Third Win for Hines; Sixth for Undefeated Screamin’ Eagle® Team in 2012
Harley-Davidson® Screamin’ Eagle®/Vance & Hines rider Andrew Hines scored his third Pro Stock Motorcycle win of the season at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals to keep the Harley team perfect after six events on the 2012 schedule. Riding a Harley-Davidson® V-Rod®motorcycle, Hines defeated Lucas Oil Buell rider Hector Arana Jr. in the final at Summit Motorsports Park.
“This team is fielding two fast V-Rods right now,” said Hines, who with previous wins in 2007 and 2009 became the first rider to win three times at Norwalk. “We are obviously racing with a lot of confidence, and it’s fun to keep this streak going.”
Hines was the top qualifier for the event with an Elapsed Time of 6.961 seconds in the final qualifying round on Saturday, snatching the top seed away from Lucas Oil Buell rider Hector Arana Sr., who had been No. 1 on Friday with a 6.962-second run. Harley-Davidson® Screamin’ Eagle®/Vance & Hines rider Ed Krawiec qualified fifth at 7.005 seconds on the team’s other Harley V-Rod.
In Sunday elimination rounds, Hines had wins over MB Precision/LAT Racing Oil Buell rider Mike Berry and Suzuki rider Steve Johnson before facing his teammate, Krawiec, in the semi-final round. Krawiec defeated Gottspeed Racing Buell rider Michael Ray in the first round and got an automatic win in round two when Geico Suzuki rider Karen Stoffer fouled at the start.
Hines prevailed in the all-Harley semi-final round, with a 0.025-second reaction time and 6.978 ET to Krawiec’s 0.029/6.982 pass. The other semi-final featured a father/son showdown, as Hector Arana Jr. defeated Hector Arana Sr. to take his Lucas Oil Buell to the final.
“It’s always tough to line up against your teammate, but at least we knew one of us was taking a V-Rod to the final, and we had a good race,” said Krawiec, who won at Norwalk in 2011. “Andrew got lane choice over me and took the right lane, which was an advantage today.”
Hines got his 28th career victory with a 0.043/6.929 run to Arana Jr.’s 0.073/6.928 pass.
“I won this one at the tree, and my V-Rod left the line nice and smooth, really the best start of the day because we’d been having a little clutch trouble,” said Hines. “I thought my start was better than [a] 43, but I left first and that was the [difference] this time.”
Krawiec continues to lead the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle division with 597 points after six events. Hines is 26 points back in second place with 571 points. Arana Jr. moves up to third place with 484 points, followed by Arana Sr. with 467 points.
The Pro Stock Motorcycles will be in action again on July 20-22 at the 33rd annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo.
