AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals
Texas Motorplex – Ennis, TX
Oct 17-20, 2019

Pro Stock Motorcycle

Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Savoie went 6.881 at 195.90 in the final round on his White Alligator Racing Suzuki to knock off Eddie Krawiec and claim his third win in 2019. It is his 12th career win. Savoie also earned his second win in the Countdown to the Championship, closing to within 94 points of leader Andrew Hines heading into the final two events. Savoie reached his fifth straight final in Dallas with wins against Jianna Salinas, Karen Stoffer and Hines, picking up a key victory against the points leader before knocking off Krawiec in a pivotal final round.

 

 

“It was a great day and we knew we had a good bike coming in,” Savoie said. “We said if we held our composure we could win this thing. For the most part, tracks favor certain riders and we’ve been blessed here. It’s a great place and today was great. Bottom line, I want a championship just as bad as anybody else, so whoever is in my way I’m going to do everything I can to try and beat them. I felt good and we’ve got a great team. To me, this win gives you more hope and means a lot. This gives you that window of opportunity where you could win a championship again.”

Krawiec reached his 47th final round thanks to wins against Ryan Oehler, No. 1 qualifier Matt Smith and Angelle Sampey. The three-time world champ remains winless in his last 10 final-round appearances dating back to last season. Hines’ points lead also grew to 81 over Stoffer.

The Mello Yello Drag Racing Series continues Oct. 31-Nov. 3 with the fifth of six races in the Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship playoffs, the Dodge NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Round 1

Driver	Eddie Krawiec – WIN	Ryan Oehler
RT	.017	.039
60 FT	1.087	1.090
330 FT	2.891	2.898
660 FT	4.427	4.426
660 FT MPH	159.80	160.67
1000 FT	5.766	5.761
ET	6.912	6.901
MPH	195.34	196.33
Krawiec is 1 – 0 against Oehler in prior events. Krawiec gets the holeshot and extends his lead to the 33 foot mark. Oehler was drifting to the left early but was able to start making up ground at half track. he continued to gain ground but Krawiec held on for the win.

Driver	Angie Smith	Karen Stoffer – WIN
RT	.055	.081
60 FT	1.081	1.068
330 FT	2.885	2.870
660 FT	4.421	4.391
660 FT MPH	159.70	161.30
1000 FT	5.765	5.724
ET	6.910	6.863
MPH	195.65	196.67
Karen Stoffer’s 4 rounds in Charlotte gave her 402 for her career and she is only the 8th Pro Stock Motorcycle rider to compete in 400 or more rounds. Stoffer is 9 – 2 against Smith in prior events. Stoffer is second in points behind the leader Hines. Smith gets out of the gate first but Stoffer reels her in at half track and pulls away for the win.

Driver	Andrew Hines – WIN	Hector Arana Jr
RT	.038	.043
60 FT	1.063	1.072
330 FT	2.856	2.891
660 FT	4.388	4.427
660 FT MPH	159.82	159.66
1000 FT	5.733	5.776
ET	6.885	6.933
MPH	194.46	193.52
Hines gets a small holeshot and extends his lead all the way through the run to take the win.

Driver	Angelle Sampey – WIN	Hector Arana
RT	.037	-.011
60 FT	1.049	1.052
330 FT	2.845	2.860
660 FT	4.382	4.398
660 FT MPH	159.32	159.02
1000 FT	5.734	5.748
ET	6.903	6.899
MPH	190.89	195.14
Arana is a little too quick off the line and goes red giving the win to Sampey.

Driver	Scott Pollacheck – WIN	Kelly Clontz
RT	.099	.057
60 FT	1.056	1.081
330 FT	2.871	2.886
660 FT	4.401	4.430
660 FT MPH	160.16	158.07
1000 FT	5.745	5.790
ET	6.898	6.955
MPH	194.21	192.08
Clontz gets out of the gate first, holds the lead all the way to the 1000 foot mark, then Pollacheck is able to go around and take the stripe for the win.

Driver	Steve Johnson – WIN	Michael Ray
RT	.032	.036
60 FT	1.059	1.084
330 FT	2.849	2.919
660 FT	4.370	4.475
660 FT MPH	160.96	157.50
1000 FT	5.704	5.854
ET	6.849	7.209
MPH	194.21	155.76
Johnson is 2 – 1 against Ray in prior events. A coin flip off the line, Johnson gets out in front quickly. Ray gets about 1100 feet out and the engine goes silent, not sure why. Johnson goes on through with the quickest pass of the day so far to take the win.

Driver	Jianna Salinas	Jerry Savoie – WIN
RT	.070	.140
60 FT	1.095	1.052
330 FT	2.940	2.842
660 FT	4.541	4.357
660 FT MPH	145.99	161.69
1000 FT	6.273	5.687
ET	8.231	6.827
MPH	104.03	196.10
Salinas gets the holeshot and stays in front past the sixty-foot mark. She starts drifting to the left, gets very close to the wall and has to back off the throttle. Savoie goes right down the groove with a clean pass, the quickest of the round, and he takes the win.

Driver	Matt Smith – WIN	—
RT	.061	—
60 FT	1.059	—
330 FT	2.853	—
660 FT	4.372	—
660 FT MPH	161.36	—
1000 FT	5.701	—
ET	6.837	—
MPH	197.33	—
In 257 races this is just the 2nd time that Matt Smith has had a bye run. Smith gets the bye and will have lane choice over Krawiec in the next round.

Round 2

Driver	Scott Pollacheck	Angelle Sampey – WIN
RT	.046	.041
60 FT	1.050	1.050
330 FT	2.859	2.855
660 FT	4.408	4.402
660 FT MPH	157.98	158.41
1000 FT	5.763	5.757
ET	6.918	6.914
MPH	194.16	193.93
Pollacheck and Sampey have each won 5 times against the other in prior events. Sampey gets a little holeshot and extends her lead to half-track. Pollacheck is able to make up a little ground late but runs out of race track.

Driver	Steve Johnson	Andrew Hines – WIN
RT	.083	.037
60 FT	1.074	1.061
330 FT	2.871	2.855
660 FT	4.399	4.407
660 FT MPH	160.16	157.50
1000 FT	5.740	5.766
ET	6.889	6.921
MPH	194.35	194.58
Hines is 32 – 7 against Johnson in prior events. Hines gets out of the gate first and starts to pull away. Johnson is able to make up a little ground after the 330 foot mark but runs out of room. Hines gets out of the groove early, has to really lean on the bike to keep it off of the wall, but he is able to hang on and take the holeshot win.

Driver	Matt Smith	Eddie Krawiec – WIN
RT	.026	.040
60 FT	1.099	1.075
330 FT	2.910	2.872
660 FT	4.447	4.408
660 FT MPH	159.44	159.63
1000 FT	5.791	5.752
ET	6.935	6.899
MPH	196.24	195.76
Krawiec is 25 – 17 against Smith in prior events. Smith gets out of the gate first but Krawiec reels him in and takes the lead before they reach the sixty foot mark. He continues to pull away and takes the stripe for the win.

Driver	Karen Stoffer	Jerry Savoie – WIN
RT	.034	.074
60 FT	1.081	1.060
330 FT	2.889	2.859
660 FT	4.419	4.383
660 FT MPH	160.44	160.94
1000 FT	5.757	5.717
ET	6.900	6.857
MPH	196.07	196.44
Stoffer gets the holeshot, stays in front to the 1000 foot mark, then Savoie pulls even and moves ahead for the win.

Round 3

Driver	Angelle Sampey	Eddie Krawiec – WIN
RT	.024	.043
60 FT	1.045	1.093
330 FT	2.858	2.909
660 FT	4.433	4.459
660 FT MPH	155.02	158.13
1000 FT	5.812	5.809
ET	6.989	6.957
MPH	190.35	195.48
Sampey gets the advantage off of the line and starts extending her lead. Krawiec had a sluggish sixty foot time, a 1.093, but he started making a move a little past the 330 foot mark. he continues to make up ground, then gets around Sampey a little before the finish line and takes the win. Krawiec is going to his fifth final round this year and the 84th of his career.

Driver	Andrew Hines	Jerry Savoie – WIN
RT	.009	.012
60 FT	1.067	1.061
330 FT	2.870	2.864
660 FT	4.435	4.395
660 FT MPH	156.08	160.16
1000 FT	5.817	5.733
ET	6.991	6.877
MPH	191.51	195.76
Hines is 15 – 10 against Savoie in prior events. Hines gets a little off the line but Savoie goes around him before they reach the sixty-foot mark. Savoie extends his lead for the rest of the run to take the win. Savoie is going to his fourth final this year and the 28th of his career where he will have lane choice over Krawiec.

FINAL ELIMINATIONS

Driver	Eddie Krawiec	Jerry Savoie – WIN
RT	.046	.004
60 FT	1.073	1.069
330 FT	2.875	2.875
660 FT	4.413	4.401
660 FT MPH	159.68	160.65
1000 FT	5.755	5.737
ET	6.901	6.881
MPH	195.62	195.90
Krawiec is 24 – 9 against Savoie in prior events and Krawiec is 7 – 1 against Savoie in prior final rounds. Savoie gets out of the gate first and starts to pull away. He goes on through, extending his lead all the way through the run. Savoie takes his third win of the year and the 12th of his career.

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SATURDAY QUALIFYING

Defending Pro Stock Motorcycle world champ Matt Smith stayed in the top spot after his impressive run of 6.776 at 200.26 on his Denso Auto Parts/Stockseth/MSR EBR on Friday. Smith, who also set the track speed record, earned fifth No. 1 qualifier of 2019 and 36th in his career. Jerry Savoie will begin eliminations from the second position after his 6.790 at 196.13 on Friday, while Steve Johnson moved into the third spot on Saturday with a 6.830 at 194.44. Points leader Andrew Hines qualified sixth with a 6.851 at 196.96.

“It’s just a lot of hard work after the struggles we had at Charlotte,” Smith said. “We had two tough days of non-stop work, and I can’t say enough about my crew guys and the people who help me. Not only are we No. 1 qualifier, we get some bonus points and we get a bye in the first round. All in all, we’ve got a good bike for tomorrow.”

FINAL QUALIFYING ORDER

POS	DRIVER	ET	MPH
01	Matt Smith	6.776	200.26
02	Jerry Savoie	6.790	196.13
03	Steve Johnson	6.830	194.44
04	Scott Pollacheck	6.847	197.65
05	Angelle Sampey	6.847	194.74
06	Andrew Hines	6.851	196.96
07	Karen Stoffer	6.853	195.17
08	Eddie Krawiec	6.857	194.44
09	Ryan Oehler	6.866	195.34
10	Angie Smith	6.871	196.13
11	Hector Arana Jr	6.875	195.56
12	Hector Arana	6.884	195.34
13	Kelly Clontz	6.936	194.18
14	Michael Ray	6.974	190.38
15	Jianna Salinas	7.006	188.36

Three days that may have saved Matt Smith’s season and his bid for a repeat title

by  Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor

Matt Smith made Texas Motorplex history Friday night when he powered his Denso EBR to the track’s first 200-mph Pro Stock Motorcycle pass but it was the result of a lot of behind-the-scenes work in the three days between events.
19 Oct 2019 Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor

Matt Smith knew something was wrong, he just didn’t know what. His normally potent Denso EBR struggled in qualifying at the NTK NHRA Carolina Nationals, ranking just 13th, followed by a first-round exit.

He had already watched his name plummet down the standings, from third entering the Countdown to the Championship to sixth, and couldn’t understand why the bike that had carried him to the No. 1 spot at the AAA Insurance Midwest Nationals in St. Louis had become possessed.

With a rain delay forcing a Monday conclusion to the Charlotte event and the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationls in Dallas just days away, Smith knew that he had to act quickly if he had any chance to defending his 2018 world championship.

“We left Charlotte Monday night and I had two of my crew guys, Michael Ray and Nate Kendrick, come home with me instead of flying home,” he said. “We stripped the bike down, pulled the motor out, pulled all of the wiring off and saw that the chassis was broken. I called ‘Dog’ [chassis builder Mike Furick] and told him we needed to get the bike on his chassis jig. Tuesday morning, we made the two-hour drive to his shop in Mooresville [N.C.], and he had it fixed by 1:30 that afternoon. We left there, drove home, and I rewired the bike, put the motor in it, and got everything else ready.

“Wednesday morning at 6 a.m. we left King, N.C., and drove straight through to Texas, and got here at 1 a.m. then went to a little eighth-mile track just up the road [from Texas Motorplex]. At 7 a.m. we were testing and, problem solved. Kudos to my crew; I couldn’t have done it without them.

Smith’s hard work paid off Friday night when he made Texas Motorplex history by powering to the track’s first 200-mph Pro Stock Motorcycle pass and the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot. He now hopes to parlay that into a victory at the event and the chance to cut into Andrew Hines’ points lead if he wants to have any real kind of chance of holding onto the No. 1 plate,

“I’ve come here my whole life and never won this race,” he said. “We’ve had a customer –- Michael Ray –- win this race, but I’ve never done it and this race is not on the 2020 bike schedule so I’d like to have this off my bucket list.”

FRIDAY QUALIFYING

Matt Smith’s 200-mph blast carries his Denso EBR to No. 1 in Pro Stock Motorcycle

Reigning world champ Matt Smith flexed the muscles of his Denso-backed EBR, cracking off the first 200-mph Pro Stock Motorcycle pass at Texas Motorplex en route to grabbing the No. 1 qualifying spot.

Reigning world champ Matt Smith flexed the muscles of his Denso-backed EBR, cracking off the first 200-mph Pro Stock Motorcycle pass at Texas Motorplex en route to grabbing the No. 1 qualifying spot. Smith improved by a tenth on his opening pass of 6.87 with a 6.777 at 200.26 mph to take over the No. 1 spot. the previous best speed in track history was 198.99, set four years ago by Jerry Savoie.

“The run was pretty awesome,” said smith. “We struggled last week in Charlotte and went home and did a lot of work and found that the frame was broken. We got that fixed and tested at a little eighth-mile track down the road [from Texas Motorplex] and made four runs and the problem was fixed. I was too conservative the first run because the track was really good and I bogged the motor and slipped the clutch, so we decided to shoot for the moon on the next run. We got after it and she held.”

Indy champ Savoie, still reeling from back-to-back first-round losses at the last two events, crushed it on his second pass aboard the White Alligator Racing Suzuki, improving from a 6.87 to a 6.790 to take the No. 2 spot as both bumped first-session leader Angelle Sampey’s 6/847 from the top spot; Sampey’s Harley could only manage a 6.854 on its evening pass.

Scotty Pollacheck picked up four-hundredths off his opening pass, rocketing his Strutmasters.com EBR to a 6.850 that momentarily had him in the lofty No. 2 spot before sliding down two spots to fourth, just ahead of Andrew Hines’ Q1 pass of 6.851.

Recent St. Louis winner Karen Stoffer recovered from an aborted nine-second pass in Q1 with a 6.853 in the second session to grab the No. 6 spot, a number matched by Eddie Krawiec, who also struggled in Q1 with a 6.90, more than a half-tenth off the quick early pace then ran 6.857 for No. 7.

The top half of the field is rounded out by Ryan Oehler, who improved two-hundredths from his opening lap with a 6.866.

 

ROUND 2 QUALIFYING ORDER

Defending Pro Stock Motorcycle world champ Matt Smith put together the lone 200-mph pass to set the track speed record in the category on Friday, blasting to the top spot with an impressive run of 6.776 at 200.26 on his Denso Auto Parts/Stockseth/MSR EBR. Smith is after his fifth No. 1 qualifier of 2019 and 36th in his career. Jerry Savoie sits second with a 6.790 at 196.13, while Angelle Sampey is a spot behind after going 6.847 at 194.74.

POS	DRIVER	ET	MPH
01	Matt Smith	6.776	200.26
02	Jerry Savoie	6.790	196.13
03	Angelle Sampey	6.847	194.74
04	Scott Pollacheck	6.850	193.32
05	Andrew Hines	6.851	196.96
06	Karen Stoffer	6.853	195.17
07	Eddie Krawiec	6.857	194.44
08	Ryan Oehler	6.866	195.34
09	Angie Smith	6.871	196.13
10	Hector Arana Jr	6.875	195.56
11	Hector Arana	6.884	195.34
12	Steve Johnson	6.887	193.96
13	Michael Ray	6.974	190.38
14	Kelly Clontz	6.975	192.41
15	Jianna Salinas	7.006	188.36

 

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Stars (Re)Born: Erica Enders and Karen Stoffer back in Championship Form

 

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