NHRA News: Savoie, Star Racing agree to break up championship team (1/31/2003)

Savoie, Star Racing agree to break up championship team

1/31/2003

Angelle Savoie

Team owner George Bryce has announced that due to a lack of funding, the Star Racing organization would no longer be fielding an entry in the NHRA's Pro Stock Motorcycle division. The Americus, Ga.-based team and rider Angelle Savoie were coming off a notable 2002 campaign inwhich overcome adversity on several occasions to defend the POWERade championship for the third consecutive year. However, when it became apparent that the necessary funding for 2003 would not be in place, Bryce and Savoie made the difficult decision to forego competing further.

"We fully expected to be racing in 2003, defending our title and helping Angelle win her fourth consecutive championship," explained Bryce. "But this is an expensive business, and in order to compete at a championship level, we needed to find a primary marketing partner who would work with us and our associate sponsors such as Mohegan Sun, Snap On Tools, and others. That has been our number one priority since last September and we spent a lot of time and money trying to secure the proper funding. We've exhausted every possible option, but unfortunately could not come up with a workable solution.

"This is a decision none of us wanted to make, but we reached the point where we could no longer wait for something to come together. Angelle has obligations she has to meet, and I have a stack of bills and fifteen families at Star Racing depending on me for their livelihood. We needed to know what we were doing for 2003 and beyond, so after lengthy discussions between myself, Angelle and our people at Star Racing, we have decided to close this chapter and move on."

The announcement brings to an end one of the most successful pairings in the history of Pro Stock Motorcycle. Already established as one of the category's top teams, having won multiple championships and races with the legendary John Myers, Star Racing ventured into uncharted territory in 1996 by hiring a young registered nurse from Louisiana to ride their motorcycle. Debuting at the Mile-High Nationals in Denver, it soon became apparent that the combination of the potent Star Racing Suzuki and the talented Angelle was a formidable one.

A win at the Keystone Nationals in only their fourth national event together was just the first step. Over the next six and a half years, they rewrote the record books, establishing Angelle as the most successful female competitor in NHRA history with three consecutive championships, twenty-eight national event wins, thirty-one No. 1 qualifying performances and numerous performance records, including the quickest pass in the history of Pro Stock Motorcycle at 7.049 seconds, shattering the previous mark by five hundredths of a second.

Despite these many accomplishments, the one aspect of this relationship that Angelle is most anxious to take with her is the friendship she has forged with the Bryce-led team.

"More than anything, I want everyone to know that we are not stopping because we wanted to, or that we broke up because of problems with the team," said Angelle. "We are being forced to move on, so we will. Honestly, this is one day I was hoping would not come for quite some time. It's very hard to break up something that has been working so well. The way we see it, we were pretty much unbeatable.

"For the last seven years, Star Racing has been a major part of my life, extending well beyond what we did on the racetrack. George and Jackie Bryce have been in my life longer than my husband Nicky has. Although the business side of this relationship must unfortunately come to an end, I hope the family aspect will continue for the foreseeable future. As long as we can do that we'll be fine.

"I was also fortunate to make many friends among my fellow competitors and the fans, and that's something else I would like to continue. These have been without a doubt the best years of my life. We accomplished things people never expected us to do, from setting records to winning races and championships. Those will always be a part of us, something we can look back on and be proud of."

Bryce and Savoie also expressed a desire to remain a part of the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle landscape.

"My first priority is to liquidate some of my equipment to pay off the bills we have accumulated," noted Bryce. "I will be selling that incredible bike we won the championship and set the national record with, as well as some of the engines. I will then go to the races to offer whatever support or advice I can give to the people who buy these things to help them be successful with them. Besides that, I'll be running quite a few drag racing schools.

"Even though for the first time in many years there will not be an actual Star Racing team motorcycle on the racetrack, I guarantee that our presence will be felt, and we are going to do whatever we can to support the Pro Stock Motorcycle division and help it grow. Star Racing has been in the racing business for twenty-three years, and we have full plans of being in this business for at least twenty-three more. Star Racing is not just a racing team, we have a motorcycle mail order parts business, a state of the art in house machine shop, and engine building facility."

Savoie echoed her former team owner's sentiment.

"Although in the short term I am going to be focusing on my Suzuki dealership, I will be keeping my door open for anything I can do in the NHRA," detailed Angelle, "I won't be competing with the Star Racing team, but I would definitely like to remain involved in racing. I guess you could say I'm evaluating my options. The bottom line is that we are all going to move forward and make the best of what the good Lord gives us."

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