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Contact:
Matt King (414) 343-7634
matt.king@harley-davidson.com
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HINES
COMES UP SHORT IN BID FOR RECORD-BREAKING FOURTH NHRA CHAMPIONSHIP
Screamin'
Eagle Harley-Davidson Riders Hines and Krawiec Wrap up Season
POMONA,
Calif. (Nov. 5, 2007) – Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines Motorsports
rider Andrew Hines came up short in his bid for a record-breaking fourth
NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Motorcycle championship Sunday at the Auto Club
NHRA Finals.
Hines
lost in the second round at the Auto Club Raceway, opening the door for
Matt Smith to win the race and the 2007 Pro Stock Motorcycle championship.
Hines
beat Shawn Gann and the Rae Girl Suzuki team in the opening round before
losing to Antron Brown and the U.S. Army team in the second round. Hines
fouled at the starting line, giving the race to Brown.
Hines
went into the Pomona event as the category points leader and three-time
defending champion. He was aiming to become the first rider in NHRA
history to win four consecutive titles.
"I'm
extremely disappointed," Hines said. "This is very tough to
swallow. I had the championship at my fingertips and I let it slip away.
The whole day went through my head once I saw the win-light flashing in
the other lane. I had seven seconds to think about the worst possible
scenarios and those fears came true.
"Matt
Smith and the entire Torco Racing team provided some great competition
this season and they absolutely deserved to be in the championship chase.
I just wish it had gone our way, but they worked very hard to earn the
title this season."
Screamin'
Eagle teammate Eddie Krawiec beat Matt Guidera and the Mohegan Sun Buell
squad in the first round before losing to Chip Ellis and the Drag
Specialties Buell team in the second round.
"I
was very excited going into Sunday's elimination rounds," Krawiec
said. "We had such an awesome bike and things were going very well. I
thought we ran well all weekend and it was made even better by being the
first rider ever to run a 6.99-pass at Pomona.
"Drew
and I had the two quickest ETs of the first round and we were ready to go
after the second round wins. It just didn't work out that way. I made a
mistake and my hand got stuck underneath the clutch lever and I suffered
the loss because of it. I learned a valuable lesson and I know that won't
ever happen again."
Hines
qualified in the No. 1 position for the 21st time in his career with a
track record ET of 6.956 seconds at 192.22 mph. Krawiec qualified in the
No. 6 spot with a 6.972 at 189.90.
This
was the first trip to Pomona for Krawiec.
"It
was great to finally get to race at Pomona and also have some passes in
the 6-second range too," Krawiec said. "It would have been a
nice way to end the season with a trip to the final round but I'm still
proud of the way the bikes ran."
Harley-Davidson
Racing Manager Anne Paluso said the team overcame many challenges just to
be in the hunt for another championship.
"I
think it's incredible that the team has been so competitive for so many
years," Paluso said. "We had a lot of things go our way last
year in order to clinch a third consecutive title and this year we just
came up a little short. Matt Smith and his team were competitive all year
and they put themselves in the perfect position to take advantage of our
second round losses.
"I
still can't say enough about the way our team and riders performed this
weekend and all season. They are disappointed now but someday they will be
able to look back and see what great things were accomplished this
season."
While
the team fell short of their winning goals, Krawiec said the event was
still exciting.
"I
was completely in awe at how many people were there all weekend,"
Krawiec said. "The place was packed and you could feel the energy
from the crowd. We had great support and the morale was good all weekend.
It really helped our confidence going into eliminations and in general
made the weekend more fun."
Hines
is already focused on what he can do to prepare for 2008.
"This
was an incredibly challenging season for me and the entire team,"
Hines said. "It's disappointing to not have another championship for
our Screamin' Eagle team but I think we have a lot of great experiences
that we can pull from this season to help make us even more competitive in
seasons to come. We're going to take a short break and then get right back
in the shop and start getting ready for next season."
Hines
at Pomona
E.T.
MPH RT
Q1
6.996 189.71
Q2
7.020 190.75
Q3
6.956 192.22
Q4
6.992 191.00 No. 1
R1
6.984 191.46 .032
R2
7.380 191.19 -.341
Hines
2007 statistics:
Wins:
5
Runner-up:
2
Semifinals:
0
Second
round: 6
First
round: 3
No.
1 qualifier: 2
DNQ:
0
Rounds
won/lost: 32-11
Hines
career statistics:
RACES:
83
WINS:
13
FINAL
ROUNDS: 22
SEMIFINALS:
17
QUARTERFINALS:
23
FIRST
ROUND: 19
NO.
1 QUALIFIERS: 21
DNQ:
1
ROUND
W-L: 136-69
Krawiec
at Pomona
E.T.
MPH RT
Q1
6.995 189.58
Q2
6.996 189.26
Q3
6.972 189.90
Q4
7.001 189.02 No. 6
R1
6.990 188.62 .024
R2
7.053 187.08 .203
Krawiec
2007 statistics:
Wins:
0
Runner-up:
2
Semifinals:
2
Second
round: 5
First
round: 6
No.
1 qualifier: 0
DNQ:
1
Rounds
won/lost: 15-15
Krawiec
career statistics:
RACES:
24
WINS:
0
FINAL
ROUNDS: 2
SEMIFINALS:
2
QUARTERFINALS:
5
FIRST
ROUND: 6
NO.
1 QUALIFIERS: 0
DNQ:
9
ROUND
W-L: 15-15
Screamin’
Eagle Performance Parts are inspired by and built in the spirit of the raw
adrenaline and power of motorcycle racing. Screamin’ Eagle Pro parts are
specifically designed for race-use applications, while Screamin’ Eagle
parts offer street-use performance options for the Harley-Davidson
motorcycle owner. Visit www.harley-davidson.com for more information.
The
Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines Pro Stock Motorcycle team is sponsored
by Ford Truck, Dunlop, Matco Tools and S100.
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