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/128639
NHRA W in ston Drag Racing S erie s R o u n d 1 3 : Houston R a c e w a y Park (Left) Eight w eeks after cancer surgery, Dave Schultz scored what was easily the most emotional and ins piratio nal win of his career when he rode his Su noco Hayabusa past Geno Scali in the Houston final, 7 .29 t o 7.30. (A bove) Sch u ltz, who was unsure if he c o u ld ride up until the start of the first qualifying session, mounted a courageous comeback to claim the 45th national event v ictory of h is career. in here and just raci ng , that wa s m y goal. I'm on a two -w eek break from t h e chemo , and I w a n t ed to t a ke advant age of it. I th ought, to myself, I could hang on to the bik e, but j ust to sho w yo u how co nfident I was , I still had John's nam e on th e bike." Sc hultz brou g ht Sm it h to Ho ust on j u st i n ca se, but Smi th spe n t t h e w eekend a s a crew m emb er a f te r S chultz d et ermin ed t h at h e w as health y enoug h to ride for th e enti re week end. Early in qu alifying, tho ugh, it looked lik e Sch ultz, wh o dropped 2 0 -pounds du ring his tre atments , m ay ha ve tried to come ba ck too soo n . His Sunoco Hayabusa drifted dangerously clo se t o th e ce nterline on h is first pass, and he was nearly thrown from the bik e on another after a transm ission broke j ust off the starti ng line. In bo th in st anc es, Schultz insi ste d that the b ike was to blame , and not h is phys ic al condition. "When th e transm issio n brok e on Saturd ay m orni ng and m y hand ca m e fly in g off the handleba rs, that sent my heart int o my thr o at ," Sc h ult z sai d . •After that run and what happened on t h e f i r st whe n I cli p ped a ltim ing co ne ], the re were bets in the pits tha t I wouldn 't be back on th e bik e. I knew what h app en ed o n eac h, and bein g able to sav e it eac h tim e ga ve m e the c o n f i de nce t o know th a t I s t i ll belong ed o ut th ere. I wa s probab ly better off t h at th ey both ha p p en ed becau se it mad e me get m y m ind wh ere it need ed to be ." .A f t e r qua l ify ing se v en t h in th e sw ift field , with a 7.30 , Schultz's mind S T O RY B y K EVI N M cK E N NA BAYTOWN, IX, OCTOBER 27·29 ~"'-f he w e r e a m e r e mortal , he 1 wou ldn 't even have bee n there, but as he has proved time and time again , Da ve Schu ltz is a special individual. Ei ght w e ek s after s ur gery to remove a c ancerous tu mor from hi s col on , and just da ys aft er c om p leti ng a se r ies o f dr aining c he m o t h e rapy tr e a tm ent s , S ch ul tz was ba c k i n a c t i on a t H ou ston Ra c ew a y Par k . Unlik e the la st tw o eve nts , wh ere he served as team owne r an d crew chief fo r tempo rar y replacement ride r J ohn Sm ith , Schu ltz don ned hi s Su no c o leather s and aga in sho wed the world why he i s drag ra c ing 's most sue cess fu l two-wheel race r as he earned th e 45th w in of his career. When he lit the win light after a thrilling side -by si de 7 .29 t o 7 .30 w i n over G e n o Sc ali , Schu ltz ach ieved a goal tha t he set for himself th e d ay he w as d iaq nosed with the d isease. " Wh en I fi rst fo un d ou t about the c ancer before the Br ainerd rac e, [m y d octors1 t o ld m e yo u better j ust go rid e th is weekend because it could be the last tim e yo u ever race: Schultz said. "T ha t was on m y mind, in Brain erd , and I w ent to the f inal but I cou ldn't pull off the win . I had that on m y mind all this weekend too ; that I had lost m y l ast final. Wh il e going through ch emoth erapy , I had John Sm ith on th e bik e, and he was doing a great j ob , but th inking that I m ight never g e t ba ck o n the b i k e w as someth ing I c o u ldn't stand . Coming 22 NOVEMBER 15, 2000' cue I e nevus was exactly where it needed to be in th e f ir st t w o rounds as he topp ed Regg ie Showers and Ma tt Hines w ith runs of 7.33 and 7 .29, resp ect ively. While Schultz made his way through eliminati ons , the battle for the champi onship was coming t o an end . U n lik e la st year 's c ham pio nsh ip p oi nts battl e , wh ich c ame d o wn t o t he fi na l eve n t o f t he s e a son in Pomon a, this year's points battle was de cid ed ea rly and , fo r the fi rst tim e sinc e 19 9 6 , someo ne ot her than Vance [" Hines ri der Matt Hines will ca rr y th e num be r -one p late . That someone is T eam Winston 's Angelle See lin g , who became just t he third woman in NHRA history to win a sea son cham pionshi p, joining Top Fu el leg end Shirle y M uldown e y a n d spo rtsm an r a ci n g standout Am y Fau lk. Seeling is also the first woman to w in a ny major champ ionship in any form of motorcycle raci ng. T he title clincher came in round two o f eliminations. Hin es need ed to w in the event t o have any realistic shot of c atc hing Seeling, but wh en he lost t o Schultz, Seeling and her Star Rac ing cre w were ab le to celebra te . Ironically , Seeli ng had lost m inutes ea rlier to Tea m O a k l e y ' s Shaw n Gann and feared the worst. Had Hines won the ra c e, she lik ely would hav e had another fight on her hands at the season -ending Pomon a rac e. "When I lost , I th ought ri ght then th at I wo uld have to stress ove r th is cha m pio ns h i p f o r anoth er t wo w ee k s," See li ng sai d . " Tru st m e , I was an emotio nal wreck at th e fini sh line because I felt like I let my team down. W e d id what we had to do . Now I can go to Po m o na a nd relax , have f u n , and sta rt wo rk on my championship speech ." With Seeling and Hin es ou t of the p rogram , Sch ultz and Sc ali reached the fi n a l ro u nd with w ins over Joe D eS an t is a n d G ann , r esp e c t iv e l y. Head ing into th e fin al , Schultz had the quicker b ike, but o n ly b y a fe w hundredths of a second . Sc ali , who reached th e final for th e first tim e two ra ces earli er , ap pea red to be o n the ve r ge o f h is fi r st ti tle si nce joini ng Greg Cope's Jonco Motorsports team earlier th is year. A lmost as if it had been scripted , Sc hultz took the wi n , ho ld in g off Scali by a 7 .29 to 7. 30 margin. " Going into the final , I told myself that I at leas t reached the final again no matter what , " S chul tz sa id. "I wasn' t as sharp as I normally should be , bu t I was j ust glad to be out there and put this thing in th e winner's ci r cle . Rac in g in Pomo na is st ill up in the a ir . I w ill be in the first week of my next cycle of chemothera py, and I know that while my strength wo n't be a fac tor , m y j ud gem ent w ill be. M y j udg em ent m ay be im pai red enough that I' m lea vi ng John's name o n th e b ik e for now . I w ill ma ke a deci sion late r, but for n ow , I probably won 't. Besides , I'd like to savo r this win for a while long er ." eN HoustonRaceway Park Baytown, Telas Results:October27-29, 2000 PRO srOCK FINAL: 1. Dev e Schultz (S uz) 7.29. 178 .0 2 ; 2. Gen e Scali (Suz) 7 .46 .179 .80 Upcoming Round : Round 14 • Pomona, Calitornia, November 9-12