Hines increases lead in NHRA motorcycle racing series
The Staff of Clutch and Chrome
June 11th 2008
Screamin’
Eagle/Vance & Hines rider Andrew Hines rode a
Harley-Davidson V-Rod to the semi-final round of Pro Stock
Motorcycle eliminations at the Torco Racing Fuels Route 66
NHRA Nationals. First-round losses by Matt Smith and Chip
Ellis, his closest rivals in the 2008 NHRA Pro Stock
Motorcycle standings, allowed Hines to add to his season
points lead.
Hines qualified second for the event with a pass of 7.028
seconds, just behind Chris Rivas, who made a run of 7.027
seconds in the second qualifying round on Friday to take the
number one position. Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines rider
Eddie Krawiec qualified seventh with a 7.106 pass.
On Sunday,
Hines won his first-round race when Buell-mounted Tom
Bradford jumped the start. Krawiec (7.158) defeated Rockland
Motorsports Buell rider Matt Guidera (7.189) to win his
first-round race, and would face his teammate, Hines, in the
second round. Severe weather moved through the area,
however, and delayed the racing action for nearly four
hours. When the second round resumed, Krawiec left early and
gave the win to Hines on a red light. In the semi-final,
Hines (7.156/.054 reaction time) lost at the starting line
to Craig Treble (7.141/.013) on the Team Tigue Suzuki. The
loss was the first for Hines in 11 consecutive elimination
rounds. Treble (7.134) lost to Rivas (7.051) in the final
round.
“The good news is we leave Chicago with a 99-point lead for
the championship,” said Hines. “My Screamin’ Eagle V-Rod was
not as strong this weekend as it has been earlier in the
season. We tried a few new things with the set-up that
didn’t seem to work, and we swapped motors after each round
today, and it caught up with us. We’ll be going back to the
set-up we used to win in St. Louis, and I’m confident we’ll
get that performance back for Englishtown.”
Krawiec was fighting electrical problems all weekend, which
appeared to be solved before the second round.
“We were chasing a misfire since the second round of
qualifying, and finally got it fixed for the second round
against Andrew,” said Krawiec. “There were four red lights
in that lane on Sunday, but it was especially disappointing
to leave early because the bike made a really strong pass.”
Krawiec will be on familiar territory when the NHRA makes
its next stop at Englishtown, N.J., where he was the track
manager at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park for six years
before joining the Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines team.
“Mentally I’ll be 100 percent at Englishtown,” he said.
“That’s my home track and I’ve probably made more passes
there than all the riders in Pro Stock Motorcycle combined.
There’s nothing I don’t know about the track, and that’s an
advantage for me.”
After five rounds in the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series, Hines has 482 points to lead the Pro Stock
Motorcycle class. Smith is second with 349 points, followed
by Ellis with 325. Krawiec is seventh with 273 points. NHRA
Pro Stock Motorcycles will race next at the Lucas Oil NHRA
SuperNationals, June 19-22, at Old Bridge Township Raceway
Park, Englishtown, NJ. |
