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/128644
NHIIA Winston Pro Sfock Bike Champion Angelle Seeling "I don't want to say that I ga ve up , but I didn 't ev en want to come out and try . I really had no desir e to eve r rac e again. It was that devastating : Du ring th e off -seaso n, Seeling had t im e t o reassess he r priorities. She pondered a life withou t drag rac ing and ultimately concluded that she had unfinished business to tend to . When she em erg ed in 2000, bo t h her attitude and persona lity had undergone a dra m atic change. " A fter a m on th, I started to miss it: Seeling contin ued . '" realized t h at g i vi n g u p ju st be c au se ' wa sn't t he cha mpion was stupi d bec aus e I rea lly do enjoy wh at I do. I realized that it rea lly doesn 't matt er bec ause I have the o ppo rt unity to race a motorcycle for a living, which is all I've ever wanted to do . Once I focuse d on that and stoppe d wo rr ying so much about the champ ionship , , fel t a lot better. T hat's wh en things start ed to come tog ether: Ev en whil e she was wallow ing in self-doub t , tw o p eople wh o never lo st f aith in Seelin g wer e Star Racing t eam owners Georg e Bry c e and his wife , Ja cki e. Th e Br yce s gave Seeling the opportun ity to pu rsue her longtime dream of riding a Pro Stock Bike bac k in 199 6 , and they were convinced tha t she was capable of delivering a championship. " I rem em ber when I first told George and Ja ck ie that' wa nted to rac e," Seeling remembered. "T hey sat me down and said . 'A re you sur e this is what you want to do? ' They had faith in m e, even when I didn't. They have bec ome li ke second par ent s to me. Fo r six yea rs, they put up w ith m e bu t , th is time, I co ul d tell th ings were go in g to be d ifferent. When we c am e out th is year, our w hole team was co nfi dent and motivated." Even though Seeling entered th e new mill enni um with a renewed confidence in herself as a rid er , there were other lingering q uest i o n s. The m os t o bvious of which was how her Team Winston Suzu ki cou ld com pete aga inst the rival Vance £, Hines bik es, especially since Bryce did not have access to th e six-speed technology that had been devel oped by Hin es' father, Byron. Before the start of th e se a so n, Byro n Hin es had ma d e it clear t h at he wo uld sell six -speeds o nly to Vanc e £, Hin es eng ine customers, meaning that t he St ar team 's o pti ons we re limit ed t o d ev el o p in g their own gearbox , (wh ic h wa s deemed cost and ti m e prohi bitive) , or T S TORY B y K EVIN M cK ENNA P HOTO S B y M IKE B ASSO h e engaging sm ile and petite figur e a re t he same, but the Ang el le Seeling o f 2000 , th e newly cro wned NHRA W inston Pr o Sto c k B ik e champion . is barely recognizab le from th e one who finished second to Matt Hines by a sp ar se eight po ints in 1999. The m o od sw in g s, pe tty t emper tantrum s and emotional outbursts that often marked losses, and even occasionally wins , ha ve bec ome a th ing o f th e pa st , as See ling has bec ome a ded ic ate d , matu re racer w ho d o esn ' t ratt le easil y an d w on' t b a c k down from a ch all enge. See ling wo n the 20 00 Pro Stock Bike ti tle no t because she had the best bike, bu t because she was able to limit th e mental errors that had prev iously been her downfall. Her only red -light sta rt of th e yea r was a meaningless foul at th e seaso n- en di ng Auto C lu b Fina ls in Pomona, long after the title wa s wrapped up , and rare ly did she surrender a sta rting- li ne hol eshot bi g eno ug h to cha nge the outcome of a race. "W hen I lost th e champi onship last yea r . I thought I was going t o die," Seelin g said . rem em bering the painful loss that ended her 199 9 season . 50 J A N U A RY 3 , 2 001 • c u e • e nevws