Championship Drag Racing

Lucas Oil NHRA Route 66 Nationals
Chicago
(May 29-June 1)

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Craig Treble Matco Tools Suzuki

Reports: Sunday Friday Pre-race

Chicago, Sunday: Craig Treble came away from the Lucas Oil Nationals still holding on to his fifth place position in NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Bike points, but fifth place is not where the Matco Tools rider is happy to be.

"We had a great bike here in Chicago," Treble said, "and were confident we would go rounds with it this weekend and move up a position or two in the NHRA Pro Stock Bike championship battle."

On Sunday morning, the Matco Tools Bike started the day with a first round win over Andrew Hines on the Vance & Hines V-Rod Harley, running a solid 7.154 at 185.03. That run was the highlight of the day for the Matco Tools crew as the bike fell off to a 7.209 at 185.92 in the second round against eventual runner-up Reggie Showers on his PDI Suzuki.

"We missed the tune-up just a bit on that run and it bit us," Treble said. "We were set up for the weather conditions at the time we went to staging, and the weather went away from us. We bogged the motor bad enough to kill our e.t., and reaction time, and Reggie was right there to take advantage of that mistake."

Treble will be staying in Chicago to do some testing at Route 66 raceway to prepare for the upcoming Pontiac Excitement NHRA Nationals in Columbus, Ohio.

"We want to get out on the new bike and see where we are as far as debuting it on the tour," Treble said. "We will run the current chassis through Columbus, but hopefully our new bike will be ready for NHRA competition soon after that. I will say this, whatever is fast is what we will be unloading on race day."

Chicago, Friday: The 2003 NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Bike season is now five races old, and one common theme has been established in these first few races – severe weather during the Friday qualifying sessions.

Again in Chicago, Mother Nature took control of the event, this time threatening racers and fans alike with thunderstorms and tornadoes.

Before the rain hit, Craig Treble put the Matco Tools Bike in the No. 7 spot, running a best of 7.258 at 181.30 in the first of the two Friday qualifying sessions.

"We put in our brand new Vance & Hines motor for this weekend, and in both sessions we bogged the motor pretty bad," Treble said. "The Englishtown weather forced us to detune to run fast, now in Chicago we need to go the other way and hop this bad boy up to get some e.t. out of it. If we can get the Matco Tools Bike to leave the line decently, we will really improve our qualifying position tomorrow."

Chicago, pre-race: Craig Treble and the Matco Tools Pro Stock Bike team want to start out in Chicago the same way they ended the last event in Englishtown, N.J. – strong, fast, and furious.

"We learned a lot in Englishtown and want to carry that momentum into Chicago," Treble said. "Reaching the final the way we did proved that we still have what is takes to win the POWERade championship in .03. We made good fast runs on Sunday, and took out points leaders along the way, we need to do that again here.

"I.m pretty pumped for this weekend, one because I am from Illinois, and two because I will have a specialty paint scheme on the bike for this event."

Treble will compete at Route 66 Raceway for the Lucas Oil Nationals with the new movie 2 fast 2 Furious featured on his Pro Stock Bike, matching Matco Tools teammate Whit Bazemore.s Funny Car that is also promoting the new flick for the weekend.

"Growing up in Illinois and living near Chicago makes this race always feel like going back home for me," Treble said. "I lived in Valparaiso and every year when we come to this race, I get to see many of my friends from those days. Between that and the local Matco Tools Distributors, I figure Chicago will be a great race, I hope I can come out of there with the win."

Treble is currently in fifth place in the NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Bike point standings for 2003, just 73 points out of first place.

"Right now the top five are very close in points, and we need to focus on taking out the leaders and winning the event," he said. "Like I said after Englishtown, we are back, and our goal is to climb to the top of the points sheet before the season ends."