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Harley rider Andrew Hines retained the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle season points lead after advancing to the semi-final round in Sunday eliminations at the Auto-Plus NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway.

Ed Krawiec topped qualifying for the event on the team’s other Screamin’ Eagle® Harley-Davidson® V-Rod® motorcycle with a 6.794-second, 197.88-mph blast on Saturday that also set a new Pro Stock Motorcycle Elapsed Time (ET) track record. Hines qualified fourth with an ET of 6.842.

On Sunday Krawiec advanced from the first round of eliminations when Next Level Racing Suzuki rider Justin Finely fouled at the start. In round two, Krawiec lost to Kandy Racing Buell rider Angie Smith, who combined an outstanding 0.009-second reaction time and a 6.908-second ET to beat Krawiec’s 0.067/6.862 run.

“Angie had a great reaction time, but my bike bogged off the line,” said Krawiec. “My 60-foot time went from 1.06 [seconds] to 1.10. We had a tune-up that was underpowered at the start. My V-Rod had more than enough top-end power to win that race, but we were kind of battling all weekend, especially with unpredictable handling. Something’s not happy in our chassis that we need to get fixed.”

Hines scored a first-round win over Quality Tire Buell rider Scotty Pollacheck, and advanced in round two when Lucas Oil Buell rider Hector Arana Sr. fouled at the start. In the semi-finals, Hines also lost to Angie Smith. Smith ran 0.003/6.896 to better the 0.067/6.862 pass posted by Hines.

“We struggled with the tune-up on my V-Rod all weekend,” said Hines, “which is puzzling because it was in the 70s here and we ran so well in similar cool air at Englishtown. We got Ed’s bike in a good zone in qualifying but we were still chasing mine today. We’ll just have to run better in Chicago.”

Angie Smith defeated her husband, Matt Smith, on the Matt Smith Racing Buell, to win her first Pro Stock Motorcycle final round.

After five of 16 events on the 2014 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle schedule, Hines retains the series lead with 482 points. Krawiec is second with 445 points. Lucas Oil Buell rider Hector Arana Jr. moves up to third place with 351 points, followed by Matt Smith Racing Buell rider John Hall with 338 points. Matt Smith is fifth with 306 points.

The Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines team will be back in action on June 26-29 at the 17th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by Super Start Batteries at Route 66 Speedway in Joliet, Ill.

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