DRAG RACING
NHRA PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 8 / JULY 19-21, 2019
BANDIMERE SPEEDWAY / DENVER, COLORADO
P82
paign. He's only been beaten
to the finish line once when
he spun the tire in the opening
round in Chicago against Andie
Rawlings. His other loss came
when his bike wouldn't fire in the
Las Vegas Four-Wide final. The
record for wins in a season is
eight, and Hines will have eight
more chances to win two races,
which seems a given at this
point.
Krawiec is still looking for
his first win of the season, but
that's only because Hines has
not yielded an inch in a final
round. Like Hines, Krawiec also
adjusted quickly to the new
FXDR motorcycle with race-day
wins against Karen Stoffer, Jerry
Savoie and Hector Arana Jr. In
eight races this season, Krawiec
has four runner-up finishes and
In qualifying, it appeared that
reigning series champ Matt
Smith would have the upper
hand after he rode his Denso
EBR to a 7.132 to take the pole
position. Smith was one of the
last four bikes remaining on
Sunday, but he lost a close race
against Hines.
Hines also beat Cory Reed
and Lucas Oil Buell's Hector
Arana Sr. to reach the final.
Smith grabbed a three-hun-
dredths of a second lead at the
start on his Denso EBR, but it
wasn't enough after Hines rolled
to a 7.183 to 7.238 victory. Hines
is now 32-12 against Smith, who
is easily the Harley team's big-
gest rival.
With a 25-2 record in elimina-
tion rounds, Hines is in the pro-
cess of a history-making cam-
two semifinals, and he's got a
nearly insurmountable grip on
the second seed in the points
standings.
Next week, the Pro Stock
Motorcycle class will head to
Sonoma Raceway for a double-
header weekend that will also
include the special $25,000 to
win Mickey Thompson Pro Bike
Battle. CN
FINAL
Andrew Hines (H-D)
Eddie Krawiec (H-D)
It was a big day for the Vance
& Hines Harley-Davidson
squad in Denver.
