Angelle wins a historic final in Reading and closes in on her
third championship
Event: 18th Annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals
Location: Maple Grove Raceway, Reading, PA
Date: September 16, 2002
Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa. has provided Angelle Savoie with two
historic moments in her illustrious seven-year NHRA career. The first came
in 1996 when the talented Louisiana native scored her first national event
win in only her fourth professional start. The second came during Monday's
running of the rain-delayed Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, when Angelle defeated
Karen Stoffer in the second all-female final in the fifty-two year history of
the National Hot Rod Association.
"I'm really proud of Karen and her team for the great job they did all
weekend," said Angelle. "It shows the world what you can do if you put your
mind to it. To have two girls in the final was absolutely awesome, and I'm
glad the Mohegan Sun Suzuki came out the winner."
However, even before Angelle had reached the momentous final, it had been a
great weekend for the Star Racing team. On Friday, they debuted the colors
of new primary sponsor Mohegan Sun, and with representatives of the
Uncasville, Conn. gaming resort on hand, carried them to the second position
in qualifying.
"I love our new Mohegan Sun colors, and it was great to take them to the
winner's circle in our first race together," detailed Angelle. "We had a
couple people come down from Uncasville for qualifying, and seeing their
excitement really motivated us. I know we're looking forward to returning the
favor and going up to see them."
Persistent rain showers on Sunday prevented the Star Racing team from even
leaving their pit, but they wasted no time in taking care of business once
racing resumed on Monday morning. Facing rookie Keith Dennis in the opening
stanza, Angelle left the starting line first and ran a elapsed time quicker
than that of the No. 1 qualifier (and low for the round) to advance to the
quarter-finals.
Although Steve Johnson handed the Mohegan Sun Suzuki the automatic win by
red-lighting, Angelle's 7.180-second elapsed time was once again quick in the
category for the round, and gave her lane choice for her semi-final match-up
with Antron Brown.
Brown was up to the challenge, gaining a slight advantage at the starting
line, but it would not be enough, as Angelle improved upon her first round
effort with a 7.167-second, 185.66 mph pass, which was quickest of the event,
to reach the historic final against Stoffer, who had aided Angelle's POWERade
championship charge by eliminating Craig Treble, her closest points pursuer,
in the second round.
The final round may have added another line in the NHRA history books as the
first all-female final in twenty years, but unfortunately for the many fans
in attendance, the race was over before it really began. Stoffer, trying to
overcome the Star Racing entry's performance advantage with a quick reaction
time, left the starting line nine thousandths of a second too early. This
gave the well-deserved win to Angelle, who now has a virtual stranglehold on
the POWERade championship.
"I'm excited any time we win, but today I was little more emotional because
of everything that was involved," stated Angelle. "First of all, I was
excited to race Karen in the final. We went to drag racing school together,
and to meet her in the final was awesome.
"I also knew that if we won, we'd just about clinch the championship, which
is even more special this year after everything we've gone through. After I
saw Karen's red light, I thought about it all the way down the track. I'm so
proud of my Star Racing team. I knew they had given me another winning bike,
and I really felt good on my Mohegan Sun Suzuki all weekend."
Finally, Angelle had some special thoughts to share with the large crowd who
had come out on Monday to watch the completion of final eliminations.
"I spoke to the fans standing around the winner's circle after the race and
thanked them for coming back out to watch us race on Monday," explained
Angelle. "It's boring to win without the fans, and they made today even more
special. They gave Karen and I a tremendous ovation before the final, and
that meant a lot to both of us. I know there might be some unhappy bosses,
but we were really glad they were here."
Fast Facts:
- Angelle's final round match-up with Karen Stoffer was only the second
all-female final in NHRA history, and first in the Pro Stock Motorcycle
category. The only previous final featuring two women came in Columbus, Ohio
in 1982, where Shirley Muldowney defeated Lucille Lee in the Top Fuel final.
- This is the 27th win of Angelle's career (and fifth of the 2002 season)
and second consecutive (and fourth overall) at Maple Grove Raceway.
- Angelle's 27 wins are the most by a female competitor in NHRA history.
- This is the sixth time Angelle has won back-to-back races in her career.
- With a 173-point lead in the NHRA POWERade points standings, Angelle has
only to qualify fourth or better at her next race, the AC Delco Nationals in
Las Vegas, NV to clinch her third consecutive Pro Stock Motorcycle
championship.
- Angelle now has a 22-3 career elimination round record at Maple Grove
Raceway.
- Angelle's 7.167-second elapsed time in the semi-finals against Antron
Brown was the quickest in Pro Stock Motorcycle for the weekend, marking the
28th time she has set the low elapsed time of the event and ninth time in
2002.
- Angelle has led the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle standings following 42 of
the last 53 national events, dating back to the beginning of the 1999 season.
She has been ranked first or second an amazing 59 of the last 63 events,
dating back to the fourth event of 1998.
- Angelle has won 23 of her last 57 national event starts, has appeared in
31 final rounds and owns a 156-34 (.821) elimination round win record during
that span. In that same period, she has also recorded 26 low qualifier
efforts.
- Angelle's .779 (215-61) elimination-round win percentage ranks second
among all active drivers, trailing only Matt Hines (.786).
2002 NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Motorcycle
Points Standings (after 12 of 14 events):
1. Angelle Savoie - 1191
2. Craig Treble - 1018 (-173)
3. Antron Brown - 895 (-296)
4. Matt Hines - 843 (-348)
5. Shawn Gann - 827 (-364)
6. Geno Scali - 592 (-599)
7. Reggie Showers - 553 (-638)
8. Mike Berry - 530 (-661)
9. John Smith - 472 (-719)
10. Steve Johnson - 462 (-729)
2002 K&N Filters Pro Bike Klash Points Standings
(after 2 of 14 events):
1. Angelle Savoie - 340
Matt Hines - 340
3. Shawn Gann - 318 (-22)
4. Craig Treble - 285 (-55)
5. Reggie Showers - 270 (-70)
6. Geno Scali - 245 (-95)
Andrew Hines - 245 (-95)
8. Antron Brown - 240 (-100)
9. Steve Johnson - 225 (-115)
10. John Smith - 220 (-120)
Karen Stoffer - 220 (-120)
