VOL. 56 ISSUE 18 MAY 7, 2019 P33
While all of his opponents
were running 6.90s or slower,
Hines kicked off Sunday's
elimination rounds with a 6.87
to beat Melissa Surber and fol-
lowed with a consistent 6.88 in
his win over Ryan Oehler. Hines'
best race came with four bikes
remaining when he got the best
of Lucas Oil EBR's Hector Arana
Jr., 6.89 to 6.91.
"Last year, we really strug-
gled, especially in the first 60
feet of the track, and now we
just had our best 60-footer of
the season," Hines said. "Af-
ter the first round, we made a
change and went in the wrong
direction, and then we made
another change for the second
round, and it was wrong again.
We finally got it right for the last
two rounds. We had some tough
competition especially in that
race against Hector Jr. We finally
made a really good
run in the final with
that 6.86. It's always
nice to make your best
run in the final."
After beginning his
career on a Suzuki,
Hines earned the first
victory for Harley-
Davidson in 2004.
He has 51 wins while
current teammate
Eddie Krawiec has
47. Former teammate
GT Tonglet accounted
for two more Harley
victories to bring their
total to 100.
"For a while now
we've known that the 100th
win for Harley-Davidson was
on the horizon and all three of
us [Vance & Hines teammates]
wanted to be the one to deliver
it," Hines said. "Angelle [Sam-
pey] really wanted it, but she's
new to our team, and we're still
getting her comfortable on the
bike. I really thought Eddie might
do it, but I was fortunate to win
back-to-back races here and
Charlotte last week. After not
winning a race last year, he feels
pretty good."
Runner-up Savoie initially
committed to a partial season in
the Pro Stock Motorcycle class
due to his busy work schedule,
but so far he's made the first four
races of the season and done
quite well for himself. Entering
eliminations as the number-five
qualifier, Savoie rode his White
Alligator Suzuki to wins over
Cory Reed, Steve Johnson, and
Hines' teammate Krawiec to
reach the final. Against Krawiec,
Savoie won via a holeshot with
his 6.95 covering the Harley
rider's quicker 6.91.
With four of 16 rounds in the
books, Hines holds a command-
ing lead thanks to his three wins,
while Krawiec is second and
Arana Jr. third. Reigning champ
Matt Smith and Savoie round
out the top five. The Pro Stock
Motorcycle class will return to
action in two weeks at the NHRA
Virginia Nationals near Rich-
mond, May 17-19.
Kevin McKenna
PRO STOCK FINAL
1. Andrew Hines (H-D)
2. Jerry Savoie (Suz)
Hines defeated Jerry Savoie in the Pro Stock Motorcycle final.
