Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

NHRA W inston D r a g Racing S e r ie s Round 1 1 : In d ianapo lis R a c e w a y P ark requires very little st eeri ng i n p ut to make it go where yo u want it to go . It 's also pr etty am azing how quiet it (L eft) Antron B rown scored a hug e 535,000 payday after win n ing both the Holley Pro Stock Dominator Duel specialty race and the U.S . Natio na l s title at Indianapolis. (A b ove ) In the fin a l round, Brown ran a 7 .26 to stop John Smith, who was ridin g the Sunoco Hayabusa for Dave Schultz (who is recovering from recent can c er surgery). By K EVIN M cK E N NA INDIANAPOUS, IN, AUG. 3D-SEPT. 4 f6\ fte r a slow st art t o th e 200 0 sea- ~ s o n , T eam 23 r id er Antron Brown is ra pi d ly m aki ng up foe lo st t im e . A pre-seaso n fa vori t e to e nd Matt H ines' three-year strang leh old o n the class c ha m p ionshi p , Bro w n didn 't win his fi rst event u ntil J u ne, si x race s i nto the seas on . A t mid yea r, he was hovering near fifth plac e in the p oi n ts stan d ings. H ar d l y the "st uff dr eams are made of. At th e U .S . N ati o nals , th e o lde st , riches t, and mo st p r est ig iou s d ra g race o n the N H RA to u r, B r o w n help ed make up fo r lost ti me by win n in g his fi rs t U .S . N at i on al s t it l e . Brown also com p let ed a clean sweep o f t he eve nt b y winn in g Saturd ay ' s Holl ey Pro Stock Domina tor Duel , an e ig h t · bik e sp ec i a lty ev e n t th at i s o pe n o nly to t ho se rid er s wh o c o nsistentl y qualified in th e top of th e fi eld at eve nt s during the preceding year. For winn ing both events , Brown claimed a $ 10 ,000 b onus from the NHRA , b r inging his t otal f or the weekend to over $35 ,000. " W ha t an awesome week end ," sai d Brown , sho r t ly after h e b e at J o hn Smith in th e U .S. Na tio nals fi na l, 7 .2 6 to a 7 .35. "This is inc red ible. It 's th e b iggest rac e of the y ear fo r Pro Sto ck B ik es , an d I c an 't believe I won it. I owe all the c red it to my crew , espe cia lly m y c rew ch ief, Ma rk Peiser. A lot of people probabl y don 't recognize his ta lent . Ma ybe now they will. " B r o w n d idn ' t j u st w in the U. S. Nation als , h e dominated. His T eam 23 Su zu k i wa s amo ng the quickest b ik es all we ek end and he turned in flawless r id in g performances w h ich inclu ded a ho le sh ot w in over po ints l ead er A ng e l l e Seeling in the final round o f th e D o m in ator Du el and a pa ir of victor ies over d efen di ng U .S . Nation als ch am p Matt Hines. Br own q ual ifi ed second in th e 16 bi k e field , j ust t hou sandths of a sec o n d b eh ind Se elin g, wh o put h er T eam Win st on Su zuki o n th e p ol e with a 7 .3 2 2 -second run. In el im ina tions , he post ed a 7 .35 in round one to beat Ron A yers and then st epped it u p in round t wo to tak e a 7 .27 to 7.30 win over Craig Treble's Matco Too ls Suzuki. is. It's so aer od yn amic that yo u do n't fee l an y w ind at all. It 's r eall y a fu n bike to ride." S m ith , who was r un ne r- u p to Schu lt z at t he 19 9 3 U .S. N at io n al s and fin ished seco nd again in 19 95 t o surp rise w inner Rick Wa rd, m ad e it t o his t hi rd In dy final w it h wi ns ove r J oe D eSan tis , T eam 23 ' s T on y . u l l en , M and an upset vi ctory over Seeling in th e semifi nals. Smith ran just a 7 .35 t o Seeling 's 7 .24, bu t he left th e startin g line more th an . 15 -seco nd ahead of t he T eam W inston rider to t ak e the holeshot victory . "I ke pt wa iting for he r to blow by me but i t never ha p pened ," S mith said. " I c o u l d h ear h er b ike, but I never did see her. As far as the weekend goes , I co u ld n' t have asked for too m uch more. Of course it would ha ve be en n ice to wi n th e final, but Antron was just too st ro ng this week end . Dave had a plan for this weekend and it ca me togeth er j ust like he said it would . M ay be, under d iffer en t ci rcum st ances, I wo uld ha ve been upset to get beat in the fin al, but it' s ha rd for me to be too up set . The real shame is th at Da v e was n't a b le to r i de thi s we ek end . Th e bik e had m ore potentia l th at it sho wed and if Dave were rid ing, he c o u l d have do ne so me d am ag e th is week en d . I th ink he would have g iven An t ron all he could handle." "W e go t a ho ld of a bad rea r tire in the fi rst r o u n d , " B r o w n sai d. " We actua lly ran in dur ing th e last qu alifying round on Sunda y an d the bike ran a lo t slow er than it shoul d hav e. After t he first round , w e fig ured it out and then we nt ba ck t o the old ti re we used earlie r in the ra ce. Onc e we di d t hat , th e bike ca me around again and started running like it was supposed to ." Luck il y for Brown , he was able to sol v e the proble m in time for his sem ifinal m eetin g with Hines. In what ul timately was the closest race of the weekend, Brown clipped the Vance [, Hin e s Suzu ki by less than a' hun dr ed th of a sec ond , taking a 7 .26 -to 7 .2 7 v ic to ry . For Hines, it m arked the first time th at he ha s fai led to make th e U.S.' Nationals final in his c areer, which began in 1996. Though Brown is well liked by fan s and fell ow c ompetitors , a nd was a popular c h a m p io n, th e se n ti m en t al fa vo rite in Pro Stock Bike w as Smith . Inactive for m ost of th e 2000 season whil e his Anoka -Ram sey Spo rt Cen te r t eam c ontinues t o se arch for a spo nso r , Smith got the c all t o rid e D a v e S chu ltz 's Suno c o Ha yabusa aft e r Schultz wa s diagn o s ed w ith c o lo n ca ncer t wo week s be fo re th e e ve n t. Ju st d a y s after s u r ge ry , Schu ltz was at t he t rack , calli ng th e tuning shot s o n th e b ik e a nd occa sio nally prov iding h is ex pe rt ana ly sis to t he fans b y joining the anno uncing staff in t he bro ad ca st booth. " A ll thing s co ns ide red I feel pr etty g o od," Sch ultz sa id . " Ho n est l y, th e day I go t out of the hospital , I felt good eno ugh to ride, but th at' s a little premature at this point. Hopefull y , J ohn can fill in for m e at the next co uple of ra ces and I c an take over fo r the la st two races in Ho usto n and Pomona." Th ough Schultz is t he only rid er on th e NHRA to ur wh o is currentl y using th e ra d ica l n ew Hay abu sa d esign , Sm ith had no probl em s ad a p t i ng to the unfamil iar bike . In f act , his fir st run down the track was a 7.37, and that was good fo r the number-four qualifying spot. "T he Hayabusa is a very easy bike t o ri de," Smith said . "It 's stable and it eye I e n Even as he sp ra ye d ch ampagn e in t he winner 's ci rcle with th e othe r U.S. Na t ionals champions , Brown was also t hi nki ng about Schu ltz , who h elped him get st a rted wh en h e a nd t ea m owner Troy Vincent formed T eam 23 t hree yea rs ag o . " It was stran g e to see so meo ne else on Dave's bi k e, bu t J ohn Smit h did an awesome j ob thi s week en d ," Br own said . " l owe a lo t to Dave. He's be en m y tuto r and my m ent o r, an d I've always tr ied to live up th e sta ndards he and J o hn M y ers set for th is class . I tol d h im t hat t his win was fo r h im be c au s e I w ou l d n' t ha v e b een able to do it withou t him. " eN Indianapolis Raceway Park Indianapolis, Indiana O Results: August 30 - September 4, ZO O PRO STOCK FINAL: I. Ant ron Brown (Suz) 7.2 6 18 1.03, 2. John Smith (Suz) 7.35. 18 1.45 Upcoming Rounds: Round 12 - Eng lish town , New Jersey, September 8-9 Round 13 - Read ing , Pen nsylvania, September 14-17 e _ S • S EPTEM B ER 27 ,2000 29

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