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Wednesday, April 18
All three Pro Stock classes in action
By Bill Stephens
Special to ESPN.com
All three Pro Stock classes -- cars, trucks, and bikes -- are reconvening at Gainesville Raceway this Friday and Saturday for the Mac Tools Gatornationals. But the tone and tenor of those categories will have a different vibe from the one that resonated a month ago.
Just as in the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes, the intervening two events since the Gainesville rain-out have conspired to shuffle the balance of power in Pro Stock and Pro Stock Truck. And, in the bike class, the reigning champion has made an assertive statement, too.
|  | | Angelle Savoie (formerly Seeling), who rides for Star Racing/Team Winston, is out to defend her crown in 2001.
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When the Gatornationals got started in March, the two previous races in Pomona, Calif., and Phoenix had essentially been Johnson Family Victory Fests. Kurt clobbered everyone in Pomona, while his dad did the same in Phoenix. Then, after that brief layover in central Florida, they went on to extend their reign of terror in Houston with Warren's second win of 2001.
While the Coughlin brothers were debugging their new Cavaliers, Mark Pawuk, Darrell Alderman, Bruce Allen, Ron Krisher and Mike Edwards were showing momentary flashes of dominance in qualifying and occasionally on raceday. Meanwhile, the Johnsons were making plenty of hay -- until Las Vegas.
It was there the Jeg's team finally flexed its muscle as defending event and Winston champ Jeg Coughlin used his Richard Maskin horsepower and outstanding reaction times to get back into the win column for the first time this season. Coughlin will return to Gainesville this weekend as the No. 7 qualifier and will race Tom Martino in the first round.
Despite his sluggish start, Coughlin sits third in points, two-and-a-half rounds behind Kurt Johnson and a little less than four rounds behind the elder Johnson. If Coughlin's Cavalier begins winning rounds in bunches, as many expect, the Pro Stock championship skirmish will heat up in no time.
In Pro Stock Truck, Randy Daniels appeared to have everything under control when Gatornationals qualifying ended four weeks ago. His 7.43/180 earned him the pole while Greg Stanfield followed with his 7.44/181 and defending champion, Bob Panella, wound up third by the narrowest of margins with his 7.44/181.
The truck battle in Houston was won by Daniels, but the headlines belonged to Stanfield and Panella. Stanfield reset the national ET record with not one, but two thunderous 7.39s. He also set a new speed record -- 182.11 mph -- until Panella whisked that away with a faster 182.40 mph run. Panella's final-round loss to Daniels was particularly painful as his .499 reaction time allowed Daniels' .449 light and 7.43/180 to defeat his quicker and faster 7.41/181.
But Panella had his day in Vegas. Winning the race in convincing style by beating Daniels in the semis and Stanfield in the final, Panella made this weekend's second stop in Gainesville even more significant. It literally has become anyone's race.
The Pro Stock Bike class is the ultimate jump ball this year with Byron Hines of Freedom Motorsports and George Bryce of Star Racing supplying race-winning engines to a host of teams who might otherwise be underdogs. Yet, it was Angelle Savoie, the defending champ, who opened the season for Bryce and Team Winston in Houston with a final round victory over -- who else? -- Matt Hines. But Savoie needed everything she could muster in at least two earlier rounds when she handled Geno Scali in Round 2 and cousin-in-law Antron Brown in the semis.
Savoie will return to Gainesville as the No. 3 qualifier, having been outrun by both Hines and Brown. Savoie won the event in 1999, the year in which she lost the Winston crown to Hines on the final day of the season. With a narrow points lead over Hines heading into this weekend, Savoie is hoping to convert that slim margin into a fat cushion with her second Gatornationals title. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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