NHRA Saturday:Angelle improves, slots 2nd for Reading eliminations

Event: 18th Annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals
Location: Maple Grove Raceway, Reading, Pennsylvania
Date: September 14, 2002

On a day which saw changing weather conditions prevent any major changes in 
Sunday's starting line-up, two-time NHRA champion Angelle Savoie powered her 
Mohegan Sun Suzuki down the Maple Grove quarter-mile in 7.216 seconds with a 
top speed of 183.89 mph on Saturday morning to secure the second position for 
the final eliminations of the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Reading, Pa.

The second day of qualifying provided the Pro Stock Motorcycle with a tuning 
challenge, as the first session was run under warmer conditions, while their 
final qualifying attempt was held following a lengthy rain delay, which 
provided higher humidity.  As a result, the majority of the filed struggled 
to match their Friday performance.  However, the Mohegan Sun crew continued 
to fine-tune their Suzuki, and produced the quickest pass of the morning time 
trial. They followed this up with an equally impressive 7.274-second elapsed 
time on their last run. Which was second quickest.

Angelle will be paired against Keith Dennis in the first round, marking the 
first time these two will meet in competition.  Incidentally, Angelle's 
performance is made even more impressive when considering the current NHRA 
POWERade points leader was battling a severe headache throughout the day.
  
"Although I'm a little disappointed that we didn't make the first run on 
Friday, because that is when Matt ran the time that edged us for the No. 1 
position, this Mohegan Sun crew came back strong in the final three sessions. 
 Even so, this outcome is much better than a year ago (when Angelle qualified 
eighth, the lowest she has placed throughout her 87-race Pro Stock Motorcycle 
career), so we're ahead of the game.

"I was extremely comfortable on my Suzuki and the track throughout 
qualifying, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow, because George (team owner 
Bryce) is putting in a new bullet which he say is even stronger than the one 
we used in qualifying.

"I really like our new colors, and we were fortunate to have some people from 
Mohegan Sun join us for the weekend. Seeing their excitement made it even 
better for me.  This was their first experience at an NHRA POWERade event, 
and it's always fun to see someone's reaction as they see just how much we 
have to offer.  Tomorrow, we're going to try and make their inaugural race 
even more special."