16th annual O'Reilly Spring Nationals: Pro Stock Bike: Savoie's incredible 'comeback' continues with second win

Angelle Savoie has won three NHRA Pro Stock Bike championships and 30 national event titles, but now she's winning something more important: the near universal respect and admiration of her peers. The argument formerly made by many of her rivals that "she only wins because she rides for the Star team" is no longer valid. Savoie debunked that myth at the season opener in Gainesville and again in Houston, where she continued her perfect start with Team 23 Suzuki upon taking a 7.13 to 7.14 final-round victory over Craig Treble. On a weekend where everyone was quick, no one was quicker than Savoie, who made the quickest run of the weekend during eliminations with a 7.132, backed up by her 7.138 in the final.

Despite her unblemished 8-0 record, Savoie insists that her new team, led by crew chief Mark Peiser and fellow rider Antron Brown, is yet to realize its true potential.

"I know it doesn't look like it. but we're still struggling as a team," said Savoie. "We still need more time and resources. We have a new engine program that isn't up to speed yet. Our dyno isn't finished, which is part of the reason why we struggled during qualifying. When I won in Gainesville, I know a lot of people thought it was a fluke, and I hope this proves that it wasn't, but I'm also smart enough to know that this is only the second race of the year, and we still have lots of work to do."

Following her stunning win in Gainesville, Savoie came back to earth during qualifying in Houston, where her 7.176 best was good only for the eighth spot in the record field, which Gainesville runner-up Geno Scali led with a 7.138 on his Trim-Tex Suzuki and Mike Berry anchored with a swift 7.267. Savoie has never qualified in the bottom half of a field in her career; the only other time she was eighth was at the 2001 Reading event, which she also won.

"When I qualify eighth, it's hard to sleep on Saturday night," Savoie continued. "I've been there before and had to race three hitters on Sunday; that's what happened again this weekend. This whole field was separated by just 13-hundredths, so there were no easy rounds. We had a lot of luck."

The list of riders that clogged Savoie's side of the ladder included Steve Johnson, low qualifier Scali, and surprise No. 4 qualifier Karen Stoffer, who made a quick rebound from a DNQ in Gainesville to card a career-best 7.15 aboard Greg Cope and Doug Johnson's Jonco Suzuki.

Savoie stopped Johnson with a 7.14, then got the best of Scali, 7.17 to 7.21. She gave up a seven-- hundredths starting-line advantage to Stoffer in the semifinals but scored a 7.13 to 7.24 win in a race that was much closer than the elapsed times indicate.

Treble reached the final for the second straight year in Houston, but getting there took a major thrash. On Saturday, Treble broke one of his best engines. His team stayed up well past midnight tearing into two engines to make one good one. Like Savoie, he was solidly in the 7.ls during eliminations and prevented an all-Team 23 final when he took a 7.16 win over Brown in the semi's.

"After the final, I told Angelle not to get too excited," said Treble. "I reminded her that I started last year with two wins, and that wasn't enough to win the championship. This thing is far from over, and I plan on being there at the end."

- Kevin McKenna

Copyright National Hot Rod Association Apr 25, 2003
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