SAVOIE LOOKING FOR SPONSORSHIP AND A THIRD TITLE

BAYTOWN, Texas - Angelle Savoie has spent the better part of a year looking for a sponsor. Now, however, the two-time Pro Stock Motorcycle champion is focusing on racing.

Savoie still doesn't have a full-time sponsor, but she does have a new motorcycle and the desire to ride into winner's circle sooner than later.

Riding her Star Racing Suzuki, Savoie will be among nearly 30 riders competing at the 15th annual O'Reilly Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park, April 11-14. The $1.9 million race is the fifth of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series and the second of 14 events for the Pro Stock Motorcycle category.

"We have a really good bike, but it has taken me a couple of runs to get used to it," Savoie said. "I don't think I am completely used to it, but it gets better with every run. We really could use a sponsor, but we just have to dig deeper into our reserves. As soon as we sign a deal, we will be full speed ahead."

As part of the Master Settlement Agreement, R.J. Reynold's Winston brand of tobacco had to pull its sponsorship after the 2001 season, forcing the NHRA and Savoie to go shopping for a new name and sponsor. The NHRA signed a five-year deal with POWERade in December, but Savoie has yet to ink her new deal.

"It has been very frustrating, humbling and a little scary as a matter of fact," Savoie said. "I don't want to end my career anytime soon, especially not like this. I am not going to quit until I absolutely have to."

Since her first start in 1996, Savoie has been nothing short of competitive. She has 22 career wins in 36 final round appearances and is the winningest female in NHRA history. Savoie has finished in the top two four times. While the Star Racing program still has to fight to get a sponsor's name on the motorcycle, Savoie knows she is going to have to fight even harder to get a victory on the drag strip. In the season opener for the motorcycle class, Savoie lost in the final round to Craig Treble.

"I think this is going to be an unbelievably tough year," Savoie said. "I think it is great for the class, but it is going to be hard to win. Each individual race is going to be tough."

RUSSELL HOPES TO END SOPHOMORE SLUMP IN HOUSTON

BAYTOWN, Texas - Darrell Russell is trying to get out of that sophomore slump. In 2001, he opened his rookie season with a win in his first professional race. He went on to win two Top Fuel races in seven final round appearances.
Russell capped off the rookie campaign with the Rookie of the Year honors. The second year of competition, however, has been less than noteworthy. The driver of the Bilstein Engine Flush Dragster has high expectations, but is off to a slow start.

"It is very early, but to sum up the season as it is now, it has been rough," Russell said. "It definitely has not started off the way we wanted it to. It just seems like everything we try to do to make the car run better is just not working. It's been very hard. It is still early and we still have a long way to go. We don't want to paint ourselves in a corner, but we are getting close to doing that."

Russell may only be in his second year of Top Fuel racing, but the three-time Division 4 Top Alcohol champion has had sub-par seasons before.

"The car will show some signs of life and it looks like we are going in the right direction, and then it throws us a curve ball," Russell said. "The guys are just chasing things. It has been very frustrating. Sure, this is my second year of Top Fuel but it is my 15th year of drag racing overall. In all the years I have been drag racing competitively, I have been in this position many times. You just have to work hard to get out of it."

While cheerleader and team booster may not be on his business card, Russell said keeping up the team's spirit has been trying.

"One of the hardest things we have had to deal with so far is keeping the guys upbeat and motivated," Russell said. "That has been very difficult because you can see the distress in their faces. I try to do whatever I can. I try to be as consistent as possible as the driver so that is one less variable we have to worry about."

Russell is confident that the team's fortunes will turn around sooner than later. "We changed a lot of the car's technology over the winter," Russell said. "We are trying to make more horsepower and a lot of our problems have to do with the application of that technology. As soon as we click, and get it all together, it's going to be great. (Sponsor owner) Marty Yacoobian has the will and the want to win. So does (team owner) Joe Amato. It's going to happen."

SKUZA'S DODGE STRATUS WORKING OUT KINKS
BAYTOWN

On the average an everyday person can be expected to purchase or trade in their personal vehicle once every five to six years while a race car is usually updated every couple of seasons. Dean Skuza recently unveiled a new 6,000 horsepower Dodge Stratus R/T after being in the same Funny Car for eight years. 

Skuza's old Avenger body was designed in the early 1990s, prior to the performance levels now achieved by the nitromethane-burning vehicles. The Stratus was developed by Mopar project engineers and they turned to the famed Roush Racing group to design the vehicle's body.
"(The Stratus) is going to amplify our program by 1,000 percent," said the 35-year-old Skuza. "The Avenger body was designed in 1992 when the performance max was high 290 speeds and low five-second runs. When I look at what we were able to do with that body over the years, especially last year when we were able to run some four-seventies with it at 315 and 318, I feel really good. That's amazing. I'm really proud of what we accomplished with the Avenger body given the circumstances."

Skuza hopes the Stratus' improved aerodynamics and engineering innovations will lead to improved performance on the drag strip. That would be a welcomed change in a 10-year career that has produced two wins in 12 final round appearances. His first career win came at Houston back in 1997 with his other victory coming in 1998 at Reading, Pa. Despite driving to only two victories, Skuza is always considered a threat during eliminations and his winning personality has made him a fan favorite.

"People look at the 10-year career and there's only two wins -- believe me, that's not where I thought I would be at this point," said Skuza, from Brecksville, Ohio. "It's difficult out here. Now that we've come to the level of adequate funding and we have this new body and a team that has stuck together for several years, I really kind of feel like we're just starting. The body is like the last piece of the puzzle and the last ingredient that we need as a team to start winning on a regular basis."

With the competition among the Funny Car competitors so intense, any edge or advantage is a bonus in a category where each contestant knows that to be the champ, you have to stop the champ. That would be 11-time NHRA POWERade Funny car champion John Force.
After a first round loss at the 2002 season-opener in Pomona, Calif., then a DNQ (did not qualify) at Phoenix, Skuza made some progress to his ultimate goal of becoming 'the man' by defeating Force in the first round of eliminations at Gainesville, Fla. He followed that up with another first round matchup against Force at Las Vegas, this time with the champ prevailing.

"(Force) is something else, I'll tell you," said Skuza. "To be very, very honest, and I can't speak for the entire Funny Car category, but I think we secretly hope (Force's crew chief) Austin Coil is going to get lost (forget his tune-up). But that never happens. All we can do is try and do our best to knock him off. I really want to be the one to do it, as does every other Funny Car driver out there. The guy that finally knocks him off can write his own ticket."