NHRA: Treble could spell trouble for rest of Pro Stock Bike class

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (May 14) -- The early part of the 2002 Pro Stock
Motorcycle season has been colored red, white, and blue as Matco Tools
rider Craig Treble shot out to a perfect start in the class with two
wins in the first two races. What’s more, Treble says his new Matco
Tools Suzuki will only get better once he figures it out.

The rest of the class will try its best to slow Treble at this weekend’s
33rd annual Matco Tools SuperNationals presented by Racing Champions at
historic Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.

“It’s crazy,” Treble said of his early successes. “It’s overwhelming
really, especially considering I started the year on a brand-new bike, a
new prototype that no one, including me or the guys that built it really
knew what it would do. I’m as surprised as anyone I started with two
wins but I’m sure not complaining.”

With a full sponsorship deal from tool giant Matco Tools, Treble quit
his day job as a construction worker last season to dedicate himself
full-time to racing Pro Stock Motorcycle’s and promoting his sponsor’s
product lines across the country. The move paid off as Treble recorded a
fourth-place finish in the points – his best ever -- on the strength of
a career-best race day mark of 23-14, which included one runner-up
finish.

For the most part, Treble and crew chief Calvin Aswege were ecstatic
about their effort in 2001 and spent most of the off-season reveling in
their accomplishments. But both men were silently nagged by one
recurring thought; “We knew we were just about tapped-out as far as how
far we could go with the old bike,” Treble said. “We had tweaked to the
point there were no more tweaks to be made.”

Treble and Aswege were confident in their horsepower, which they procure
from the legendary engine shop of Vance & Hines, but knew they needed to
make a change with the 3-year-old chassis they were using. So they went
to respected chassis builders Sandy Kosman and Martin Windmill of Kosman
Specialties, the same group supplying pipe to most of the top teams in
the class. They were met with an interesting proposal.

“They told us about this bike they were building,” Treble said. “The
first of its kind. They’re telling me it’s revolutionary and
one-of-a-kind and then they asked me if I wanted to try it. Calvin and I
said, ‘Let’s go for it.’”

There was one slight problem. The group was running out of time as the
season-opener quickly approached on the calendar. In fact, they waited
until the last possible minute to make the switch.

“I climbed on the new bike for the first time one day before [the
season] started,” Treble said. “But I knew right from the start we were
on to something big. This bike is an animal right at the hit. This
chassis is so adjustable. We don’t have a 100-pound rider so we knew we
needed to be able to move weight around when necessary. This new bike
allows us to do that. It’s a huge advantage.”

The 35-year-old Treble is well aware he hasn’t exactly dominated the
class en route to his two victories this season. But with just a handful
of  passes in total on the new bike, he knows there is plenty of room
for improvement. Maybe even enough to make his Matco Tools team the one
everyone else is shooting for.

“We’re still exploring the parameters of this chassis,” Treble said. “We
don’t really know what its potential will be. That’s what is so much fun
about drag racing; you’re always tweaking. If we can improve on our
short times and get quicker from 0-60 feet, then I know our Vance &
Hines power can take over from there and win us a bunch more races. With
this new bike, I think we’ll find a way to make it happen.”

Interestingly, Treble readily lists half a dozen riders whom he feels
could win the championship this year. He includes himself on that list,
albeit almost as an afterthought.

“We’re certainly going to try our hardest,” Treble said. “But do you
really think I even come close to thinking we’re gonna win it all? Come
on. We still have a lot of races to go and we’re competing against the
best mechanical minds and the best riders in all of motorcycle racing. I
don’t dream this big.

“It’s like this weekend. To win here in Englishtown at Matco Tool’s
biggest race of the year would be unreal. Still, I can promise you this,
we’ll do everything we can to make it happen because I’d love to put
this beautiful new Matco Tools bike in the Matco Tools winner’s circle.”