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Flat Track Racing Team

Feb 11

Vance & Hines Reveals 2022 Flat Track Racing Team

By General Posts

Vance & Hines Reveals 2022 Flat Track Racing Team Competing in AFT Production Twins and Singles

Company Supports AFT as Presenting Sponsor of Production Twins Class and Offers over $100,000 in Contingency Sponsorship for Riders

Santa Fe Springs CA – February 9, 2022 – Vance & Hines announced today that the company will field two riders competing in American Flat Track (AFT) racing for the 2022 season. Jessie Janisch will compete in AFT’s Production Twins class aboard a Vance & Hines-built Harley-Davidson XG750R motorcycle and Brandon Kitchen will campaign a Husqvarna FC450 in AFT’s Singles class. Both riders will be supported by a technical team from the company’s Racing Development Center in Brownsburg, Indiana.

Jessie Janisch earned his spot on the Vance & Hines Team in 2021 when he rode six races on the Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson XG750R and ended the season with four trips to the podium and a win in Charlotte, North Carolina. His podium finishes were on two different mile tracks, a TT and his breakthrough win in Charlotte was on a half mile, his first win on a twin-cylinder motorcycle. Janisch is a veteran rider who has raced in both twins and singles classes for the past twelve years with a reputation for success on TT tracks. Originally from West Bend, Wisconsin, Janisch will be running National Number #33 for the 2022 season.

Brandon Kitchen has been considered one of the hot young stars on the AFT Singles circuit since his debut in 2020 when he won the Indy mile on a bike borrowed from Vance & Hines. The 2018 Michigan state champion had two top five finishes in 2021 after he was set back by an injury. He ended the season finishing twelfth in AFT Singles. Kitchen will ride a Husqvarna FC450 in 2022, running National Number #80, with support from Husqvarna Motorcycles USA.

Technical support for the program comes from experienced Vance & Hines employees based at the company’s Racing Development Center.

Craig Koontz, a 12-year Vance & Hines employee who is a long-time motorcycle rider and racer, will be Flat Track Team Manager. Koontz was involved in the company’s Harley-Davidson XR1200 road racing program from its inception.

Steve Polk has a decades-long history of preparing racing motorcycle engines for flat track and motocross, with some of the sport’s top teams using his handiwork on the track. He joined Vance & Hines at the time the company began developing the XG750R for Harley-Davidson. Polk takes the role of Flat Track Crew Chief.

“We’ve got two great riders and our job is to give them motorcycles that can win,” said Koontz. “We’ve got a lot to do before heading to Florida for the start of the season, but we’ve got the team and the resources to make this a successful year for Vance & Hines.”

Vance & Hines expands its involvement in flat track racing as the presenting sponsor of AFT’s Production Twins class and has announced a contingency sponsorship program that makes over $100,000 in prize money available to AFT riders. The company has partnered with Harley-Davidson and is the only organization designated to produce the Harley-Davidson XG750R race-only motorcycle, a turnkey solution for riders wishing to compete in AFT’s Production Twins racing.

The company’s crew at races will extend their efforts beyond supporting Janisch and Kitchen, as tech staff will offer support to other riders using Vance & Hines components on their race bikes.

The 2022 AFT season kicks off in Florida with the Volusia Half Mile on Thursday March 10. AFT has eighteen races slated for this year.

Learn more about the company’s history and products at www.vanceandhines.com

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Mar 12

2019 Screamin’ Eagle Drag Team and H-D Factory Flat Track Team

By General Posts

2019 Screamin’ Eagle / Vance & Hines Drag Team and H-D Factory Flat Track Team Season Previews

Harley-Davidson is excited to share a preview of the 2019 NHRA Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines Drag Team and Harley-Davidson Factory Flat Track Team seasons.

2019 NHRA Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines Drag Team

The Harley-Davidson® Screamin’ Eagle®/Vance & Hines drag racing team opens its 17th season of NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle competition at the 50th Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, March 14-17 in Gainesville, Fla.

The team will begin pursuit of a 10th Pro Stock Motorcycle championship with a three-rider squad, as Angelle Sampey joins Andrew Hines and Ed Krawiec on Harley-Davidson® Street Rod™ competition motorcycles. The trio of veteran riders have won a combined 12 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle titles.

“We will be bringing a formidable team to the track at Gainesville,” said Vance & Hines Motorsports owner Terry Vance. “Three former champions with all the savvy and experience it takes to reach the pinnacle of our sport, backed by a strong team in the pits and Harley-Davidson V-Twin power. We are racing in a very competitive class but we expect to be one of the teams to beat for the championship this season.”

The Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines team races competition drag bikes are inspired by the Harley-Davidson Street Rod production motorcycle, an agile middle-weight powered by the liquid-cooled High Output Revolution X 750 engine.

The Gatornationals is the first of 16 Pro Stock Motorcycle events on the 2019 NHRA Mello Yellow Drag Racing Series schedule. After the first 10 events, the points are re-set for the top-10 riders that then qualify for the Countdown to the Championship playoffs (the final six races), with the season ending in November at the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif.

2019 Harley-Davidson Factory Flat Track Team

The Harley-Davidson® Factory Flat Track Racing Team is preparing to open the 2019 American Flat Track (AFT) Twins season on March 14 at the Daytona TT at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. Factory Team riders Sammy Halbert and Jarod Vanderkooi will contest the 18-race AFT series aboard Harley-Davidson® XG750R competition motorcycles prepared by Factory Team partner Vance & Hines Motorsports.

The team will field an all-new XG750R flat tracker for 2019, according to Vance, with a new chassis and a revised liquid-cooled, fuel-injected and race-tuned 750cc Harley-Davidson® Revolution X™ V-Twin based on the production engine originally designed for the Harley-Davidson Street 750 motorcycle.

The Daytona TT will provide an interesting test for the Harley Factory Team and other AFT competitors. A new 0.6-mile course will for the first time utilize the paved front straight of the historic Daytona International Speedway tri-oval, requiring racers to transition from dirt to pavement to dirt on each lap while negotiating left- and right-hand turns and a jump on the dirt section laid out on the infield of the speedway.

Flat track is the most-historic form of American motorcycle racing and Harley-Davidson has been part of the sport since the heyday of the Harley “Wrecking Crew” teams of the 1920s. In 2019 the Harley-Davidson Factory Flat Track Racing Team will compete on a diverse 18-event AFT Twins schedule that includes six miles, five half-miles, three short tracks and four TT courses. After a one-year hiatus So-Cal Half Mile at Perris Auto Speedway in Perris, Calif., (May 11) returns to the schedule.