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08.14.2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Leslie Prevish (414) 343-7272
leslie.prevish@harley-davidson.com
SCREAMIN' EAGLE TEAM WALKS AWAY FROM BRAINERD
NHRA EVENT ARMED WITH INFORMATION
Hines and Tonglet Ready for the Next Race
BRAINERD, Min. (Aug. 14, 2006) - Andrew
Hines and GT Tonglet will have to wait and see if the weekend's
work is going to pay off. The two Screamin' Eagle/Vance &
Hines V-Rod riders didn't have their way with Sunday's 25th annual
Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway but
they learned enough to give them hope that the next event will be
more to their liking.
Hines suffered a first round loss Sunday
during final eliminations. Hines fouled at the starting line,
handing the round victory to Marco Andreano and the VRoom Racing
Buell team.
"My bike is perfect just the way it
is, I just can't red light," the 23-year-old Indianapolis
resident said. "We made some adjustments before the first
round and the bike reacted a little quicker than I expected. But
this V-Rod is running so well that we won't have to do much to
make it race-ready for the next event."
Hines qualified in the No. 2 position,
turning in a 7.105-second pass at 187.63 mph. It was the seventh
time this season Hines has qualified in the top three positions.
Tonglet, however, didn't even have a chance
to defend his 2005 Brainerd event victory. Tonglet posted his
first DNQ of the season and first since the April 2004 event in
Houston - a span of 52 races.
"It's disappointing that we weren't
able to defend the win from last year, but it just didn't work out
for us this time," Tonglet said. "We tried to make the
adjustments and I think we did, just not in time to make the
field. The good news is that it looks like we figured out the
issues and we should have a competitive bike again by the next
race."
The opening round loss left Hines in second
place of the point standings, 15 points behind category leader
Antron Brown. Brown rode his U.S. Army Suzuki to the event win en
route to taking over the top of the standings.
Harley-Davidson Racing Manager Anne Paluso
said the team has a short amount of time to turn the weekend's
results into something positive. Paluso said that was a good
thing.
"We learned a lot this weekend and
it's good that we are going to be able to get right back out to
the track," Paluso said. "We struggled a lot with GT's
bike, but it seems like we've already sorted out the problems and
we already feel better about what he can do in Memphis in a few
days. It was a tough weekend all around for the team, but we have
to take everything we learned and go from there."
Hines said the team has more than a few
positives to work from.
"One bike qualified well and we know
exactly what the bike did for each adjustment we made," Hines
said. "There are five more races left in the season and we
just need to stay focused on winning rounds."
The next NHRA event is the 17th annual
O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park in
Memphis, Aug. 18-20.
2006 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle
point standings following 10 of 15 events:
- Antron Brown, Suzuki 730
- Andrew Hines, Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines
Harley-Davidson V-Rod 715
- Chip Ellis, Buell 685
- Angelle Sampey, Suzuki 679
- Ryan Schnitz, Buell 548
- Matt Smith, Buell 521
- Karen Stoffer, Suzuki 509
- Tom Bradford, Buell 503
- Matt Guidera, Buell 482
- Craig Treble, Suzuki 429
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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