"This was definitely not an
easy win. I knew [after qualifying]
on Saturday that I had a tough
day ahead of me," Arana said.
"We did well in testing and that
gave us the confidence we need-
ed to come here. Then we got
behind the eight-ball on Friday.
The bike wasn't exactly where
we wanted it to be so we made a
few changes. I did much bet-
ter on Saturday and that was an
awesome confidence booster. I
made it to the final here last year
and it's so cool to come back
and win this race. I feel like I'm
back on my A-game."
Savoie reached the final round
in Dallas for the seventh time in
the past eight years by defeating
Marc Ingwersen, Ryan Oehler
and Steve Johnson. It's also his
third final this season.
"I don't know what it is about
this place, but we have a great
record here," Savoie said. "I love
this track and it loves me back. I
just wish we could have done a
little better job in the final round."
As for the championship
battle, Matt Smith was well on
his way to a commanding lead
before Arana Jr. slowed him in
the semifinal round.
With two races remaining,
Smith now holds a 51-point lead
over Fatheadz Suzuki's Joey
Gladstone, who lost in round
two when he red-lighted against
Steve Johnson.
Savoie, Steve Johnson, Angie
Smith, Eddie Krawiec and Angelle
Sampey are each mathematically
in the running for the title, but they
are all at least 100 points back,
which means they'd likely have to
reach the final round at the final
two events and hope that Smith
and Gladstone stumble.
The Camping World NHRA
Drag Racing Series heads to Las
Vegas on October 28-30 for the
penultimate event of the 15-round
championship.
Kevin McKenna
Final
1. Hector Arana Jr. (Bue)
2. Jerry Savoie (Suz)
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 42 OCTOBER 18, 2022 P53
Jerry Savoie made it
to the final but was
defeated by Arana.
