VOLUME 56 ISSUE 25 JUNE 25, 2019 P41
the weather conditions changed
on Sunday, Hines found the
best tune-up for his Street Rod
and earned wins against Marc
Ingwersen, teammate Angelle
Sampey and Smith. Hines was
not seriously challenged in any
of those battles, but that doesn't
mean he took any of his oppo-
nents lightly.
"Last night, I actually went
over and helped Marc Ingw-
ersen tune the ECU on his bike,
not so much to make it quicker
but to see what they could do
easier," Hines said on Sunday. "I
helped him and then later found
out we had to run each other,
and I thought that might not be
so forward thinking. He runs
our [Vance & Hines] parts, so I
wanted to see him do well.
"When I ran against Angelle
[Sampey], that's the first time
we've raced as teammates,"
Hines said. "Normally, I'd have
a lot of anxiety racing against
her because we've had such a
rivalry in the past, but this time,
it was like a qualifying run. She
went out and hit the cones, and
I'll take responsibility for that
because I set up her rear-axle.
I ended the day against Matt
Smith, who has been my biggest
nemesis and then Eddie in the
final. We've just been making
all the right tuning calls, and my
bike has responded well. It's
been a great start to the season,
and we just need to find a way to
keep it going."
The rest of this season, Hines
will have the opportunity to make
a lot of history in the NHRA Pro
Stock Motorcycle class. He's not
only the odds-on favorite to win
his record sixth championship,
but he's also likely to break his
own personal mark of six wins in
a season. Hines is 21-2 in elimi-
nation rounds this season, and
neither one of his losses were
in straight-up races. He never
made it to the starting line in the
final of the Las Vegas race after
his bike experienced an electri-
cal malfunction, and he lost to
number-14 qualifier Andie Rawl-
ings at the Chicago round when
he spun the rear tire violently
when he left the starting line.
"It's hard to explain what's
happening this year, but we're
making consistent runs and
limiting mistakes," Hines said.
"We've also got some new com-
ponents on our bikes, like a new
MoTech ECU that is making it
easier to make tuning decisions.
We've got a lot more data to
work with now, and we're learn-
ing all the time."
If not for Hines, Krawiec
would likely be enjoying his
2019 season more than he is.
The four-time NHRA Champion
has not won a race since the
Brainerd round last August, and
he's 0-7 in final rounds including
three losses to teammate Hines
this season. Krawiec raced to
his third final of the season and
82nd of his career following wins
against Michael Ray, John Hall
and Scott Pollacheck.
"My bike bogged as soon as I
let the clutch out and that pretty
much ended it," Krawiec said. "I
thought we had a good chance
and I did a decent job of riding,
but it wasn't our day. I'm disap-
pointed, but as long as we keep
doing what we've been doing the
wins will come."
Kevin McKenna
Pro Stock Motorcycle Final
1. Andrew Hines (H-D)
2. Eddie Krawiec (H-D)
Eddie Krawiec made it a Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson 1-2.
