye ar, but th e d efend in g event champ ran w ell in Dall as w it h a fourth -b est 7 .357 in qu ali fying an d so li d 7 .30 run s in eli mi n at io ns . Aga inst Hin es, Brown post ed a 7.38, but it was n't enough as th e Vanc e £, H in es E ag l e On e Suzuk i rema in ed c onsistent with an other 7.30 run . "We feel good about th is weekend bec au se we w ere fi na lly ab le t o get o ve r our problems ," Bro w n sa id . " It seems tha t no matter how mu ch w e try, one thing o r anoth er has held us up th i s y ear. My crew chief, Mark Peiser, is starting to get a h and le o n things , and it' s showing in our p erforma nce." Seeling was n't as quick as Hines, but she w as eq ually as consiste nt. Her string of runs, incl ud ing a 7.34 , 7 .3 1 an d 7 .34, w ere eno ug h to g et past Claren c e Markham , Cra ig T reble, and Schultz, respectively. In one of the best side- by -s ide rac es of th e weekend, Seeling n ipped Sc h ultz at the finish li ne, 7 .3 4 to 7 .36 to move into the final fo r th e 22nd ti m e in her career. cue. e "I mad e a r ider erro r in th e f ir st round of qu al i f yi n g , an d w e h ad a mec ha nical pr o blem in th e th ird session," Sch ultz said . "T hose two prob lem s put us way beh ind this week end , and we were never abl e t o get ca ught up. We still ran respectable, and th e new Hayabusa bod y is already beginning t o show so me adva ntag es in spe ed at bo th th e eig hth- m ile and the fini sh line." In th e fin al, Hines not on ly out ran Seeling , bu t he also got off the st art ing lin e slig htl y ahea d of th e Team Winsto n rid er , so meth ing he has had tr oubl e doi ng in t he past. Hines exte nde d h is lea d at th e finish line, and scored his 24th c areer w in. Moreover, Hines m oved into second in the po ints battle, and now tra il s Seeli ng by just 59 po ints , o ne thi rd of the way into th e seaso n . "We're not d isappoi nted whatsoever b ecause T eam Win ston and St ar Racing did great this week end." Seel ing sa id . "W e gave it o ur best sho t in th e final, and there was nothi ng m ore that we could d o . Mak in g it to the final round and co ming away st ill in first pla ce is all that we could ask fo r. We 're re ally h app y a bo ut how fa st eN o ur bik e is run ning right now." Telas Matarplel Dallas, Texas Results: May 25-28, 2000 (Round 5 of 14J PRO STOCK FINAL: I. Mall Hines (Suz) 7 .28 , 184.57; 2. Angelle Seeling (5uz) 7.3 1, 182.62. Upcoming Rounds: Round 6 - Joliet, Illinois, June 1-4 Round 7 - Columbus, Ohio, May 15- 18 n e _ S • JUNE 1 4, 2000 25

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