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/128625
N HRA W inston D r a g Racing S erie s R o u n d 8 : B andimere Speedway (Left) In the final round, Matt Hines left the starting line too soon and drew a red-light, a llowing Team W inston's Angelle Seeling to claim her fourth v ictory of the season. (Abo ve ) Seeling d id not expect to do well in Denver, but overcame the odds and the thin mountain air to extend her lead In the points standings over Hines, who now trails by 100 points. S TO RY AND P HOTOS K EVIN M cK ENNA By DENVER, CO, J(]LY 13·16 o what if Matt Hines has won the Mile-H igh N ationals in Denver in three of the last four y ears? And who ca r es that Hin es lives in Trinidad , Colorado , just two hours from Band imere Speedway , a nd tha t h is eng in es are bu ilt at th e te am's F reedom Motorsports shop , wh i ch , like th e B an d im er e f ac il ity , is n earl y a mile ab o ve sea-leve l. N on e o f th e abov e ma tt er ed to Ange lle Seeling as the Team Wi nston rider defi ed th e odds to win her fourth Pro Stoc k Bik e title of the season at the Mopar Parts Mile-High Nationals in De nver, an ev ent that has previously been dominated by Hines. Earli er th is season , George Bryc e, Seeling 's team owner and engine builder, all but co n ce ded the eve nt to Hines ba sed on his prev i ous perfo rm an c es in D en ve r. Hines and hi s Freed om Motorsports e ngi ne c u sto me r s a lso co n t i n ue t o enjoy excl usive rights t o th e t eam ' s s i x-s pee d t r ansm i ss ion unit, a n ad v an t age th at Bryc e figu re d wo u ld be im possible to ove rcome in Denver. " Wi t h Freedo m Motorsports having the h om e tra ck adv an t ag e an d the six -speed t ra ns m issio ns , we took a d ifferent ap pro ach t o our high -al ti tude stra te gy ," Bryce said . "W e came to Colorado as und erdogs, so we revved up our Suzuki , ran m ore gear than usual, and banked on Angelle to win some rounds w ith her reaction t imes. I was very surprised that we ran as well as we did up here." s In all fairne ss , Hi n e s had th e quickest bike in Den ver and he would likely have won th e Denver final , but a red -light start in th e fi nal end ed h is we ekend and allo w ed T eam Win ston 's Seeling to ex te nd her lead in t h e champ ionshi p sta n di ng s t o a n even 100 p o in t s w ith six events remaining . "We ' ll gl adly take th is win," Seel ing said. " I k now this is Matt's home trac k and th at h e has a lot of f an s he re, but 1 a lso felt th at it w as im port ant for u s t o show w ha t we c o uld do. Wh en we left th e shop, 1 had no i dea t hat we co ul d win th is r a c e . Now , we' v e p roved t hat if we ca n run w ith the F reedo m Motorsports bikes at t his track , I know we ' re no t going to ge t slaug h t ered no matter where we go ." S eeling n ot o n ly s to le the w i n aw ay from Hin es, but earl ie r in qu ali fying she sto le th e po le position and the $ 1000 bonu s that go es with i t with a 7 .7 12 effo rt , better ing Hin es 7.7 13 -sec ond run b y j ust o ne tho u sa n d th o f a second . Se elin g a ls o cl aim ed a $2 0 0 0 c hec k for w in ni ng the Bumper to Bumper RT Challe nge, a sp ec i a l pr ogr am w h i ch award s bonus mon ey for Pro Stock Bike ri d ers wh o have th e best reaction tim es during qualifying. Her success c arried ov er int o elim inations wh ere she ran a 7 .68 i n rou nd one t o stop Denv er native Michael Pry o r's Kawasaki , and a 7 .71 in the second round to get by Reggie Showers' PDI Suzuki. Seeling's toughest ch allenge cam e in t he sem is wh er e she had to fac e picked right back up to where it sho uld ha ve been ." With a slig ht perform anc e adva nt ag e over See li n g heading in to the fin al, t her e w as no need for Hines to g am ble o n th e sta rti ng line , but b y seven thousandths of a second, he let go of th e cl utc h too soon and fouled , th ro w ing aw ay a tr ac k reco rd 7 .65 in t he p rocess . After the final , Hines cou ldn 't believe tha t he'd let a golden op port u n ity to g ai n gro und i n t he c ha m p io nsh ip st andings pas s him by . "I hammered the T ree and it c am e up red ," Hi nes sai d. " I thought 1 had th e advantage and I wa s th inking that m aybe she would red -light but it just was n 't m y d ay . 1 d id ma k e a good pa ss, th ough. " O nc e she realized that Hines had fouled , Seeling was conte nt to ease t o a 7 . 7 3 for t h e victo ry o n th e fifth ann iversary of her p rofessiona l de but in Denver. " O nc e I saw Matt's red -light , I pret ty much forg ot how to ride ," Seeling sa id . "T ha t run shoul d have been in th e 7 .60 s, but I mis sed e v e r y sh ift and h it th e rev -lim iter in every gea r. I was so excite d that I wanted t o sit up on th e bi k e. " Rig ht no w , 1 ha ve the sam e poi nts lea d as I did last year, bu t th is time I hav e a wh ol e differ ent attitude ab out t he cha m pions hip . I reall y beli ev e m y mind is w he re it nee d s to be and that the pressure is off m e, which wasn ' t the case last year." defendi ng event w in ner Da v e Schultz and h is Sun oco Hayabusa . Against t he six -ti m e NHRA champ , Seeling cut her sec o nd near -perfect reaction ti me of th e event , a .401 , an cj m otored to a 7.72 to 7.75 victory . " My r e a c t ion t ime was a li ttl e qu ic ke r tha n 1 wanted it to be ," S~el in g sa id. " A .401 is cutting it pr etty close and I d idn 't want t o r ed -light. On th e othe r hand , I knew I h ad to h av e a go od l ight aga in st D av e bec ause he's been running really well lately, and I kn ew 1 co ul d n' t affo rd to be late." On t he other si de o f t he l add e r , H in es did a s m an y ex pecte d an d reache d the final rou nd for th e 36th t ime in h is four -yea r career. Hines ' Eag le One Suzuki set th e pac e in the ope ni ng round with a 7.67 win over Blain e Hal e . The re igning NHRA cha m p ~Iowe d to a 7 .81 in round tw o , bu t it w as eno ug h t o get b y rook ie Sha w n Gann, w ho fo u led, and r an slo wer t ha n Hi nes with a 7 .83 o n hi s Oa kley Suzuk i. A ft er so me min or a dj us t ments , H in e s re t u rne d f or t h e se m is a n d threw down a 7 .68 in th e heat of t he day to easily outrun Te am 23 's T on y Mull en , wh o tra il ed despite a compet it iv e 7 .76 run . " In th e seco n d round, the bik e bogged r eally bad, " Hi nes sa id . Off th e starting line, it was a couple tho u sand rpm down from where it should hav e be en . T hen it took off and wen t from 8,000 to 13,000 rpm in about a half second . That's why I hit the rev limiter and ran so slow . We made a few adjustments for the sem i' s and it cycle Bandimere Speedway Denver, Colorado Results: July 13-1 &, Zooo PRO STOC K FINAL: J. A ngell e Seeling (Suz) 7 .73, 173 .21 : 2 . Ma tt Hine s (S uz) 7 .65. 173 .61 (foul) . Upcoming Rounds: Round 10 · Brainerd, Minnesota. August 17-20 Round 11 . Indianapolis, Indiana. August 30September 4 n e _ S • AUGUS T 9 ,2000 23