Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Hines didn't ge t the first blemish on his record until the Mopar Parts Nat ionals in Ma y . By that time, he had co m pil ed a 15- 0 win /l os s reco rd fo r th e ye ar, a nd he had already es tablished a command ina lead in the W ins ton points chase. Hi nes qualified o n the po le and probably should have w on the Englishtown eve nt as w ell, but a late re actio n time and then a broken tra ns miss ion in round one aga inst Gary Tonglet' s PlastiDip Su zuki spo iled his run at a perf ect season. " I real lv d idn't wa nt it to end th a t w a y ," s a id Hin e s . !' Ev e ry t h in g w a s goi ng great, and we wer e gell ing used to winning, and then I messed up in th e firs t ro u nd . It was d isappointing, but it also made us want to work a little harder to make su re it di dn' t happe n agai n." "In my mi nd , the loss in Englishtown was probably the best thing that could have happened to us, because I can 't . imagine w ha t the pressu re wou ld hav e been like if w e go t late in the year and still ha d a perfect season going," Byron Hines added. "Once we lost there, we d idn' t have to hear another wo rd about it the rest of the season, which mad e it a lot eas ier to concentrate." Hines continued to ext end his points lead with wins in Joliet, Illinois; Columbu s, Oh io; St. Lou is; and De nv er, bu t at the same tim e, h is rival ry with Tea m Winston rider Seeling began to heat up. Seeling, who cap italized on Hines' miscue to wi n the Eng lishtown even t, also reach ed th e fina l round in Joliet and Denver and Brain erd, Minnesota, and in both the Pro Bike Da sh and th e U.S. Na tionals in Indian apolis, but eac h time sh e came up sho rt against the Eag le O ne bike. Seeling began to even th e s co re later in the vear w he n she han d ed Hines a cou ple o( painfu l final -round losses in Reading, Pennsylvania, and Memp his , Tennessee. Though he turned in m any im p res s iv e performances dur in g th e yea r, Hi nes was never more dominant than he was at the U.s. Nationals, where he dom ina ted the class with a w in in the Pro Bike Dash on Saturd ay and M onday's U.S. Nationals. Hi nes became the first Pro Sto ck Bik e ra cer to earn NHRA's 510,000 d ouble-up bonus, and he earned m ore t ha n 535 ,000 fo r th e weeke nd . To top it off, Hines and hi s fath er were ho nored Sa turday evening at the Car Cr aft Magazin e All-Star Drag Racin g Team awa rds ba nquet, where thev s ha red th e Person o f the Ye ar aw ard . Hines also claimed the Pro Stock Bike Rider of the Year award that night. "Tha t was a n awesome weekend, " said Hines, who has now w on the Pro . Bike Dash all th ree years he's competed in it . " It seemed lik e we could d o no wrong from the time w e got there to the time we left. When my dad and I we re hon ored a t the Ca r C;aft ba nq uet, it only help ed mak e it even m ore special." Just when it looked like Hines was goi ng to own the rest of the season and ma tch John Force's N H RA record of 13 wins in a year, the wheels came off. At the Key stone ationals in Reading , Hines reached the final aga in, but an unlikely case of brain fade cost him the race agai ns t See ling , w ho po w ered to her second win of the year. As Hines was doin g his pre -race burn out, hi s hand slipped off the clutch as the bike lu rc hed forward. W h ile he foug ht to ma intain his balance, Hines evid en tly lost hi s co nc en tra tio n and staged th e bike with th e transm is s ion in second gear. Wh e n the ligh t turned green , Hines' bik e rolled to a stop a few feet off the starli ng line. "Tha t was d efinit ely the low po int of the year," Hi nes said . "After the way we ran at Indy, I thought we 'd win in Readin d then I wen a sc r in front o f 30,000 p eo pl Th , . 1'e11l1y hard to swallow." Hines tunes d id n't im prove at e .t ev nt in Mem phi s, w here he redhted for the first time in more tha n year in the fina l - again, ,, 'th ling in th e oth e lane - a nd e fou ed again m round two of the Matco Tools Super , ra tionals against Vance ines t omer eg Un derdahl, \ w ent on to ost his secon d runner-up fi lish of the r to Jo hn Smith. wh o i bro ke th ro ugh f r his firs t wi n cas 11. " Hous -on though t t red ligh em ti I mer I t. .

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